ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank” is one of the biggest success stories in modern TV history. After being on the air and practically unnoticed for three seasons, the quintessential “American Dream” reality series finally caught-on last year and is now a national phenomenon and must-see TV every Friday – or, for those of us who are at the movies on Fridays – must DVR TV. The show has sunk its teeth into the role as Friday’s #1 program (in the key demo) and refuses to let go.
Friday night has always been a tough night for networks to get ratings, because people are out of the house and not watching TV. ABC was very successful with it’s “TGIF” family sitcom programming in the 90’s, but since then Friday’s had been a dead zone until CBS’ “Blue Bloods” starring Tom Selleck became a surprise hit, with over 10 million viewers, in the 10pm Friday night slot beginning in 2010. And that show has remained consistently popular.
While the “Tank” attracts only 6-7 million viewers a week (still a huge number), it’s been able to do what TV execs thought was impossible: getting 18-49 year-old viewers to stay home instead of going to the mall or movies. And not for a pure entertainment program or reality competition singing show. “Shark Tank” is regular people pitching their unique, products or services to business moguls in hopes of getting an investment and a partner. Thanks to the success of the show, the Sharks, including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, have become some of the most recognizable faces on television.
And the Sharks are one of the main reasons why “ST” works so well. Not only are they experts in running their business empires and not afraid to say what’s on their (or our) minds, but they have a lot of fun on the show while playing-off each other. There are no rules. It’s one of the most unpredictable shows on TV because you never know what’s going to happen next. What will their initial reactions be? What are the entrepreneurs hiding? How’s Kevin (aka Mr. Wonderful) going to want to get his money back this time? Does QVC queen Lori think the product is a Hero or a Zero? Will anyone go in, out, and then back in on a deal? Plus, the teases for the following week’s episode make for some of the funniest moments of the entire hour.
ABC had an equally hot TV product in “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?” Ten years ago, the network went overboard with it – airing new episodes practically every night of the week. It was the classic case of “too much of a good thing” (caused by greed) and it killed “Millionaire” (in primetime). I’m sure ABC is tempted to take advantage of “Shark Tank”‘s popularity and expand it to to another night or two, but so far that hasn’t happened. But I’m guessing the network sharks are circling, sensing blood (and money) in the water. So, if you haven’t done so yet, now’s the time to dive into one of the best shows on TV, before it “jumps the sharks”.