THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THAR LATE-NIGHT-TV TIME SLOTS! Broadcasting deregulation in 1984 is what made infomercials possible in the first place, and by 1990, this fledgling industry took off with a bang.

The gold rush was on, as all sorts of entrepreneurs — inventors, producers, directors, failed TV actresses — dived in head first to take advantage of the fortune that potentially could be made from all those credit-card-wielding couch potatoes.