Sic Transit Gloria: Padma Lakshmi Hawks Blooming Tea at 3AM on the Home Shopping Network

Usually when I'm up at three in the morning watching an easy exotic on a flickering screen, I'm downloading free thirty-second clips and hoping my wife doesn't wake up. Usually the woman looks (a lot) like Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi. The other night, it was Padma Lakshmi. Sadly, she was hawking her wares — blooming teas, glass tea kettles, nesting bowls, etc — to a severely sensory deprived host.

"Oh my God," the HSN host enthused, "That's the most beautiful thing I've EVER seen!" and later, "That's the COOLEST thing I've EVER seen!" Really? A kinda cheap glass teapot with a tea ball opening is the most beautiful thing this woman has ever seen? Anyway, it's kind of fun in a mind-numbing, not entirely healthy way to watch Ms. Lakshmi play along and debase herself at the altar of mass-market parasitic purchasing aimed at tea-loving insomniacs. One thing someone up at 3 AM probably doesn't need? Tea.

Video: Padma on HSN

· All Padma Lakshmi Coverage on Eater [-E-]