SNL Skewers QVC and Celebrity Fashion Designers

Posted on April 12, 2015

Saturday Night Live took aim at retailer QVC last night. If you haven't shopped with QVC this sketch will make no sense. But if you have, it's a scream. Host Taraji P. Henson played chirpy QVC host Tamara Sands. Kate McKinnon played the celebrity guest Claudette Fontaine who was on the show to pitch her exciting poncho which she says can be worn three ways.

As the sketch begins the announcer says, "You’re watching QVC, which means you're a cat whose owners are at work. Hi, little guy!" Claudette Fontaine bears quite a resemblance to Liza Minelli and dresses like her too. She is a legendary actress, singer and dancer who "as of last Thursday, is also a designer." Aidy Bryant is the unfortunate model who tries to show off the ghastly garment. It's just a big, red sequinned shirt with a shawl collar. The first way to wear the shirt is so that the model's figure "is a perfect square." The second way is to pull down the sleeve so it shows one shoulder. As for the third way, well, there isn't one.

But the best part of the sketch is the customers who call in to chat with Claudette who gets all of their names wrong. Every one of callers has a complaint about shipping. QVC has recently changed its policies on shipping.The online and television retailer now ships most items for $3. The catch? It goes by the slowest, most inscrutable mail service the company can find. Oh, and QVC no longer refunds the original shipping charges when a customer returns an item. Customers also get charged a shipping fee to return the item, leading to a large hike in fees. There have also been a lot of customer complaints about missing items and receiving items that are clearly returns. Someone in the writer's room clearly is unhappy with the new shipping policy.

One caller says she ordered the poncho, which arrived with no box at all. She explains, "it was left on my lawn in a little ball." Another caller said, "I did get a box, but it had a small dog inside." At this point the Claudette exclaims that she wondered where her dog had been.

The sketch ends with Claudette introducing her "10 way necklace." She eventually admits it's just a necklace. Take a look:

You can watch the QVC sketch on NBC.com.
More from Watchers Watch