Has Discovery Channel "jumped the shark?"

[derby378]

Dear Discovery Communications,

I have to say, I had high hopes for this year’s Shark Week. But we’re only one special in and already, shark week has seriously jumped the shark.

I get why you had a special about C. megalodon. What shark inspires more fear and fascination than Megalodon, the Chondrichthyean monster that once dominated our planet’s oceans? The shark’s name, which translates to “giant tooth”, says it all. Their hand-sized dental records are some of the only fossilized evidence we have of these gigantic predators, which lived from ~50 million years ago to around 2 million years ago. Based on their size, scientists have estimated these sharks grew to upwards of 60 feet long with a bite force anywhere between 10 and 18 tons, and from scarred fossils we know they likely dined on the giant whales of their time. This year’s Shark Week kick-off special, Megalodon: The Monster Shark That Lives, claimed to provide evidence that these massive beasts are still out there, using scattered anecdotes and scientific testimony to support the assertion. There’s only one problem: the entire “documentary” wasn’t real.

No whale with a giant bite taken out of it has ever washed up here in Hawaii. No fishing vessel went mysteriously missing off of South Africa in April. No one has ever found unfossilized Megalodon teeth. Collin Drake? Doesn’t exist. The evidence was faked, the stories fabricated, and the scientists portrayed on it were actors. The idea that Megalodon could still be roaming the ocean is a complete and total myth.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2013/08/05/shark-week-jumps-the-shark-an-open-letter-to-discovery-communications/#.UgAp6JKsiSo

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Jumped the Plesiosaur.

[quinnox]

2. It seems to have gotten into a rut and nothing interesting

for a while. I don't watch it. I do like the Investigation Discovery sister channel though, for the crime stories. Those hook me.

[zappaman]

3. Thank you for posting this!

I was watching that last night and just thought WTF?
I love shark week for the science, not this bullshit.
Awful.

[derby378]

8. You're most certainly welcome

I spent the bulk of Sunday night playing Fallout 3 instead.

Discovery Channel, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Either show me some actual physical evidence to support a modern Megalodon or I go back to hunting mutated ghouls and beasts on Xbox that we know aren't real.

[elehhhhna]

41. They should have run sharknado

[zappaman]

42. Might as well have! n/t

[liberal_at_heart]

4. anything to get ratings. Media sucks these days. Period.

[egold2604]

5. I'm glad it was fake. Now I can get back into the water

[SoCalDem]

6. Discover/Nat' Geog / A & E/ History/ & TLC

they ALL jumped the shark/rhino/tiger/dinosaur a LONG time ago.

They are mostly crap tv these days:

Just look at the shit they show..It will break your heart, if you are old enough to remember when they showed quality stuff..

Discovery

A&E

The Learning Channel

History Channel

Nat'l Geographic

[backscatter712]

14. These days the History Channel is to history as Dr Pepper is to doctors. n/t

[SoCalDem]

15. I went online & purchased 4 complete sets of "Connections"

and "The Day the World Changed" for my grown sons who loved those shows waaaay back when we first got TLC..

[backscatter712]

17. I remember Connections.

Another one I remember was Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson.

I wish they still made shows like that.

[adirondacker]

19. Good One!

[Posteritatis]

33. History's lineup particularly depresses me there

One show - one - that could theoretically be history-esque (Museum Secrets), with the rest being either reality TV or things like the Indiana Jones movies.

I gave up on most of the others awhile back - TLC in particular back when it decided its lineup would be nothing but marriage and childbirth shows for awhile - but as someone with a couple of history degrees the blighting that hit History Channel particularly upsets me.

[Politicalboi]

56. So sad indeed

I used to like to watch those shows. Seems about the time Court TV changed to reality TV, they all seemed to change. To me reality TV ISN'T real. Give me old Candid Camera, now that's "real" TV.

[Boom Sound 416]

7. It's gone Sharknado

[derby378]

9. You had to go there, didn't you?

[Boom Sound 416]

25. ...

[Marrah_G]

12. I haven't seen that one yet

That's going be a special night of popcorn, maybe some drinks and my boys . While they were growing up we used have "Bad SciFi Saturdays". Good times!

[derby378]

22. I could see a SHARKNADO/PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE double feature

"You see? You see? Your stupid minds? Stupid! STUPID!"

