Shark Tank (ABC) - America's #1 Show on TV on Friday Nights

Mark Burnett, producer of last month's ratings blockbuster "The Bible" series on The History Channel adds to his list of #1 hit shows with "Shark Tank".  "Shark Tank" has is the #1 show on Friday nights for beating out NBC and CBS.  

Burnett based "Shark Tank" on the British TV show called "Dragons' Den".  The series features a panel of "potential investors", called "sharks", who consider offers from "aspiring entrepreneurs" seeking investments for their business or product.  

The "sharks" on all 26 episodes this season are Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec.  Lori Greiner and Barbara Corcoran rotate the female shark spot for the season.  All of the "sharks" have their strengths but most of the entrepreneurs seem to lean towards wanting to make a deal with Mark Cuban, maybe because he is the most well known in pop culture.  O'Leary is typically the harshest of the "sharks" not going for much of the fairy tale story but giving them the harsh reality of their company or fiances. He makes good points sometimes but also seems to dig into contestants overboard at points.  

The entrepreneur comes into the "shark tank" to pitch their idea or company in hopes one of the "sharks" (investors) is interested and will want to partner with them in their company.  If all of the "sharks" say they are out, the contestant leaves empty handed.  The show is reportedly about "the drama of pitch meetings and the interaction between the entrepreneurs and tycoons".  The show is said to personalize "the desperation and pain experienced by victims of a broken-down economy".

36,076 people applied to become contestants on the show in 2012.  Every episode they flash back to contestants who have been on the show in the past to see how their companies are doing since being in the "shark tank".