AmericanInventor
Great American Road Trip collides with American Inventor
I'll admit it upfront, I watched this week's premiere of NBC's Great American Road Trip. What can I say? I enjoy reality series, there was nothing else on TV, plus I had to tune in to NBC to watch and review America's Got Talent. When the families were presented, I couldn't get over the feeling that I had seen Silvio DiSalvatore before on another reality show. Thanks to IMDb.com I quickly connected the dots ... DiSalvatore appeared on American Inventor, and it wasn't pretty. Considering the "invention" DiSalvatore presented and the response he got from the judges and viewers back then, it wouldn't surprise me if NBC actually asked him and his family to appear on Road Trip. Let's face it, DiSalvatore is quite a character and so was his "invention".
Don't recall what invention DiSalvatore created? Silly video and a link to his official web site after the jump!
ABC diving into The Shark Tank
When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers. Helmed by Mr. Reality himself, Mark Burnett, The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.
The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.
Firefighter wins American Inventor
Last night, this summer's winner of ABC's American Inventor was crowned. Firefighter Greg Chavez's invention, Guardian Angel, was voted by Americans as the best invention out of the Top 3 selected by the judges. When Chavez presented his idea to the judges during the auditions, he hadn't won them all over (Pat Croce voted no) because he didn't have a working model; actually, his brilliant idea was only put on paper. But thanks to his passion and the fact that his idea could save lives if it worked, he got enough votes to not only become a San Francisco finalist but to end up in the Top 6.
What's On Tonight: American Inventor, Ghost Hunters, Good Eats
At 8, ABC has a new The Next Best Thing: Who Is The Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?, followed by the season premiere of American Inventor and a new Traveler. - NBC has the Senators/Ducks game at 8.
- The CW has a new Hidden Palms at 8, then a new One Tree Hill.
- At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
- TBS has the series premiere of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 9, followed by another new episode.
- There's a new Mythbusters on Discovery at 9.
- The Travel Channel has a new World Poker Tour at 9.
- Also at 9: Sci-Fi has the season premiere of Ghost Hunters, then a new Destination Truth.
- At 10, Food Network has a new Good Eats.
- There's a new Top Chef on Bravo at 10, where cast members from the first two seasons compete for charity.
Check your local TV listings for more.
George Foreman to be a judge on American Inventor
Looks like they're shaking things up for the second season of ABC's American Inventor (after the first season, they'd almost have to, right?).
Former boxer and grill impresario George Foreman is going to be one of the judges for the contest this season. He joins Peter Jones (returning for another season), Pat Croce, a former NBA exec, and Sara Blakely, who is described as an "undergarments entrepreneur" and "creator of Spanx." That sounds like something that could have been invented on this show, yet really dirty. The second season will also see a new host, Nick Smith.
What, no Doug Hall this year? He was the Simon Cowell of the group! And no Mary Lou Quinlan? She was the...well, Paula Abdul of the group.
The show returns on June 6 at 9pm.
American Inventor auditions announced
One of America's lamest reality shows has just announced the audition schedule for the second season of the show, which airs on ABC.
The first audition venue is in Los Angeles on March 18. The other dates and places are as follows: San Francisco, March 25; Chicago, March 31; New York City, April 4; Orlando, April 9; and Houston on April 13. Inventors have to be at the venue no later than 8am, so it's good that someone invented the alarm clock.
And I say this is one of the lamest show not because some of the inventions weren't good (the winner of the first season, who came up with a new baby car seat, is working with Evenflo, and that's great to hear), it's the fact that the judges are kind of hard to take, and some of the inventions they let get through to later rounds were...gah. Let's hope the second season is a little more satisfying (and please, editors, let's cut way down on all of the weepy stories and people talking about their DREAMS. Please?)
American Inventor: The Finale Results Show
(S01E11) I know there are a lot of sensitive readers out there who'll get upset if I reveal the winner of this show right here, above the fold, so I'll have you click on to read the quick summary. Why only a quick summary? Because haven't the creators of this show put you through enough hours of recapping this show already?American Inventor: (Not quite) The Finale
(S01E10) For some reason, I thought tonight was going to be the finale, but it turns out we had yet another two hours to take up our time before finding out who the winner is. So why the heck is my TiVo calling this "The Finale?" Oh, I see now -- next week is "The Finale Results Show." At least this time I found the entire second hour entertaining.This time the four finalists had to create a professional-grade commercial for their product.
What's on tonight: The Office, Earl, Smallville, That 70s Show, X-Men 3 preview
At 8, it's the season finale of American Inventor (does anyone still care at this point?). It's followed by a new Primetime.- CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new eps of CSI and Without A Trace.
