“Shark Tank” is set to have its Season 3 premiere on Friday, January 20, 2012 at 8pm on ABC. The show is executive produced by reality show heavyweight Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice and The Voice) and was adapted from the widely popular Japanese TV show “Tiger of Money.” The show has several entrepreneurs and startup companies making sales presentations to 5 “Sharks” (Very wealthy venture capitalist that are willing to either invest, have a partnership, or be a mentor) and they state what they want and either get everything they ask for (or a better deal) or they go home empty handed. The Sharks are Robert Herjavec (former owner of an IT security firm that was sold for millions), Barbara Corcoran (former owner of the Manhattan real estate company known as The Corcoran Group), Kevin O’ Leary (former president of The Learning Company), Daymond John (founder of the popular urban clothing line FUBU), and Mark Cuban (Owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and chairman of HDTV cable network HDNet). The Canadian version of the show (“Dragon’s Den”) is very popular and also stars Herjavec and O’ Leary as well. The Sharks have the capital and the knowledge to help out these new companies, but only if the price is right and the opportunity is perfect.

The Season 3 premiere episode follows the same format as its Canadian counterpart. A person makes a sales presentation and either the Sharks really love it and want to invest and help out or they hate it and criticize the person from every angle. This episode was not any different from the others that I have seen before. However, I do see one of the Sharks, who is usually very reasonable and level headed, get very angry not only at one of the entrepreneurs, but towards their fellow sharks as well. The products and companies presented were new ideas and ranged from very thoughtful to downright silly. I must admit, it was very entertaining to watch with a few exceptions.

“Dragon’s Den” has a host that introduces the presenters and gives some background for the products and the companies. In “Shark Tank” the presenters do everything themselves and aren’t always all that great at explaining what they do. Having this element would make the show run more smoothly and give more time to include more presentations. Also, even though I did enjoy watching all the drama, there was a lack of fellowship between the Sharks. The Dragons try to help each other out and provide encouragement with one another, but the Sharks were all for themselves and were a lot more “cutthroat” with their deals compared to their Canadian counterparts. Lastly, Barbara didn’t say or do much in the whole episode. I felt like she was just taking up a seat and could be replaced with a more lively or interesting Shark. These are some changes they can take into consideration to improve the show.

The differences from “Dragon’s Den” that I did enjoy were the nicer looking set and the music. The “Shark Tank” set looks a lot more upper class and posh compared to the “Dragon’s Den” factory basement. It just seemed a lot more fitting and had more of a professional feel to it. Also, the music during the “feeding frenzy” when the Sharks are bidding added a lot to the suspense and overall mood of the show. These are some things “Dragon’s Den” should add to their show to liven things up.

I enjoy watching “Dragons Den” and was a bit skeptical about watching “Shark Tank,” but I was surprised at how well it was it reproduced. They both have the same format, but the minor differences in “Shark Tank” make it a totally different show with a different feel. I would watch the show again and I would recommend it to others. However, if the recommended changes were made, I would enjoy it a lot more. For those reasons, I am giving this show and its Season 3 premiere episode a “B-.”