PREMIERE

"SHARK TANK" PREMIERES AUGUST 9 ON ABC

Courageous Entrepreneurs Dare to Enter the "Shark Tank" and Ask Ruthless Investors for Cash to Jumpstart Their Moneymaking Business Idea

From the Producer of "The Apprentice" and "Survivor," Mark Burnett

"Episode 101" �- "Shark Tank," an exciting new reality show that, in these trying economic times, gives budding entrepreneurs a chance to make their dreams come true and become successful �- and possibly wealthy �- business people, will premiere SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their business ideas.

Enter the Sharks of "Shark Tank," who lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires. The five Sharks of this ruthless panel are real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, "infomercial" industry pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O'Leary.

In the premiere episode, "101," several ambitious entrepreneurs must convince these merciless moguls to invest their own hard earned cash in their breakthrough business concepts. Although not all of the entrepreneurs will be fortunate enough to convince the panel of their proposal, by the end of the hour the Sharks will have given away more than half a million dollars of their own money. The entrepreneurs include a chef who believes his family's pie recipe has all the ingredients to become a profitable culinary treat, an inventor with a technological gadget he hopes will take the world by storm, and a nanny who is confident that she has come up with a fun, easy way for children to take their medicine.

But the Sharks aren't just out for blood. Their ultimate goal is to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies' equity to the Sharks in order to get the money they need.

If successful, the once-desperate individual can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment. A really top-notch idea will drive more than one of the Sharks to want to sink his or her teeth into it, and a war between them will erupt. But if the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, "I'm out!," sending them running for the exit.

Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin are the executive producers of "Shark Tank," based on the Japanese "Dragons' Den" format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The series is from Sony Pictures Television. It is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.

For more information about "Shark Tank," visit ABC.com.