My god, I just realized what the crazy piss cape is.
The Bat-Urinal.
Hmm… there may be some serious misrepresenting going on here. Granted, I might have missed the whole presentation of the guy with the bear-defense stick, but I don’t think so. From what I saw, they described his invention as little more than a stick, right? Well, according to Reuters, “… there’s the gentleman who has fashioned a walking stick that makes a loud, piercing noise to scare off lions and bears…” Did they show the noise-making aspect of the invention? I did not see it.
That complaint – and lackluster editing in general – aside, I think the judges are the weak link in this show. They don’t have much chemistry, and aren’t very convincing explaining themselves the way the American Idol trio can be (when they feel like it). For example, the profession-inventor judge said that the boy-band inventor with the olive-pit bowl was “hustling” them. What the hell was he talking about??? He bitched on and on, but never explained himself. He is Mr. Arbitrary – I see no consistancy in his decisions.
And then there’s the woman judge. I can’t believe she has such high credentials as they claim. Based on her performance, she strikes me as a total lightweight – dare I say, ditz. I suspect she merely has a great publicist who got her this gig.
The two other men are not bad. I like the way they explain themselves, and I especially like the way the NY guy seems to have an instinct for what ideas would transcend the minutia that the others get caught up in. I suspect he rolls his eyes at the others when nobody’s looking.
He didn’t show it off, but it did appear in his diagram. He explained that the Walk Buddy makes a high-pitched noic to fend off foes. Say you’re walking in the mountains and a lion jumps out…Wait, say the judges. What if you don’t live in the mountains? What if you live in the city? Well, you can use it on muggers. What if the mugger’s wearing earmuffs? Well, it has a Mace dispenser in it, too! (I’m serious. This all happened.)
I needed more explication on the dog AC–is it really just a fan? ‘cuz I bought one o’ dem from my local car parts store and it brokeded after a week. I didn’t hear any talk about actual air conditioning or cooling of the air beyond moving it.
The “Tizzy Tube” bothered me if only because it seemed to be positive reinforcement of a VERY negative behavior–I really liked DVD lady’s take on this behavior better: “This is what you looked like;” that is, not cool.
And I was really glad the solar power thingy made the cut–because I can totally see buying that at the local Costco, in this age of emergency/crises paranoia.
The Walking Stick? My Dad used to send me (every Valentine’s Day since I lwent away to school and until I got married) some sort of weird personal protection device. Bear Spray, or one of those personal alarms that are a room intrusion detector/rape alarm…Anyway, I can see this thing sold at Gun & Doll Shows across the country and in my room and wrapped in pink ribbon on V-Day.
Just because it’s not the “American Invention” doesn’t mean it’s not great and won’t sell.
And the woman with the Bed Pockets pissed me off. I have no doubt that they stole her idea and marketed it–she has been ripped off and she’s mad at the wrong people. I’d love to see that $7,000 book too.
I agree, i don’t like the editing. I feel I’m missing “something” as their decisions really don’t seem to have a cohesiveness apart from perhaps their gut feelings. Fatboy is definitely emotional geek–with the “hustling,” “apologising for the partners,” you don’t have a kid! stuff…he’s the shemale to the actual woman.
I’ve run into that woman before, but I can’t remember where–it may be one of my business/marketing books. She is her publicist. It showed in that blurb that if you want to have your finger on the (pulse of a) woman you should hire her “Ask a Woman” polling firm. Women are a pretty big market. BUT. Ultimately, it depends on whose bucks it is, and who decides what the household’s ultimate need is. Still, mostly that’s a Flowerbearer. (as opposed to a Staffbearer)
Speaking of women and women-marketed stuff, I thought the edible snowglobes thing was icky.
And the judges asking for a song and dance from various contestants and then having weird hiccoughs about professionalism and gimmicks (Wizard of Oz) was also inconsistent and irksome.
Clearly they figured – correctly – that they needed at least one female judge – I just can’t believe that in a country of damn close to 300 million people they couldn’t find one with one or two more credentials than that ditz.