- NBC has new, super-sized eps of Will and Grace, My Name Is Earl (season finale), The Office (season finale), and ER.
- Over on FOX at 8, a new That 70s Show, followed by a 7 minute sneak peek at X-Men 3, then the series finale of That 70s Show.
- The WB has a new Smallville, then a repeat Smallville, while UPN has new eps of Everybody Hates Chris, Love, Inc., Eve, and Cuts (all the UPN shows are season finales, unless they turn out to be series finales).
- At 9 on CNN, Larry King interviews Merv Griffin.
- At 10, Spike has a new ep of The Ultimate Fighter.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new The Showbiz Show With David Spade.
American Inventor: The final group presents
(S01E08/S01E09) Well, finally we'll be onto
the final four next week. It's been a long road to get here, and I don't mean the for the inventors; I'm talking about
the viewers! So, as to not suck you into any more time on this before the finale (it is just a finale left, right?),
here's the quick breakdown from tonight:Hour one: The Toner Belt and HeadlineIt don't make it, and the Word Ace moves on. The judge really surprised me this time. I was so sure the HeadlineIt would make it.
Hour two: PureFlush, Restroom Survival Kit don't make it. The Anescia Survival Capsule does. I wish the clip wasn't against the capsule, but the capsule is the real invention here that needs to be in the final four.
Any gueses yet which one will win the whole thing? I'd really like to see the Anescia go into more active development, even if it does need a lot of work.
American Inventor: EZ-X Portable Gym, Here Comes Niya Doll, DTract 2x2 Bike
(S01E07) I've got to be honest with you here -- I'm growing tired of this show. Not only does the episode run way too long, but now they're tacking on a full hour of other pre-show junk that, I have to say, I didn't even bother watching. This is the kind of show I want to see them get down to business, show us what work was done and then smack us with the decision.One thing I thought was a tad unfair in this round was how all four judges sat in front of each inventor instead of just Mary-Lou. Could she just not handle it on her own or what?
So, Her Comes Niya and EZ-X are out, but the DTract Bike makes it. At first I wouldn't have picked the bike to make it, but the vast improvements, including a detachable front, totally changed my mind. I'm glad to see it move on to the final round, because it really had that "wow" factor of being something that strikes you when you see it, a truly innovative idea.
Nya was a nicely put together package, but it just didn't have enough innovation to move it along. The EZ-X gym failed mostly because the inventor wasn't prepared enough to bring it to the next level.
What's on tonight: Survivor, Will and Grace, Office, Smallville, ER
ABC has two hours of American
Inventor starting at 8. The first hour is some sort of "best of" and then there's a regular episode.
It's followed by a new Commander-In-Chief.- There's a new Survivor on CBS at 8, followed by new eps of CSI and Without A Trace.
- NBC has a new Will and Grace, a repeat My Name Is Earl, a new Earl, a new Office and a new ER.
- FOX has two new eps of That 70s Show and then a new The O.C.
- The WB has new eps of Smallville and Supernatural, while UPN has new eps of Everybody Loves Chris, Love, Inc, Eve, and Cuts.
- ABC Family has the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at 8.
- At 9, the Sci-Fi Channel has a new original flick, Mammoth.
- Also at 9: IFC has Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci in Buffalo 66.
- At 10, A&E has a new ep of Dallas SWAT.
- TCM has the original King Solomon's Mines at 10.
Doug Hall to answer your questions and block your insults
American Inventor judge Doug Hall (he's
the one in the ugly shirts who has done everything but walk on the moon - or wait, did he do that too?) will be doing a
live chat at AmericanInventorSpot.com Sunday night at 9:30pm
Eastern.If you participate in the chat, ask him how in the world that guy with the word game made it to the finals, OK?
American Inventor: The final 12 are chosen
(S01E05/S01E06) Finally we're getting somewhere. Though at first I thought two hours was way too much
to go through these rounds, I actually think it's the previous four episodes that dragged on longer than necessary. It
was a little confusing how the inventions were show to us in the previous weeks, as there were some I just don't
remember seeing at all, though they moved on. The Mobile Family Plot? Flush Pure? Did they show us these before? Eh, no
matter. Here's the list of those inventions they showed, the ones that made the first cut and the ones that make the
final twelve.American Inventor's dirty little secret?
Let's hope the contestants on American Inventor have
read the fine print.According to this L.A Times article from last month, contestants on the show not only don't get a million dollar "prize" (it's actually an advance against future royalties), but they actually have to give ABC and the producers "exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license." Seems like a foolproof contract for the network and the people behind the show.
Of course, I'm sure the inventors will gladfully sign the contract, as long as they get some money and get to express their DREAMS and their PASSION. (Kidneys not included.)
[via TV Tattle]
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