Anyone got this on their docket for television? Thoughts? For those not sure what I’m talking about…
American Inventor is another concept from Simon Cowell (the british Judge on American Idol… the guy who came up with the show concept). American Inventor is American Idol for inventors. You come in, present your idea, and the judge panel decides whether you move on or not. It’ll be a competition to get America’s support for their project.
From the site:
It looks interesting, I’ll tune in for the premiere at least. Anyone else have thoughts?
I’m planning to watch also. Glad that the timing works out that it won’t conflict with Survivor, what with Survivor being on Wednesday this week, and then AInv moving to 9pm next week…
My girlfriend who used to work for an invention submission company has no interest in watching it…she says she’s had enough of crazy inventions…
I’m not sure I get the premise – do we see a new batch of people each week? How is the winnowing done?
And, yeah, reality slut that I am, I’ll probably watch; at least the first episode.
(BTW, Simon exec produced a dating-type show called Cupid a few seasons ago; the premise was that the datee had two of her friends help her evaluate the potential suitors. I thought it was okay, but apparently it wasn’t too successful: although they ran the full season, it was a one-shot.)
It looks to me like we’ll follow American Idol through the widdling phase and then go more of a generic Reality TV style show following the contestants as they struggle to launch their idea with the show’s $50,000.
So I think it looks interesting. Especially the casting call where they get the really crazy inventions.
Thanks – but I’m still not clear: what exactly will we be watching each week? Some guy with a Phillips head screwdriver and a pair of calipers? Why will that be of interest to me?
I haven’t read any spoilers anywhere so I don’t honestly know. I think we’ll see an almost Apprentice style thing where we follow the contestants as they prototype, build, test, do market research, clash etc. Especially if they are forced to live together and thus keep their ideas secret. But I don’t know. I’m eager to find out.
Cowell was on Leno last night. He said one of the inventors comes in with a sort of cape-tent thing that he peed in. I’m not clear whether it’s meant to give you privacy if you want to pee in public, or if the cape has a pee receptacle, so you can pee on the go. I’m curious enough to watch and find out.
Jay asked Cowell about some of the bad press from this season – particularly Cowell’s comments “We’re gonna need a bigger stage” and “Shave your beard and wear a dress”. Paraphrasing, Cowell responded that he had nothing against fat people or gay people. “We have Randy” and “We have Ryan.” Leno had some clips ready of Ryan interacting with the contestants, showing stand-offish body language with the women, and hugging the guys, and pulling Will’s shirt out of his pants.
Cowell was funny, and he didn’t seem to be holding anything back for political correctness or future ratings. Leno asked him who he liked, and Cowell said Kelly, and again said she was a minx. I think Simon’s got a crush.
This is a great show. Some interesting inventions here. The two buddies- Bladder Buddy and Walk Buddy- were among some of my favorite bad inventions.
I can see why they rejected the “Time Out Tot” DVD- as she said, she mainly wanted the show to do PR for her if she was selected. The video looks professionally done, and that squirrel puppet is Henson-quality. I think she would do very well.
Speaking of misbehaving children, my grandmother (who watched the show with me) and I were seriously discussing the merits of the Tizzy Tube. The judges thought it was like a Skinner box or something. Nana and I thought it was a good idea- give kids a chance to let out their agression by running around. She said she’s known a lot of kids who’ve had tantrums, and this would be a good way to help.
I loved the black woman who was startled when she found out that her invention was similar to one already on the market. “The Beddy Pouch? The Beddy Pouch been invented?” It was just funny the way she reacted.
I’ll be looking forward to future episodes of this show.
I watched. Loved the sandbag shovel one and the Time Out DVD set but the rest…meh. Although I did enjoy watching the one guy who seemed genuinely shocked to be told he’d basically invented a stick. Heh.
I can’t figure out the format and they sure didn’t explain it at all. I’m assuming it’s American Idol-like, but what are the contestants going to do each week?
The whole show seems a bit mean-spirited to me though. They might as well change their motto to “American Inventor: We Make Kids Cry!”
And a question–what did the “Mommy Dearest” woman invent? I was out of the room at the time and only heard them tell her no and call her “Mommy Dearest”. Wire hangers?
The Mommy Dearest was behind the Tizzy Tube, a giant OPAQUE plastic ball that you stick your kid in when they misbehave, and they run around and smack into things. I think it’s a winner, it’s just marketed wrong. Put some windows on it, rename it, and it’s like those sumo suits you see on college campuses.
I could not believe the first guy though. He’s a dental hygienist, and he wants everyone to carry around a cape with a receptacle that you wrap around yourself and pee into. What the fuck was that?
The hemmorhoid lotion thing has potential. I see that going into porta potties within the decade.
She invented the Tizzy Tube- sort of this fabricy tube you put over a kid and they can run around and let out their agressions when they’re mad. If you have two kids, they can ram into each other and let their agressions out that way.
Two other weird ones I remembered I enjoyed- the guy who looked like an old-time prospector with his “smoking gun,” and the Flash Gordon guy with the Space Beetle Utopia. Very strange.
[QUOTE=ronincyberpunk]
It looks to me like we’ll follow American Idol through the widdling phase and then go more of a generic Reality TV style show following the contestants as they struggle to launch their idea with the show’s $50,000./QUOTE]
Actually, the end game is similar to American Idol, too- the twelve finalists are voted on by the American public, and the grand prize winner gets $1,000,000.
Ahh, so that’s what the Tizzy Tube was. Not so sure that’s a bad idea. I don’t think I’d mind having one of those for myself, actually.
I’m still not sure why in the world they’d let the 2-level bowl through and not the kid’s dog air conditoner. Poor kid. I thought the guy was coming out after him to tell him they’d changed their minds, but nope, he just managed to make them all cry a little bit more.
Alright, overall the show has a good concept but I think it’s a bit rough around the edges.
I think they needed to have a minimum age. The kid coming in with his dog AC was cool but turning him down could be a serious upset.
They needed to better define the parameters. The mom with the video for kids was great, but it wasn’t what they were looking for. So they need to define “invention”
They need to keep emotion out of it. I realize it is okay to get swept up in the energy of a motivated inventor, but for them all to get so angry at the PhD therapist crossed a line in my book.
Overall I enjoyed the show. I love seeing the inventor spirit. I’ll tune in next week.
