Business hopefuls who play with fire
Oh, for a bailout. The American economy, beleaguered and humiliated, weakens with every passing day. Investment banks, insurance firms, automobile makers, newspapers -- no Brobdingnagian industry is safe from collapse. Perhaps the Obama administration, so committed to newness and change, could benefit from ingenuity from that most creative of arenas, reality television.
Consider “Dragons’ Den,” which concludes its third season with a two-part finale that begins airing this week on BBC America, essential viewing for the bailout era. In the spirit of the New Toughness, when CEOs have to plead their case for a helping hand before Congress, here is a show that prizes the initiative of the little guy, the small-business owners and the inventors who are the constant, if sometimes unreliable, engines of the middle-class economy.
At least, until the little guy gets swallowed up by a big conglomerate, at which point he may succeed or may atrophy -- it almost doesn’t matter which.
On the exceedingly sober “Dragons’ Den,” entrepreneurs are given three minutes to pitch a business concept to five self-made business moguls -- Duncan Bannatyne, Richard Farleigh, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis -- with diversified interests. If successful, they receive an investment for an equity piece in their business, invariably a significantly higher one than they were prepared to part with when they entered the room.
It can be plodding, unvarying television, broken up only by the product demonstrations that fail -- the egg cooker that doesn’t cook, the directions helpline that no one answers -- and the heavy doses of sanctimony occasionally delivered by the dragons.
“I would rather pass a kidney stone than invest in this,” Paphitis tells one unlucky pitcher.
Some of the products are promising -- a seat-belt height adjuster for children seems to be a likely winner -- but there is little suspense: Occasionally the businesspeople turn down an evidently predatory offer from one of the dragons. Sometimes, the dragons undercut each other for better deals, but more often, they partner to lessen the risk of investing in an untested idea. (A young circus company? A pub-based poker league?)
But while “Dragons’ Den” begins as a means to rescue small ideas from the slush pile, it ends up promoting the values of big-scale business. Smallness, the show insists, is a sort of failure, and a self-perpetuating one at that. Most of those who pitch are ill-prepared to face the dragons, both logistically and emotionally. Testing their mettle becomes a bit of sport. After eight episodes of dressing down and shakedowns, it’s almost easier to sympathize with the bully.
This week’s pair of episodes follows up on participants from the show’s previous season, focusing more on people who either didn’t accept a dragon’s offer or who didn’t receive one at all. (Six seasons have aired in England -- the fourth season premiered this month on BBC America and will continue through January.) But in a twist, up against those who did partner with one of the moguls, these people seem happy, even the delusional ones, like the woman who is hand-pressing names onto pairs of children’s underwear. Perhaps a little pluck and resourcefulness matters more than a lump-sum investment and the feeling of control slipping through your fingertips.
In 2006, Jones, along with Simon Cowell, brought a similar show to ABC, “American Inventor,” which offered a $1 million prize to the inventor whose product survived several rounds of scrutiny and elimination. The show was heavy on emotional investment in a way that “Dragons’ Den” is not: In both seasons, the winner was a safety product designed by someone with a personal connection to the tragedy the product remedied.
Perhaps this idea can be a recession-buster. Looking for cuts in the federal budget? Let the public decide which programs are overfunded or superfluous. Big corporations need an assist? Let them plead their case to a panel with Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and the like. Or maybe, instead of helping large corporations and hoping for help trickle down to the working and middle classes, let the bailing out start with the little guy, and maybe create a new class of dragon.
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‘Dragons’ Den’
Where: BBC America
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays
Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)
