It was conceived by Simon Cowell and the producers of American Idol after Ben Hausbach appeared on Season 5 with his Cosmic Coaster invention.
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 finale, the four finalists present a 30-second commercial advertisement for their product, with the home audience voting by phone for the winner.
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 a $50,000 check and have one month to develop their inventions.
In the first season, the finale was held two episodes with 30-second commercials on the first and the results of viewer voting on the second part.
The executive producers were Simon Cowell, Liz Bronstein, Siobhan Greene, Nigel Hall, and Cecile Frot-Coutaz.