TVSquad

This show actually isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I mean, it's fluffy and you'll forget about it the day after you see it, and I doubt I'll watch it again. But it's good to see a hidden camera show that goes out of its way to help an unsuspecting person instead of embarrassing/fooling/arresting them.

Did anyone else catch this, and will you watch it again?

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.

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?)

"This Time It's Personnel": Let's break this down... Pelosi Speaker. Hoyer Whip. Murtha not Whip. Got it? Keith Ellison recently became the first Muslim lawmaker in Congress. Some folks in the media didn't even attempt to hide the fact that they're kinda freaked out. Watch this video of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck be an asshole towards Ellison. It's... pretty wild. General John Abizaid and Senator Hillary Clinton threw around some fancy words to try and put each other down... John Oliver, complete with a smoking jacket and pipe, played the role of the smart British man and explained to Jon what "hortatory talk" meant. He then continued to read his issue of Juggs.

Holy crap, I just totally scared myself. How did I know that the magazine name has two "G"s? I swear I didn't Google it until I was spell-checking. This is probably a bad sign. Gosh. Moving on...

A new series on SkyOne in the UK called The Big Idea pits inventors and entrepreneurs against one another for a chance to have their invention or business idea realized, and to win £100,000. Since I live in the US I've never actually seen the show, but I did find a commercial for it I think you guys will enjoy. It features a ton of English pound coins toppled over like dominoes, a feat that may or may not have been accomplished with some clever editing, but who cares, it's still cool to look at. I think pounds are a bit thicker than American coins, but I still imagine it would be difficult to make them stand up like that. I don't think I would have the patience to pull off such a feat. In fact, I know I wouldn't. Check out the coinage after the jump.

If you've never seen the SciFi series Eureka, you're missing one of the best new shows of the season. Actually, I've never seen a single episode, I just thought for a change of pace I would lionize things I've never actually seen or experienced. Have you ever put ranch dressing on a jelly donut? It's absolutely delicious, I'm telling you. Sorry, I'll get to the point: as a way to promote the series a faux shopping channel has been set up where people can "purchase" some of the cool and weird inventions that appear on the show. I'm thinking of getting myself a TemporalVision Monitor so I can get a jump on the next book Oprah wants everyone to read. When you try to buy the non-existent products, you're actually entered into a sweepstakes to win a Sony HDTV and Blu-ray player. All in all, a clever bit of marketing for the show. The site is MadeInEureka.com.

(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.

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?

This past week just drove me over the edge. How can the woman with the doll and the guy with the word game be in the final twelve? I mean, these two inventions (and I use the term loosely) are better than 90 something percent of the inventions that these three judges saw in the cities where people pitched their ideas? Um, no. (And don't even get me started on the sweet lady who had the disposable paper. Was that an "invention" or a "store purchase"?).

And the way that the producers and ABC is packaging the show...gah. When you get right down to it, what does all this talk about DREAMS and PASSION have to do with how good the invention is? People are quitting their jobs and living out of cars and selling body organs? Well, that's their call. One of the rounds the other night was actually based on an emotional pitch to the judges. Why? And the awful, overdramatic montage at the end. God, this isn't a reality show, it's like a cross between Extreme Makeover and a Publisher's Clearinghouse commercial.

I'm going back to Survivor. At least over there I might see someone eat a bug.

(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.

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]

Is that what the guy on American Inventor said last night, that he put so much passion and energy into his invention (a portable coffee cup/grinder thing) that he sold his kidney? Or donated his kidney? And that he had to do it because it was "karma?" I'm not quite sure exactly how/why he did it (except that he wanted to be a hero to his son), but I think this is something none of us should do. Don't sell your kidneys for karma.

Also: don't sell your feet for food, don't sell your hands for a house, and don't sell your penis for a Porsche.

(S01E04) Finally, the last open casting-call episode. It's a good thing, because honestly, I'm starting to lose interest. The show had really better pick up the pace and quality of content, or else the next post I'm presenting to you will be the finale.

This week the judges visit Denver and New York again, among other places. The number of accepted inventions seems to have dropped a bit this time, though a few of them that did pass are questionable.

This week we visit Chicago, L.A. and Atlanta. It sounds like the next round is actually going to be yet another pitch round, where the people who were allowed to "move on" will have to pitch their idea once again. It also sounds like it's not airing again for a while, judging by the previews at the end of the show.

As for the judges, I'm really not liking the woman judge. She just wants her own way too much, and really whines when something doesn't go her way. Those guys on the panel must really get a headache at the end of the day.

Oh, and the bald judge? He should start telling people he doesn't like that their idea is "Inconceivable!" Princess Bride fans will know where I'm coming from.

1. What exactly will happen in the next rounds? On the other AI, American Idol, the next rounds involve singing entirely different songs, maybe even an entirely different style of song, and the performances can be great, good, so-so, or bad. But on this show, it's the same invention, and even if they get money to improve and tweak the invention, it's still the same invention.