Lori Greiner Describes A ‘Shark Tank’ Fail That Didn’t Make It To Air
It takes a lot of time to film a season of Shark Tank. Back in 2015, Business Insider reported that the entirety of Season 7, which was comprised of 29 episodes, was filmed in 17 days. That means the sharks spend long hours in those comfy seats, listening to pitches of about an hour’s length, for a total shoot day that is about 12-hours long.
If you’re wondering whether all that sitting takes a toll on the sharks, the answer is yes. In the case of Lori Greiner, it resulted in a show blooper that didn’t make it to air. As she told Parade last month, remaining on her panel perch for so long ultimately caused a glitch in what should have been a celebratory handshake when she closed a deal.
“I made the deal, got up to hug the entrepreneur, and found my leg was totally numb. It had fallen asleep and I fell off the step in front of my chair. It killed my leg, hip and butt for days, but I’m sure was hilarious to watch!”
But true to form, Greiner took the speedbump in stride. She went on to tell the publication that mistakes are important in order to learn lessons, and if you’re not making errors, you’re not innovating. Earlier in the discussion, she’d singled out her love of innovation, and meeting creative and innovative people, as one of her favorite parts of appearing on Shark Tank.
Taking risks seems to work out well for Greiner, who has invested millions of dollars into new entrepreneurs. In 2012, she famously put up $200,000 for a 20 percent stake in sponge Scrub Daddy, one of the show’s most successful companies. In August, 2017, CNBC reported that Scrub Daddy had $110 million in cumulative sales.
That’s far from her only success story. As Parade reported, Greiner also took a chance on Squatty Potty, and the product went from an already-impressive sales figure of $1 million at the time of the pitch to now a jaw-dropping $125 million. That’s a huge multiplication in sales, considering Squatty Potty appeared in Season 6, just a few short years ago. Shark Tank is due to start Season 10 in the fall.
Those long Shark Tank days do more than make her legs go numb. In a separate interview for Parade from last fall, she revealed that the long shooting schedule runs contrary to her regular sleep routine. A night owl, Greiner typically goes to bed in the early morning hours and gets a healthy six or seven hours of sleep.
“When we’re shooting ‘Shark Tank,’ I get up at 4 and go to bed at 11 or midnight. Those are long days.”
Hopefully, the set for Season 10 will include ergonomic chairs so fans won’t have to worry about their favorite sharks being too stiff during shooting days — unless producers want to increase the propensity for bloopers.
