Shark Tankers

Anyone else into Shark Tank? It's the new addiction at my house. We put the kid to bed on Friday nights and relax on the sofa, couch vegetables that we are, and watch prospective entrepreneurs haggle for investment backers.

And here is the group of financial wizards:

Mr. Wonderful - Blam! I have to mention Kevin O'Leary right up front. He always makes us laugh as we sit safely shielded in our family room, far away from the shark tank as Mr. Wonderful picks holes in "The Next Big Thing" presentation. I've noticed his style is to offer financial backing but for a piece of the profit with each item sold - Kevin seems to enjoy those weekly royalty checks coming in.

Daymond John - The cutest of the bunch, his smile is infectious and he seems to gravitate towards presenters who are in the clothing or household goods industries. Makes sense, since his company, FUBU, started with sales of hats on the street and grew to a billion-dollar enterprise. 

Barbara Corcoran - Not the largest personality in the tank, but I love Barbara. She seems to zero in on personality as a win/lose aspect of grabbing her as an investor. Plus, anyone who writes a book called "If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails" is cool.

Robert Herjavec - Oh, those blue eyes. Robert doesn't offer many deals, so when he does, you know the presenter has something special. 

Lori Greiner - The new addition, and the "Queen of QVC" as well as the "warm-blooded shark." She's too cute - my husband likes her. It's all good.

And then there's Mark Cuban, who just seems to have been in the right place at the right time when he sold Broadcast.com for several billion during the dot com boom - and shorted the stock afterwards. Now that's a sharky thing to do. Still, on the show you can't deny that he hones in on weakness - and strength - right away. We loved when he declared he was out in two seconds during a "motorcycle movie deal" presentation; yes, it was pretty lame.

A successful deal! Love it.

And as for those presenters? We love the great ones, who know their business inside and out, have the financial answers and obvious energy, as well as great products. So far, my favorite has been Coffee Joulies, which are like the opposite of ice cubes - they keep your coffee from burning your tongue off by absorbing heat and then release it to keep it hot. I need some of those bad boys.

We love the bad ones as well - the scientist dude who came on to present his "energy device" which made as much physics sense as perpetual motion (time crystals aside.) The sharks' response to his device? Yeah, they ripped him a new one.

Shark Tank may be a strange obsession for a sci-fi, fantasy geek like me, but I'm also fascinated by economics and possibilities. The show offers a glimpse of both.

The French Disconnection

I've noticed a growing trend in television and films (such as Mad Men and Awake) lately, and one that occurs in some of the best written scripts. There  seems to be a strange disconnect between the characters, as though they are all speaking a different language and cannot understand each other.

I first saw it in Lost, when I was such a huge fan. Someone (usually Hurley) would say something that  was perfectly pleasant, and no one would respond with corresponding pleasantness. Then, when someone else would say something nice to Hurley, he would respond with a cutting remark or an incredulous scoff - there are loads of incredulous scoffs, if you begin to notice- and walk off, alone.

Of course Sawyer was a master at this, with his oft-repeated "Yeah, well, what do you know about it, doc?"

It happens in Twilight - in both the books and the movies - where Alice, as hard as she tries, just  can't seem to connect with Bella in true friendship. I see it in Awake, although there I give the writers a pass, since they are dealing with themes of  recent loss and devastating life changes. I do hope that  some connections begin to develop between Michael and his partners, however.

Mad Men is a repeat offender. The women in the office just can't find a footing for a friendship beyond bitching about the boss or snippy gossip. In fact, the one way the characters really connect is with sex. And I say all this with love - I am a Mad Men fiend.

It was particularly noticeable when Peggy defended  Joan, and that gorgeous redhead responded by biting back. Peggy's reaction to that was, "Excuse me?!" And I felt like applauding.

Is it  a mark of good writing to have constant loneliness and a lack of friendship between the characters? Has that become a hallmark of a well-written script? Perhaps that is why Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption stand out for me, since they showcase believable friendships and continuing, deepening connections.

Maybe, in a plot-driven show,  it is difficult to give time to a real human connection - but, no. I refuse to believe it. It  can be done. The writers are incredibly talented, and I hope that friendship does become a bigger theme in the future.