Dragons' Den (Canada)

Dragons' Den
Genre	Reality show
Presented by	Dianne Buckner
Starring	Bruce Croxon (Season 6-present) Arlene Dickinson (Season 2-present) Robert Herjavec Laurence Lewin (Season 1-2) Kevin O'Leary Jim Treliving W. Brett Wilson (Season 3-5) Jennifer Wood (Season 1)
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	69~
Production
Producer(s)	Mike Armitage Mike Downie Lisa Gabriele
Location(s)	Toronto, Ontario
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC Television
Original run	October 3, 2006 – present
External links
Website

Dragons' Den is a Canadian television reality show, based on the internationally franchised Dragons' Den format, in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hopes of securing business financing.

The show debuted on October 3, 2006 on CBC Television. It is hosted by Dianne Buckner.

The Dragons

• Arlene Dickinson (Season 2-present), the owner of Venture Communications, a marketing company with offices across Canada.
• Robert Herjavec (Season 1-present), who sold his IT security firm at the height of the dot-com bubble for over $100 million
• Laurence Lewin (Season 1 & 2), co-founder of La Senza, a chain of lingerie shops with more than 310 stores throughout Canada, and, via corporate licensees, a further 320 stores operating in 30 countries around the world. He left the show for health reasons, which ultimately claimed his life. Lewin died on 12 November 2008. The show broadcast a dedication in memory of Laurence on 17 November 2008
• Kevin O'Leary (Season 1-present), co-host of CBC News Network's business news series The Lang and O'Leary Exchange, was formerly the president of The Learning Company, which was sold to Mattel for $3.7 billion in 1999
• Jim Treliving (Season 1-present), a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who now owns Boston Pizza and Mr. Lube. In 2005, his restaurants generated well over $500 million in sales^{[citation needed]}
• Jennifer Wood (Season 1 only), an executive in Canada's beef industry. Her career in the cattle business began in 1990, and she now owns a 6,500-acre (26 km²) ranch with over 20,000 head of cattle
• W. Brett Wilson (Season 3-5) is a founder of FirstEnergy Capital Corp, and part owner of the English football team Derby County. During his time on the show, he brokered more business deals than any other Dragon on any version of the show worldwide.^[1] Considered the most philanthropically-minded of the Canadian Dragons,^[2] he has also been involved in numerous charities and participated in a CBC staff video for the online It Gets Better Project. He left the show following Season 5; in interviews following the announcement of his departure, he criticized the show's producers for sticking to a format that favoured "abuse" and "criticism", rather than offering constructive guidance and feedback to potential entrepreneurs.^[3] He subsequently announced his own entrepreneurship-themed series, Risky Business, to air on Slice.^[4]
• Bruce Croxon (Season 6) is a founder of the successful online dating website Lavalife.^[5]

Episode list

Season	Episodes	Start Date	End Date	Dragons
Season 1	8	October 3, 2006	August 28, 2006	Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Wood, Lewin
Season 2	10			Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Dickinson, Lewin
Season 3	11	September 29, 2008	December 8, 2008	Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Dickinson, Wilson
Season 4	20	September 30, 2009	March 17, 2010	Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Dickinson, Wilson
Season 5	20	September 22, 2010	March 30, 2011	Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Dickinson, Wilson
Season 6	TBA	September 14, 2011		Herjavec, O'Leary, Treliving, Dickinson, Croxon

Awards

On June 13, 2011, Dragons' Den was named best reality program at the Banff World Television Festival.^[6]

References

1. ^ "CBC loses star over sticky rules". Toronto Sun, March 1, 2011.
2. ^ "Brett Wilson: The Dragon with a heart". Toronto Star, March 17, 2010.
3. ^ "W. Brett Wilson leaves Dragons’ Den with a challenge". National Post, February 28, 2011.
4. ^ "Former Dragon Brett Wilson starts Risky Business". The Globe and Mail, April 20, 2011.
5. ^ "CBC unveils new ‘Dragon’s’ star". Toronto Sun, February 28, 2011.
6. ^ "CBC's Dragon's Den wins best reality TV prize". CBC News. 2011-06-14. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/06/14/banff-nonfiction-awards.html. Retrieved 2011-06-14. 

External links

• Dragons' Den