Shark Tank is an American reality television series that premiered August 9, 2009, on ABC. Based on the worldwide television series format Dragons' Den that originally aired in Japan, Shark Tank has aspiring entrepreneur-contestants make business presentations to a panel of shark investors.hark Tank' s third season premiered in January 2012. During the second season, Kevin Harrington was replaced by Mark Cuban, while in the third season, the queen of QVC Lori Greiner replaced Barbara Corcoran on 4 episodes.