American Inventor - A Lot Of Crazy Ideas And Some Good Ones
Episode 2 Recap by Gayl Killough
June 14, 2007
Michael Every has been a wheelchair for about 20 years due to a motorcycle accident. He has come up with a collapsible frame wheelchair. I have seen times when someone in a wheelchair has not been able to receive transportation because the wheelchair was not compatible with a vehicle. Even if a person can be taken out of the wheelchair, the wheelchair still may not fit in the trunk. There is a need for this product. He gets 4 yes from all the judges. Pat, says that as a physical therapist, that he could just hug him and goes over and gives Every a hug. We are seeing the softer side of Pat in this episode.
Richard Kerr with Mr. Bright Eyes, a battery tester. He is a retired engineer. He came up with the idea in 1963. He says that there is nothing else like his invention on the market. Well, my dad has had a battery tester since I was a kid. His battery tester is super cute, but I don't understand what makes his different from other battery testers. Is the editing of the show leaving something out? To my surprise, he gets enough yes's to be a finalist. Something that I really identified with him saying was that if he is told no by the judges, he wants to know why his invention is a no. I would rather risk being fun of at this stage instead of being ignored and not knowing why I am being ignored.
Ricky DeRennaux is a schoolteacher with the invention called HT Custom Build Racer that allows people to make toy size cars out of paper, the whole thing. He originally started out to impress his students but kept going and going with his invention idea. I totally relate to his thought process. He is my favorite almost immediately. Out of all the inventions that have been shown on this show in both seasons, his approach and invention idea reminds me the most of my own invention ideas. The difference is that he a more advanced version of my ideas. He is where I think I am heading with my invention ideas eventually. A special patented tool allows the user to bend and fold paper into the shape of the car. I get the impression that templates are available as software that can be printed out. I also get the impression that decals and decorations for the car are also available as templates as software. I am so jealous at this point. I have actually tried to make paper cars and mine always looked terrible. I make all sort of stuff out of paper, but rounded curves that are sturdy enough to be used have been impossible for me to make well. For sturdiness, thicker paper is better, but thick paper is more rigid and difficult to bend into small shapes. With thin paper and tissue, it is so delicate and not as durable as I need it to be. Another issue is being able to keep the paper in place while folding and bending it into small shapes. He has spent $20,000 on his invention idea. I am on the edge of my seat because I am curious how they are going to treat him. If they treat him badly I will be furious.
I can also relate to the fact that he started out trying to impress his students. My original major in college was to be a science teacher. I did not become an actual schoolteacher, but I have been a craft teacher with kids many times whether it is Sunday school or simply having a craft class for the neighborhood kids. I don't like to do the same crafts that everyone else is doing, plus traditional crafts tend to bore me. So, over the years I have created my own craft project ideas for the kids. Then because I can't stop with an idea, I keep going and going with my ideas. I even create my own templates using graphic programs on my computer. I can relate to being maybe an earlier version of DeRennaux. I am actually excited now for the first time by this show. Finally, as someone who wants to be an inventor, I am enjoying a show about inventors.
The judges love DeRennaux, even Peter likes it. I am so happy that the judges like DeRennaux. Not only for him, but also because it gives me hope that I might have a chance in the future.
George and Rahana Cox are the last inventors for this episode and they created their invention for their daughter Georgia, it is a hearing aid stabilizer. All his sons are named George and the girls are variations on George. I believe that George Foreman named several of his kids either George or a variation of George. George Foreman tells George Cox that George is a great name. They mention that they sacrificed deeply to pay $3,000 for a book that contains a diagram of their idea and a patent search. For that amount of money, they should have been able to get a simple patent for their idea or at least come close to it. I think that a simple patent would be sufficient for their invention because it seems straightforward and simple in design. However, simple design does not mean that it does not have a great purpose. The idea allows the hearing aid of their daughter to stay in place and she is free to run and play with her hearing aid in place.
Peter tells them that he will reimburse them the $3,000 that they were conned into paying for at great sacrifice. Wow, I might have to take back all the bad things that I have thought about Peter over the course of this show. I mentioned that inventions are an expensive investment, mainly for patent costs, legal fees, and product development. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of con artists that take advantage of people wanting to be inventors. Not everything should be expensive that relates to inventions.
About 5 finalists are shown from each city at the end as finalists. I have trouble believing that only 5 finalists were selected by the judges for each city and I suspect that they are showing at the end the ones that were given air time earlier in the show this season. One finalist is selected from each audition city to receive $50,000 as seed money to further develop the invention. I am assuming that later on the six audition city finalists will be brought to Los Angeles for the final phase of the show. I am assuming that an audience vote will determine the winner out of the 6 finalists and that there will not be a further cut in number made by the judges. Although it would not surprise me, if there was another cut and only three "truly final" finalists are allowed to be voted for by viewers at home. I also notice that Tampa is one of the audition cities and it is not Orlando. At some point, there must have been a change in venue plans.
No time is wasted in mentioning the top 3 for each city. For Los Angeles, the top 3 were Ricky DeRennaux with the HT Custom Build Racer, Richard Kopelle with Therapy Buddy, and Michael Emery with the collapsible wheel chair. For San Francisco, the top 3 were Greg Chavez with Guardian Angel, Erica Fand and Shelly Kohan with Fresh Cuts, and Milton Butler with 5 in 1 lawnmower.
I am expecting the wheelchair to win for Los Angeles and the firefighter to win for San Fransciso. The judges deliberated for two days? Did the contestants have to wait this whole time? I hope none of the contestants got in trouble with their regular workplaces. How many days did the full audition take and how much work was missed by the contestants? On the audition website, it mentioned to allow up to 5 days for the initial audition. Was this part of the 5 days?
I notice that the contestants that Peter liked the best wound up being the eventual winners for each city. Ricky DeRennaux won over the wheelchair invention for Los Angeles. My chin hit the floor I was so shocked. I figured that since I liked Ricky a lot that he would be doomed. Wow, they really are going for the inventions with the most mass appeal in the market place. I do hope the wheelchair and several other inventions still get developed into real products, even though the market is much smaller because it would mean so much for the people that really need the products.
I am also shocked that an idea that really is just for fun (although it does teach some science and engineering concepts) was chosen as the winner. Ricky won without a "sob story". This gives me hope for the rest of the show.
For San Francisco, the Guardian Angel won. I hope that his idea really works and look forward to seeing what he can do with the investment money. For the first time, I actually enjoyed this episode. I can tolerate the wacky stuff if I am given a few inventions that I can think about and even be inspired by during the episode.
Gayl writes government documents for a living and hopes that people will actually read her blogs. Her hobbies include inventions, music, and toys. Her true American Idol will always be B.B. King. Grand Master Flash is her favorite inventor. She can be reached at Gayl@RealityTVCalendar.com
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