# American Inventor Thursday **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313 "2006-03-14T14:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/41 "2006-03-17T20:30:06Z")
My problem with the “Tizzy Tube” thing is how is it supposed to work? Your kid goes into a tantrum, so now you have to ignore him for five minutes while you inflate this device? Or are you expected to keep it around, fully inflated? Plus who has the room indoors to let a kid bounce around in one of those? ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/42 "2006-03-17T21:10:11Z")
The bed pockets were something I recognized right off, my parents had them and loved them. That was 10+ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/43 "2006-03-17T23:09:45Z")
The Space Beetle Utopia guy seemed like a ringer; that is, an actor pretending to be wacky and outraged when he was rejected. A toy filled with cockroaches? Please, it looked ans sounded scripted, and his costume was a little too creative. Didn’t have that ring of truth like most of the contestants. The bald inventor judge reminded me of someone, [who could it be…](http://www.lowculture.com/archives/images/major-toht.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/44 "2006-03-17T23:25:14Z")
Oh! I totally forgot Car Fashion! What the hell was that about? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/45 "2006-03-18T00:12:00Z")
Space Beetles? Those were Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Not beetles. (Okay, if brine shrimp can be Sea Monkeys, roaches can be beetles. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.) I tried to Google up info on Hawaiian Shirt Vizzini, to find out what the 18 things in my house he invented were, but all I could find was his motivational seminars… ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/46 "2006-03-18T00:20:28Z")
I only saw parts of it, but I liked the combination sand shovel/sand bag dealie best. I didn’t care for the Tizzy Tube at all. There were far, far too many bladder/toilet/wiping related things. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/47 "2006-03-18T01:09:42Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Oh! I totally forgot Car Fashion! What the hell was that about? When you get dressed up, your car can get dressed up! Yeah, I was the same way. 😕 Again, the ideas people think can make them rich. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/48 "2006-03-18T02:08:49Z")
One more useless thing about the show: Last year, before _American Inventor_ went to air and was called _The Million Dollar Idea_, Simon Cowell, ABC, and FremantleMedia were sued by a Minnesota group that produced a local show called _Million Dollar Idea_, in which they hunted for inventions and gave a prize to a winner. I’m not sure how the suit turned out, but it appears that the parties agreed to something, otherwise the show wouldn’t be on the air. However, in late 2005, the USA cable network aired a show called _Made in the USA_, the premise of which was very similar to _American Inventor_. (Two of the show’s three judges were a flamboyant fashion designer and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell). There was never a lawsuit between the producers of this show and the producers of either _Million Dollar Idea_ and _American Inventor_. Isn’t Lawsuit World strange? Also, Matt Gallant is much more tolerable when he isn’t cracking bad jokes about animals. > [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > American Inventor is another concept from Simon Cowell (the british Judge on American Idol… the guy who came up with the show concept). Simon Cowell did not come up with the concept of _American Idol_. It was created by another Simon- Simon Fuller, president of 19 Entertainment (now a division of CKX, which also owns the rights to Elvis Presley’s likeness and songs). ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/49 "2006-03-18T02:13:05Z")
Not just the ideas they think will make them rich, the sheer amount they spend on them. I can understand spending 10 thousand years on something over a decade. It’s your hobby, it keeps you out of jail, that’s fine. But some guy estimated he’d spent $100,000 on his invention! That’s insane! ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/50 "2006-03-18T06:13:19Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Simon Cowell did not come up with the concept of American Idol. It was created by another Simon- Simon Fuller, president of 19 Entertainment (now a division of CKX, which also owns the rights to Elvis Presley’s likeness and songs). Oops, my bad! Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/51 "2006-03-18T07:16:53Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > 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. The Prospector! Funny you should say that. I flipped this show on right when that old wacky guy came on. Due to my habit of MST3K’ing the TV the minute I saw him I said “I came ups wit this idear when I was a prospectin’” As for the rest of the show my wife and I started making bets if the female judge was going to start crying. Not a very interesting show for me to sit and watch but I’ll scan Tivo it. I feel sorry for those without Tivo. It seemed the format was invention, commercial, invention, commercial,.etc. Two hour show with 45 minutes of content. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/52 "2006-03-18T23:23:35Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I watched bits and pieces, and it was fun to watch. Though, sadly, this will probably be my last week because it will be on at the same time as “My Name is Earl” and “The Office.” > > Anyway, I really liked the bag shovel guy. I also liked the\*\*“gym in a bag”\*\* guy. I could see him on an infomercial in a year, making millions. We all know that kind of fitness stuff sells big-time. Plus, I agreed with the judges that he was sincere. > > I want an edible snow globe. Now. If anyone saw that segment, what was that “gym in a bag” product like? I saw fleeting previews, but I missed that segment. ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/53 "2006-03-18T23:44:14Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > The bald inventor judge reminded me of someone, [who could it be…](http://www.lowculture.com/archives/images/major-toht.jpg) Aaaaaaah! Pure thick-lipped teutonic eeeeeeeeville. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313/54 "2006-03-19T01:29:16Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > If anyone saw that segment, what was that “gym in a bag” product like? I saw fleeting previews, but I missed that segment. It’s everything. With a unique locking technology, you can have hand weights! You can have a barbell! You can have other gym equipment I don’t know the name of! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-inventor-thursday/348313.md?page=2)