When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers.

Helmed by Mr. Reality himself, Mark Burnett, The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.

The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.

Last night, this summer's winner of ABC's American Inventor was crowned. Firefighter Greg Chavez's invention, Guardian Angel, was voted by Americans as the best invention out of the Top 3 selected by the judges.

When Chavez presented his idea to the judges during the auditions, he hadn't won them all over (Pat Croce voted no) because he didn't have a working model; actually, his brilliant idea was only put on paper. But thanks to his passion and the fact that his idea could save lives if it worked, he got enough votes to not only become a San Francisco finalist but to end up in the Top 6.