'Shark Tank,'
well worth biting into
Entrepreneurs looking for backers are relatable
By Tom Conroy
Aug 7, 2009
Reality shows are supposed to present relatable people vying for a significant prize in an interesting way. That doesn’t sound so hard, but most fail. “Shark Tank” succeeds.
On the series, premiering on ABC on Sunday, Aug. 9, at 9 p.m., would-be entrepreneurs pitch their product or business plan to a panel of already successful entrepreneurs. The wannabes offer a percentage of their business for a fixed sum to the panelists, who can either accept the offer, turn it down or make a counteroffer.
The show, produced by Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”), feels new, although it bears some resemblance to the ABC reality series “American Inventor,” which was produced by Simon Cowell and Peter Jones.
It’s actually an adaptation of a series called “Dragons’ Den,” which originated in Japan and has aired in British, Canadian and Australian versions. (The British version, which starred Peter Jones as one of the Dragons, has been shown on BBC America.)
Lest we think the show is ill-timed considering the anemic economy, the introductory montage says that with money so tight, the Sharks are perhaps the wannabes' last resort.
The aspiring moguls are mostly appealing: a local pie baker who wants to go national, a nanny who has invented a toy to trick kids into taking medicine, two brash MBA types who want to start a business called College Foxes Packing Boxes.
Only one of the pitchers in the premiere seems like the typical screw-loose reality freak. We won’t spoil the laugh by telling you his idea.
While the panelists reveal strong personalities, none seems to be puffing himself up to make better television, like Donald Trump on “The Apprentice.” (Of course, it’s debatable whether the Donald is as obnoxious in real life as he appears to be on TV.)
The closest thing to the Donald in this show is a software entrepreneur named Kevin O’Leary, who lambastes some of the contestants for their greed or fuzzy thinking. Since he’s also been a panelist on the Canadian “Dragons’ Den,” he may have already polished some of his zingers, most of which concern money.
“Don’t cry about money,” he tells the pie man. “It never cries for you.” He thinks of his money as soldiers, who he sends out to take prisoners but return home safely. And you should never laugh at money, or insult it.
When he tells the College Foxes boys, “I’m out,” the kid replies, “So that means you get to stop talking, right?”
Robert Herjavec, a venture capitalist who has also appeared on the Canadian “Den,” has an odd habit of creating graphics with his hands: “Here’s insanity. Here’s genius.”
Barbara Corcoran, the founder of a major New York real estate company, comes off as the most sympathetic, but she’s also the one who negotiates the hardest for a larger stake in the businesses that interest her.
Most viewers will be moved when the moguls give a reality check to a guy who mortgaged his home for an idea whose time has gone, if it ever came in the first place.
The most involving drama happens when the Sharks start making counteroffers for the promising businesses. Even former English majors will find themselves trying to calculate whether $460,000 is a fair price for a 50 percent stake and rooting for the pitcher to either take the money or run.
Appropriately, this show is airing after the nighttime revival of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” the show that started the reality boom 10 years ago. While not as fresh and exciting as “Millionaire” was when it debuted, “Shark Tank” more than delivers in a summer of diminished expectations.
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