It's become a staple of prime time viewing, made household names of Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne and co, now Dragons' Den has landed the ultimate accolade... a slot in the Christmas special of Ricky Gervais' global smash Extras.
Cynics complain Dragons' Den is a million miles removed from the 'real' world of business, that it's edited purely for entertainment, and warn of the dangers of creating niave lemmings who'll walk blindly into thinking they're the next Branson and end up losing their mortgages.
They're partly right, of course. It's more fun than education. A lot of the deals don't go through etc. But that said, Dragons' Den has definitely done more than any government initiative to get people thinking that starting a business could be a viable option for them.
Surely it's a positive for entrepreneurship to have millions of extra people wracking their brains for 'that idea' and for all of those thinking of pitching for finance to know their figures off by heart for fear of receiving a dragon-esque dressing down and sameday return to the rat race?
So it's kinda fitting then that the man who so superbly captured the benality of everyday working life is now promoting the alternative. Visit YouTube to see if the dragons invested in the nation's favourite funny man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxi8dbRVshI
And while you're there, why not watch new dragon James Caan's video diary from the filming of the current series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELgkYMYFp2o&watch_response
Remember the time when messrs Branson and Sugar were the only entrepreneurs you saw in the media? Those days a long gone, but where will it all end?!