Charles Trepany|USA TODAY
CULVER CITY, Calif. – For the first time ever, ABC's"Shark Tank" had a live feeding frenzy.
The long-running reality-TVseries –in which entrepreneurs pitchproducts to investor "sharks" Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary–kicked off Season 14Friday with itsfirstlive broadcast, in front of a studio audience at Sony Pictures Studios.USA TODAY was there, and talked to the sharks afterward in an exclusive interview.
Over the course of thehour, the sharks heard three different pitches (down from the usual four) and had about 15 minutesto proposean offer, negotiate and strike a deal (or not) for each.
The stakes were high, as the audience cheered, booed and made clear whichdeals they wanted the entrepreneurs to take. In the end, each set of entrepreneurs walked away with a deal in hand.
"Oh my God, it was crazy," Greiner says, flanked by her fellow sharks in the studio less than 30 minutes after the show wrapped. "I felt like we were in a tornado. It was fascinating, exciting, crazy fun. It was so fast-paced, and I did not expect at all the audience to be chiming in.”
But as the sharkssipped celebratory Champagneand theiradrenalinebegan to fade, a major question loomed in their minds: What were theythinking, offeringso much money?
Here's what the sharks had to say about thelive-show experience, plus a look at how it all unfolded inside the studio.
Barbara Corcoran'paid too much' thanks to wild studio audience
In a typical, pre-taped episode,pitches and negotiations canlast up to 90 minutes before its edited into a10-minute segment for television.
Because ofthetime constraints of alive show, O'Leary says entrepreneurs really had to deliver "the classic elevator pitch."
"Except there were six people in the elevator,"Greiner adds.
Corcoran says the live show's first "Shark Tank" cheerleading sectionfavored theentrepreneurs, even if they hadless time to explain their products.
“The audience was always on the entrepreneur’s side, without exception," Corcoran says. "That helped the entrepreneur get a better deal."
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That's great if you'retheentrepreneurs, but not so great if you're one ofthe sharks, who nervously kept their eyes on an off-camera timer, behind the entrepreneurs, as it counted down to the next commercial break.
“We got so caught up," says John, who landed a deal with Jeff and Stacy Grace for $200,000,in exchange for a 15% stake intheir compostable underwear business."We’re so excited too, so we’re puttinga lot more emotion than we usually do.”
"Forget about the emotion! We put too much money into every deal," Corcoran says.
When Sina and Nina Farzin pitched theirproduct– a nose-picker thathelps babies breathe– Corcoranupped her offer from$400,000to $600,000in exchange for 10%, as Herjavec agreed to join her.
The audience went wild, chanting "Take the deal," and the Farzins accepted.
"Did we put an extra $200K into our deal?" Herjavec asks Corcoran post-show.
"We went bonkers!" Corcoran replies. "I don’t even know what I paid, but I know I definitely paid too much with that audience shouting at me."
Kevin O'Leary 'nearly choked' on 'terrible' pizza duringfinal pitch
Tate Koenig, the third and final entrepreneur, piqued sharks' interest with his collapsible, microwavablecontainer for storingleftover pizza.
He scored an offer fromGreiner of$100,000for13% of his business. The audience chanted Greiner's name as Koenig mulled his optionsbefore taking her offer.
But would Koenig have fared as well withouta studioaudience backing him?
"We would have thrown him out with his goddamn pizza slices," Corcoran quips. Greiner adds the sharks"would have hammered him on pricing" ina typical episode.(Koenig sells hispizza containers for more than $20 each.)
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Cuban says Koenigwould also have had to answer more questions, like whythe pizza provided for his pitch was cold.
“By the way, the pizza was terrible," O'Learyadds."I had a bite. I nearly choked. It was awful."
Sharks schmooze audience duringcommercial breaks
During the commercial breaks, the sharkscheckedtheir phones while crew members touched up theirhair and makeup.
Often, they chatted with eager fans in the audience. John even posed for a picture with a womanwearing a dress covered in images of swimming sharks.
The sharksalso chatted among each other in hushed tones. What did they discuss? O'Leary plays coy post-show.
“Barbara said the broom I bought her last year isn’t working anymore," he says with a straight face. "She can’t fly anywhere, so Ihave to get her a new one."
Corcoran fires back, “And I was telling him to take that broom ...and shove it!"
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The sharks also helped warm up the crowd, especially Cuban, who hammed it up before showtime.
“Remember, when I say anything, you cheer really, really loud," Cuban instructed the audience. O'Leary attempted to one-up him, starting a "royalty" chant, a reference to his frequent attempt to includea royalty in his deals.
As the sharks sauntered offstage before air,Corcoran joked there was one last thing the sharks needed to get ready: “Everyone’s getting alcohol now!”
Pre-recorded shark entrances get a redo
Not everything could berecorded live.
Shark entrances were pre-recorded twice, first with the audience clapping and then rising to a standing ovation, and thenwith the audience clapping while remaining seated. The second take made the cut. (They are already seated when other episodes begin.)
Anice surprise for longtime viewers was the appearance of Phil Crowley, who has narrated the showsince its 2009 premiere. Crowleymade his first on-cameraappearance on "Shark Tank"during the live show, delivering his announcementsfrom a platform on the side of the stage opposite the audience.
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