Invention USA's Host Von What's His Name and Replacement Host Scotty Ziegler
Ok...maybe i was a little tough on my review of co-host Garrett Lisi from Invention USA, when the show first aired a year ago on the History Channel...I gave him a hard time, as he seemed a little stiff on air, like acting wasn't his thing (thank god we can't all be reality stars).
But now..What?? He's gone?? Season 2 just kicked off with a new co-host, Scotty Ziegler, next to original host, what's his name Von Riegsen. So I guess I owe my first impressions of the new co-host from the first airing a couple nights ago. He seems like a cross between Guy Fieri and Billy Idol, and has an inverted color Joe Perry hair thing going on (black skunk band down the middle of whitish shockwave hair). It looks like he was brought in to amp things up, give it a dose of testosterone with some 5 hour energy drink to compete with other reality show offerings on their own channel or their nemesis, Discovery Channel.
The bio for Ziegler on the History Channel's website, as well as his own (www.vaultsandiego.com) says he is an inventor, so I tried looking up his patents on the USPTO website. The one and only patent filing that popped up with his name listed as inventor, was a design patent for a new license plate and he was listed with 5 other co-inventors...It has a basic license plate cover design with a heart in the middle top, which doesn't really make innovation explode off the page. I'm guessing he did some design work on it for a company, and the company kindly added him due to his design contribution. History Channel's site says he owns "a slew of patents"...maybe I didn't find them because they fell under a different name than Scott Ziegler or Scotty Ziegler, which is all I tried searching under.
Scotty seems more of a designer/artist than inventor, and from the looks of his website, a very good artist. I guess my beef is that the word inventor gets thrown around pretty loosely these days. Most independent inventors bear their unique badge of honor adorned with all the knocks and scrapes of trying to protect their idea while at the same time making their vision become reality.
Riegel Von whats his name, gets a makeup makeover...with newly darker-dyed brown hair and beard and some conservative clothes every now and then to offset his cool outback-style hat. He seems still a little stunned that his inventor buddy, Gilligan Lisi, is no longer on the show. And History Channel decided to change one of the hosts and start season 2 (six episodes I'm guessing, probably the second half of H.C's original 12 episode commitment) with no apparent explanation?..Is Garrett ok?
Regarding the show, it seems basically like the same setup as Season 1. Except now, if only one of the hosts (instead of both) give approval for a new product idea, they will go forward trying to find a manufacturer to take the product to market. Episode one features the Trong (tongs for eating messy foods like chicken and barbequed ribs) and the RESQ Pod (a self preservation, cocoon-style pod for use in tsunami's or floods).. Again, the show seems to be featuring averagely innovative products with marketability problems. There may be a market for the product, it is just too small and not worth the initial large capital investment for a manufacturer to pursue.
Check out the new revamped show on History Channel http://www.history.com/shows/invention-usa or tune in for what they say is the Season Premiere tonight Wed, Nov. 28 at 10/9c, although the first episode just aired on Monday.
Also, check out my blog on the show from Season 1
http://www.newproductconsultant.com/1/post/2011/12/invention-usa-not-ready-for-prime-time-products.html
.