How many people did they ask for a song and/or dance? The only one I can think of is Evan and Jaron, who actually had a hit song.
I agree. I’m not sure how they’d market something like that. I can’t imagine telling my kid “Okay, here’s all this yummy candy but you can’t eat it! We’re gonna stick it all under this glass globe and look at it for a few days and THEN you can eat it.”
I thought the editing was a bit off too. They showed the judges tearing up over a couple of contestants and I could not figure out what was so tear-inducing. I think they left quite a bit on the editing room floor and that made it look totally off-kilter.
It seemed like all the contestants had to do was start tearing up about how much they sacrificied for their invention and how passionate they were about their idea, then she would tear up in sympathy and vote yes.
Sorry, I don’t know names. The bald guy…supposedly I have 18 of his inventions in my house. What are they?
I can’t believe some of those the people thought their idea was Da Bomb. The Space Beetle Utopia? The Bladder Buddy? I thought the shovel-bag thing was neat, as well as the solar cooler, and I’m so glad the inventor came out to talk to Kyle, the 14 year old. He has the mind of an inventor, but you do not leave dogs in cars, I don’t care how many a/c units you have going. What if it breaks down?
I couldn’t understand the guitarist’s issue. Yes, he had a good idea, but it doesn’t have mass appeal. Market it in music stores and you’ll make a forturne, but the average American has no need for a guitar with the plug in the back.
The edible globes are cute, but I thought they were looking for something that would “help” people. The solar cooler or the bag shovel seemed more in line with that.
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.
That was the other performance – her doing Dolly Parton.
She needs her meds adjusted.
I think they will have a few weeks of people who make the cut (like American Idol) and then they’ll somehow watch them as they refine the inventions. I can’t quite figure out how they’ll do it, but I enjoyed the hell out of it last night. I always think of cool things about 4 days before someone else puts it on the market. I’m going to give it at least one more shot before I can make my personal evaluation. But I think it has promise so far.
If she would have done that in front of Simon, Paula, and Randy, they would have laughed her out the door. Those Evan and Jaron guys wouldn’t have made it past the first round on American Idol singing the way they did, either.
It was kinda fun, so it made the DVR “series record” list. Speaking of which, holy cow am I glad I time-delayed it; there were way too many commercial breaks during the second hour.
I totally agree with the judges about the “Tizzy Tube” thing. To me, it smacked of locking a kid in a closet for throwing a tantrum. “Sorry, Junior, you’re being too loud…into the tube! In, I say!!”
Wish we’d seen exactly what that macaroni-headed guy had; looked basically like an electric kettle for pasta, but I wanted to see what exactly it was.
I thought the Tizzy Tube was a bad idea, but for a different reason. To me, it rewarded bad behavior because the kids demonstrating it were having a blast. I agree that the judges don’t mesh, but that takes time — at least, it did on Idol. I do think that the editing is weak. But that could improve with practice. The portable air conditioner was a good thing, but I’m pretty sure that’s already out there.
For those looking for an in depth recap, the MAKE blog live blogged it and has screen caps: http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/03/american_inventor_live_blog_fu.html
I watched it on and off until Earl and the Office started… What was the bed pockets thing?
Edible Snow Globes?
Is that what the blonde woman made that they were going on and on about…I only saw the tail end of the segment… Who the fuck needs edible snow globes?
So far the Sandbag shovel is the best idea. Sell them to city parks departments and the red cross and BAM, make a million.
I do. Now. (Pay attention!) 
Also: thanks for the link, ronincyberpunk!
I missed it! Does anyone know if there are going to be reruns?
It’s a dust ruffle you put on your bed, but it has pockets so you can put your keys, the remote, etc. Cute idea, but turned out it was already on the market. The woman said she called one of those 1-800 Patent Your Idea numbers, and had gotten a book. Bald Inventor Man said they just steal ideas, but whether it was her exact idea they stole I don’t know.
I am horrified at the number of people who Divorced their Spouse/Lost Their House/Spent the Kids’ College Fund on these ideas. And some of their ideas are just mind-numbingly bad. :eek: