I guess success breeds copycats.  On March 18, 2006, Reality TV Magazine said . . .

The critics might have hated American Inventor, but the show racked up impressive ratings.  Critics lambasted that show for being cruel and for humiliating many of the inventors.  Evidently the critics forgot that's the same criticism often labeled at the number one show on television: American Idol.  

The "cruelty", with at least one of the judges, continues even after the show is taking a break.  USA Today  quotes Doug Hall's less-than-flattering comments.

Hall plans to return as a judge on the coming season of American Inventor, which appeals to his lighter side.