American Inventor

29
Metascore
2006-2007
2 seasons
ABC Family
Reality

A panel of judges finds the next American Inventor.

29
Metascore
2006-2007
2 seasons
ABC Family
Reality

A panel of judges finds the next American Inventor.

American Inventor's Sara Blakely Wants to Spanx You!

Sitting alongside overbearing alpha males George Foreman, Pat Croce and Peter Jones, fellow judge Sara Blakely has more than held her own on ABC's American Inventor (Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET). Having reshaped the ironically male-dominated hosiery industry with her popular Spanx and Assets lines of slimming undergarments for women, that should come as no surprise. We spoke with the charming go-getter about critiquing Inventor's aspiring Edisons. TVGuide.com: Why'd you agree to be a judge?Sara Blakely: Well, I am an American inventor, and I'm liv

Wed, Jul 18, 2007

American Inventor's Sara Blakely Wants to Spanx You!

Ratings: A Bigger Thing, Dance Steps Livelier

A quick ratings recap, now available on a superbly intermittent, not-at-all daily basis: ABC's Next Big Thing (8.3 million total viewers) sounds a bit like Robert De Niro and looks like a winner, up 550K versus last week's premiere. Hidden Palms (1.55 mil) isn't swaying fans, shedding 270 thou from its debut. Maybe last night's freaky tag will get peeps curious? Lead-out One Tree Hill (2.11 mil) was down a bit from last week's measly numbers. So You Think You Can Dance surged a full mil and dominated at 9 pm, with 10.21 mil viewers. American Inventor returned to an audience of 7.8 mil  a definite improvement (i.e., up 1.2 mil) over the previous season's finale, but barely half of S1's own premiere draw. Traveler saw 880,000 viewers hit the road, dipping to 5.44 mil.

Thu, Jun 7, 2007

We Grill George Foreman About American Inventor

ABC's American Inventor kicks off its second season tonight (at 9 pm/ET) with three new judges having been brought onboard to deliberate with executive producer/judge Peter Jones. One of those judges is the Olympic gold medalist, former heavyweight champion and bona fide grill master George Foreman. TVGuide.com spoke with Big George while he was in Las Vegas promoting his new book, God in My Corner. TVGuide.com: Why did you decide to sign on as a judge for American Inventor?George Foreman: It's strange, because I was a good boxer and I made some money. I had done good with Madison Avenue, doing commercials for McDonald's and Oscar Mayer. Then somebody approached me with a little machine nobody was interested in

Wed, Jun 6, 2007

We Grill George Foreman About American Inventor

Previewing the American Idol Finale, Simon Says....

Jordin's got pipes that cannot be beat. Blake rocks a contemporary beat. For that reason alone, Simon Cowell has no prediction to make about the forthcoming American Idol finale. "I can't call it, because I think theyve both got different strengths," he told TVGuide.com during a conference call to tout the new (and totally improved) season of that other AI, ABC's American Inventor (premiering June 6). "One is a better entertainer, and one is a better singer. It will come down to what they do on [Tuesday]."Later in the call, Cowell dissed the dismissal of critical darling Melinda Doolittle, but stopped short of saying it cripples Idol's credibility. "I didnt agree with the vote, but more people should have dialed for Melinda," he said plainly. "When you allow the public to choose, youve got to live and die by the vote. It's as simple as that."Reflecting on Idol's season gone by  one marked by a famously coiffed crooner  Simon confessed, "I like crazy. Th...

Sat, May 19, 2007

Previewing the American Idol Finale, Simon Says....

A.I.'s Judging Jury Gets a Foreman

Pugilist turned lean, mean griddle giant George Foreman will join Season 1 holdover Peter Jones and fellow newbies Pat Croce (a former NBA exec and talk-show host) and Sara Blakely (undergarments entrepreneur/creator of Spanx) on the judging panel for the new cycle of ABC's American Inventor. Other tweaks to the compeition, according to Variety: The judges will kick off the competition by visiting six cities and culling a finalist from each; the half-dozen wannabe Thomas Edisons will then build prototypes, with the best entrepenuer netting $1 million and a chance to mass-produce his or her gizmo. They also got a new host you won't recognize.

Wed, Mar 21, 2007

Who Should Win American Inventor?

Tonight at 9 pm/ET ABC presents the debut-season results show for American Inventor, in which one of four finalists will be deemed to have developed the best gadget. Who is likely to have earned America's vote? Who should win? And what changes are in store for the just-renewed competition's second round? TVGuide.com went to judge/cocreator/executive producer Peter Jones for answers. TVGuide.com: As someone who gets an idea or two along the lines of "Someone should invent a...," I have to say this show has been interesting. I like it.Peter Jones: Do you? It's quite interesting because some people say, "I really love the show," while

Thu, May 18, 2006

American Inventor "Guys, get this!...

American Inventor"Guys, get this! I invented this show that will totally blow your socks off! What? You're not wearing socks or something?" That was me about three months ago when I found out that my idea for a new show was already taken. Damn you, Simon Cowell, damn you! However, I do like the show. Even if I'm not sure how we Americans will do the actual voting. And speaking of Americans, and shows with "American" in the title, what's with all the Brits? First Simon and now Peter Jones? OK, so the Brits invented the invention show. I'm over it. Another judge is Doug Hall. He's my favorite, he's possibly Canadian, and he honestly seems like the most qualified for the job. But for the love of the spork, if they keep saying that

Fri, Mar 17, 2006

Simon Cowell Seeks an American Genius

With $1 million in seed money at stake and a bevy of Caractacus Potts wannabes in queue, ABC's American Inventor — cocreated and executive-produced by American Idol icon Simon Cowell — offers the promise of actually impacting the millions of us who don't necessarily worship pop-music newbies. After all, the winner of this amateur-inventor competition might bring into our homes a product that is both revolutionary and desperately needed, right? Um... maybe? At the very least, American Inventor (premiering with a two-hour special tonight at 8 pm, then airing Thursdays at 9 pm/ET) promises to bring to your television screen a parade of characters — "a million" of them, to hear Cowell tell it. "I sat through a number of the auditions quietly in the back of a room," he shares, "and I would say that 90 percent of these people h

Thu, Mar 16, 2006