There are essentially three formats in which television entrepreneurs are presented on television aside from fictionalized dramas or comedies.
The first form television entrepreneurs are portrayed are in a competitive format. It was started in recent years with Donald Trump’s The Apprentice. The Apprentice is a hit show were a number of aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals competed for a lucrative salaried position within the Trump organization. The show inspired a number of copycat shows with billionaires like Mark Cuban and Richard Branson, they were failures. However, a recent format from the same creator-producer of The Apprentice is Shark Tank. Here entrepreneurs and inventors present their ideas before a panel of investors trying to persuade them to invest in their ideas. This show has its fans.
The second format that highlights entrepreneurs in television is reality shows. There are numerous shows that present real business owners doing what they do. Hit shows like Deadliest Catch, American Choppers, and Pawn Stars. Some shows focus more heavily on the business, rather than the personality, like Deadliest Catch (a show about crab fishermen in Alaska) which keeps a running total of the value of crab caught. Also, there are and have been plenty of other shows about entrepreneurs that may not have been as big of hits but are as interesting. One of those notable shows was the King of Cars which focused on cars sales at a Las Vegas dealership.
The third format to focus on entrepreneurs is infomercials and long-form television commercials. Many of these sales pitches present the business owners or inventors themselves. They have also become celebrities themselves. Pitchmen entrepreneurs like Ron Popeil, Vince Offer, and Anthony Sullivan make money by selling products on television and at the same time became famous. Vince Offer is an example of a celebrity pitchman who made his name with the ShamWow and the Slap Chop. However, it should be noted that he and the others mentioned are not just spokesmen of their products but also business owners that handle all facets of production, order fulfillment, marketing, etc.