American Inventor Premiers on ABC Thursday Night - Expect Silly and Useful Inventions - Almost Reality TV - Similar Format to American Idol

March 15th 2006

American Inventor

The new ABC “almost reality” series American Inventor puts inventors in front of a panel of judges in an effort to sell their invention. The show format closely resembles the popular Fox TV show American Idol.

The show will premier tomorrow night at 8PM with a special 2 hour episode, but will move to its regular slot at 9PM on March 23^rd. Inventor expects to attract thousand of dreamers, tinkerers and entrepreneurs. They will all be judged by a four-person panel that includes inventor Doug Hall. Hall has developed products for Nike, Ford and Proctor and Gamble.

The judging will also be done by marketing and advertising experts and will include Peter Jones who is expected to deflate contestants with rude remarks. Jones is expected to be the Simon Cowell of Inventor.

The inventions must be approved by three of the four judges in order for it move to next round. The grand prize is $1 million, but each of the 12 finalists will receive $50,000.

Expect the first few episodes to include both silly and useful products. One of the sillier inventions is the Bladder Buddy that resembles a large trash bag that allows the user to relieve himself in public without anyone noticing. Also there are video tattoos, the automatic sock hangers, the "Space Beetle Utopia," and all manner of attachments for toilets.

Not all the contestants will take their rejections calmly. That was one of the intriguing parts of American Idol – how do the rejects react. Expect lots of fun with American Inventor as well.