Discovery’s Shark Week makes ratings history
Forget sexy vampires and tormented werewolves — the real ratings monster come summertime is Shark Week. Each year, Discovery Channel makes armchair marine biologists of us all, celebrating the animals with jaws more dangerous than a pack of yuppies without their daily lattés.
And this week, as its 26th extravaganza swam onto screens, Shark Week made history. Its Sunday première of Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives nabbed 4.8 million U.S. viewers, making it the highest rated Shark Week program to date.
Megalodon focused on the mythical gunmetal grey beast — an 18-metre relative of the Great White and one of the largest predators ever -— as scientists and shark experts sought answers and created the largest (and likely smelli- est) chum slick in history.
But, to use a melodramatic ocean metaphor, it also churned the waters of controversy. See, some viewers were outraged — outraged! — that a network that airs mostly sciencebased shows would broadcast a mockumentary dedicated to an animal no one has actually seen evidence of.
Discovery, for its part, stood by its decision to sacrifice truth for tooth.
“It’s the ultimate Shark Week fantasy,” said Michael Sorensen, Discovery’s senior director of programming, according to The Associated Press. “The stories have been out there for years, and with 95 per cent of the ocean unexplored, who really knows?”
What we do know is that Shark Week runs until Friday, with more close encounters of the oceanic kind. Tonight, Spawn of Jaws: Sharktweeto makes like Who Do You Think You Are? as it unravels the mystery of where Jaws gave birth. Fast & Furious star Paul Walker — who’s really, really into sharks — makes an appearance.
Tonight also marks the advent of Sharkpocalypse, which examines the trend of sharks lurking closer to shorelines and tries to make a connection between declining shark populations and increasing shark attacks. And then there’s Alien Sharks, focusing on strange species such as the Goblin shark and the giant Megamouth shark.
Capping things off is Shark After Dark, the new talk show hosted by comedian Josh Wolf, who tries to make things like seven-inch shark incisors seem funny. Talk about your biting humour.
Starts 6 p.m., Discovery Three to see
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