"Planet of the Apps" is hosted by Honest Company founder Jessica Alba, musician Will.i.am, Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow, and Vayner Media founder and CEO Gary Vayner Chuk — and therein lies one of the show's major problems.


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 None of the hosts has ever developed an app. With the exception of Paltrow, whose company, Goop, built a travel app called Spotting, none of the hosts owns or is affiliated with a company that builds apps. None of the hosts even works in tech at all, unless you count William's Buttons headphones or Vayner Chuk's early investments in Facebook and Twitter.

So why are these four judging a show about making a hit app? That's the biggest mystery of "Planet of the Apps," and one the judges themselves seem stumped by. At several points throughout the first episode, the judges bow out of mentoring a company because they have zero expertise in the field.

The format of "Planet of the Apps" isn't unlike "The Voice" in that each contestant or group of contestants has a set amount of time to pitch their product, then each judge says whether they're interested in mentoring the aspiring entrepreneur by hitting a button on an iPad.

Planet of the Apps
Apple

Oddly, the judges' decisions appear on a digital circle on the floor — red means no, and green means yes. If the contestants get all reds, they can't continue pitching their app. If they get one yes, they stand in the middle of the circle and tell the judges more about their product.

Planet of the Apps
Apple

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the show is that the contestants must stand on a moving escalator and pitch their app before reaching the ground. This appears to be a play on the "elevator pitch" cliché of an ambitious startup founder trying to sell their idea to an investor during a brief elevator ride. Elevators have closing doors that don't translate well to TV, though, so we have an escalator instead.

Planet of the Apps
Apple

It's awkward to watch, and probably even more awkward — and disconcerting — for the contestants. No one seemed outwardly phased by their escalator ride, but it was hard to watch.

It's another unnecessary affectation that gives the show a forced, convoluted feel. Why not use a simple timer and buzzer to ensure the pitches stay concise? Why not have a digital scoreboard showing the judges' decisions instead of digitizing the floorboards?

Apple seemed hell-bent on differentiating the show from "Shark Tank," and the results look overcomplicated, confusing, and, frankly, a little amateurish.