American Inventor is a reality television series based on a competition to be named America's best inventor. It was conceived by UK entrepreneur Peter Jones, who appears on the British version of the somewhat similar programme Dragons' Den, a format originated in Japan where it is owned by Sony. It was produced by Jones alongside Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol. It premiered on ABC on March 16, 2006. It was organized as a competition between the various Inventors resulting in one overall winner.

Janusz Liberkowski, who invented a new type of child safety seat based on the human womb called the Anecia Safety Capsule, was declared the first season's winner in a live episode on May 18, 2006. The second season premiered on June 6, 2007. Firefighter Greg Chavez, who invented a fire suppression system for Christmas Trees called the Guardian Angel, was the winner of the second season, on August 1, 2007. On March 20, 2008, the show's official website was removed, and the series was not included on the 2008 fall schedule.

Premise[link]

Season 1[link]

Twelve inventors and their products are chosen from a pool of hundreds by four judges including Ed Evangelista, Mary Lou Quinlan, Peter Jones and Doug Hall. The 12 semi-finalists are broken down into four groups of three, with each episode focusing on a different group of three. Each of the twelve semi-finalists in each group receives $50,000 to improve their inventions and compete to become one of the four finalists. In the show's live finale, the four finalists present a 30-second commercial advertisement for their product, with the home audience voting by phone for the winner. The winner receives $1,000,000 worth of business support, entrepreneurial counsel, physical resources, and prize money.

Season 2[link]

Instead of 12 finalists receiving $50,000 checks to develop their inventions like in season one, six finalists, one from each of the audition cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Tampa and Houston, will each receive $50,000 and have one month to develop their inventions. The 1 finalist^{[clarification needed]} is narrowed down to three based on the judges' preference. Unlike the first season, the three finalists for voting were declared and were voted on by viewers immediately after the second-to-last show. The season finale was a single show, where the winner is declared among the finalist. In the first season, the finale was a two-episode feature with 30-second commercials on the first and the results of viewer voting on the second part. Also, the first season had four finalists instead of six narrowed to three.

Finalists[link]

Season 1 Finalists[link]

• Anecia Safety Capsule: A car seat shaped like a sphere with a movable sphere inside it. In the event of a car accident, the sphere will move, lessening the force on the baby. Winner
• Word Ace: A game that tells you a letter and a number and you have to come up with a word that starts with the letter and has a number of letters equal to the number. (Final 4)
• Double Traction Bike: A bike with a seat on the handlebars. (Final 4)
• The Catch Vest (aka Receiver Trainer Pole): A bar that sits in front of your body to help you catch footballs properly. (Final 4)
• Inside Umbrella: An umbrella where the top part goes inside the bar. (Final 12)
• Head-Line It: A rubber pad to go on top of your head to prevent sweating and itching under hats, helmets and wigs. (Final 12)
• Sackmaster: A large shovel with a bag inside it to make sand-bag filling easier. (Final 12)
• Here Comes Niya Doll: A multilingual set of dolls. (Final 12)
• Bathroom Clip: A clip to attach to a bathroom door in case the lock is broken. (Final 12)
• Tonerbelt: An exercise belt (Final 12)
• EZ-X Portable Gym: A portable gym (Final 12)
• Pureflush: A toilet that prevents the spread of bacteria upon flushing. (Final 12)

Season 2 Finalists[link]

• Guardian Angel: A small, pressurized tank of water, disguised as a Christmas package, that is placed under the Christmas tree and attached to a small hose leading to the top of the tree where a fusible link is disguised as an angel. The heat from a fire pops the link and water suppresses the fire. There is also an alarm that works without a battery & intended to suppress (not fully extinguish) a Christmas tree fire and sound an alarm to get people out of the house alive. Winner
• 6-In-1 Convertible Brassiere: A convertible brassiere that accommodates the full wardrobe of small frame women with a "C" cup or above. This is a traditional brassiere that converts into six configurations and affords the full back to be exposed with comfort because there is no mid-section and it can be worn with full wardrobe. The invention was later commercialized by Maidenform.^[1] (Chicago Finalist) (2nd)
• HT Racers: The design and fabrication of custom vehicles through the use of a computer program and patented tools. Intended for use by individuals and groups ages 9 and up for entertainment and educational purposes, this invention is a kit that lets teens design, engineer, and build remote controlled vehicles. (L.A. Finalist) (3rd)
• The Claw: A ceiling or wall-mounted bicycle storage mechanism. The bicycle wheel is grasped by opposing hooks when the central plunger is depressed. Re-pressing the central plunger opens and locks the hooks for bicycle wheel removal. The bi-stable plunger relies on an internal rotary mechanism. (New York Finalist) (Final 6)
• Wrap-a-Way Cabinet: A station to put in a drawer or attach to a cabinet to dispense paper towels, gift wrap, etc. (Houston Finalist) (Final 6)
• EZT4U: A brewing basket that attaches to the common electric coffee brewing machine in order to brew tea. (Tampa Finalist) (Final 6)

Time slot[link]

American Inventor debuted March 16, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Each subsequent Thursday, it aired at 9 p.m. until the season finale May 18, 2006. American Inventor aired on ABC and on CH in Canada. The second season began on June 6, 2007 at 9pm on ABC. It aired on Global in Canada.

In Malaysia, it is formerly aired on NTV7 which later aired a half bit of Malay subtitles. Latin America had the airings of the show in Sony Entertainment Television on Saturday nights at 9:00pm (Chile). In Sweden TV4 Plus and later TV400 has aired the show from 2008.

Controversy[link]

The makers of the program were accused of modeling American Inventor on a similar program called Million Dollar Idea ^[2].

The validity of the claim that the Guardian Angel was invented by Greg Chavez is unclear. This same "invention" was actually a gag product on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on December 16, 1993, the first night Julia Roberts was a guest on the show. Mr. Leno used a lighter to trigger a smoke alarm within a Christmas tree which then caused the star on the top of the tree to spray a strong burst of water, putting out any potential fire. Several similar patents have been granted over the years and first season judge Doug Hall has also called it unoriginal, writing in his blog that he once worked on something similar for a client.

Credits[link]

American Inventor is produced by Simon Cowell's Syco TV and FremantleMedia North America, Inc in association with Peter Jones TV. The executive producers are Simon Cowell, Liz Bronstein, Siobhan Greene, Nigel Hall and Cecile Frot-Coutaz. Co-executive producer is Daniel Soiseth.

See also[link]

• Tycoon (TV series) A similar show on British TV hosted by Peter Jones.
• The Big Idea Another similar show on British TV.
• Dragons' Den A similar program that originated in Japan, and also stars Peter Jones in the United Kingdom.
• The New Inventors An Australian program shown on the ABC.
• America's Got Talent A show also produced by Simon Cowell shown on NBC.
• Everyday Edisons A PBS television show focused on inventors and their inventions PBS.
• Shark Tank An ABC show which is a directly licensed American version of Dragons' Den

External links[link]

• American Inventor at the Internet Movie Database
• American Inventor at TV.com
• Update on Anecia Survival Capsule - Winner of Season One of American Inventor
• T2 Design was shown developing two prototypes during Season One of American Inventor

References[link]