[Marrah_G]

27. Hmmm.... I was thinking Sharknado and Giant Pirahna

....so bad that in the speeding car seen the car actually changed colors. Maybe they crashed the first one ...lmao

[jmowreader]

44. Why not a quadruple feature?

Sharknado, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Giant Piranha and Snakes on a Plane?

[Boom Sound 416]

29. Triple feature with

Super Shark

[pinboy3niner]

37. Sharknado and A Finny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Comedy tonight!

[Boom Sound 416]

26. Its on

It's either on syfy or lifetime. It's culture

[Marrah_G]

10. It's entertaining for alot of people

The though of undiscovered monsters out there in the deep. I don't think it does any harm, any more then a show on bigfoot or loch ness. It certainly won't stop me from enjoying shark week

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

46. When you create a fictional story and fake "found footage"....

....and pass it off as real, that's a huge problem.

[backscatter712]

11. Between them, History Channel and TLC, yes, the shark's been jumped.

The only good show on any of those networks anymore is Mythbusters.

Aside from that, you turn them on, and you get Pawn Stars, Swamp People and Honey Boo Boo. That entire block of channels has turned to trash.

[derby378]

24. I rather like PAWN STARS

Not only does it expose me to restoration services that describe what it takes to refurbish neglected or distressed antiques, but I like the history connected with many of the items brought into the shop, especially those Spanish doubloons fused into a lump under the sea that Arthur C. Clarke found while diving off of Sri Lanka.

[sakabatou]

38. Gotta love Mythbusters

[Texasgal]

13. Pfft. I don't care

it was interesting even if it isn't true.

It's kinda like those ghost shows!

[liberal_at_heart]

16. but if they all become like that in order to get ratings where are we going to get real programming

from? It's one thing to have some entertainment programs, but because they are all greedy and all want those precious ratings they are all producing the same kind of entertaining docudramas. If they want to produce some shows like that that is fine with me, but produce some that are based on facts for those of us who are interested in fact based documentaries and label them so people know the difference before they waste an hour of their time trying to figure out which is which.

[backscatter712]

28. Reality shows are cheap, & it's easy to goad people to act like drama queens in front of the camera.

Besides, the executives want the ratings from the room-temperature-IQ demographic, so we get lowest-common-denominator TV.

[Texasgal]

34. It's cable.

People have choices.

I enjoyed the program although I was skeptical, still entertaining though.

[Scuba]

18. Yeah, but this guy ....

[quinnox]

21. Jesus, maybe a graphic warning, "ultimate nightmare if in water"

should be made on that one.

[Tree-Hugger]

47. He's just smiling for the picture

[zonkers]

20. I don't know but "Naked and Afraid" is my favorite show!

[RedCappedBandit]

23. The fake documentaries are kind of entertaining, i guess

but when you take into account the sort of incredible phenomena that DO exist already without any exaggeration, why bother wasting time with fake nonsense?

[Puglover]

30. We went out on a cage diving boat when we were in Gansbaai.

Just being in the boat and watching was more then enough for me. First of all it was cold and secondly I was

One of the things that I have never seen in any documentary is a perspective that shows just how big these beauties are.

They are magnificent creatures. I'd like to go back someday.

Note to anyone that goes. Take your Dramamine.

Oh and PS. This was a silly thing for them to open Shark Week with. Entertaining fun but bad timing IMHO.

[backscatter712]

31. Did the show have this guy?

[csziggy]

32. They did to megalodon what they did to mermaids

I wouldn't have minded either if they had made it clear they were speculative fiction mockumentaries. But to present them as if they were fact without disclaimers is irresponsible.

This country has a big enough problem with lack of science education and disinformation. We don't need Discovery Channel piling on more than is already done with Bigfoot, paranormal, hauntings, and the other bullshit they waste time on.

[zappaman]

35. Spot on!

"This country has a big enough problem with lack of science education and disinformation. We don't need Discovery Channel piling on more than is already done with Bigfoot, paranormal, hauntings, and the other bullshit they waste time on."

[sakabatou]

39. Didn't someone sue over the mermaid mocumentary?

[csziggy]

48. I don't follow much entertainment news

I know I read that the second mermaid mocumentary pissed off viewers.

I hope that these things show people how easy it is to create a credible fake that can be used to "prove" anything. If all it does is to get people to check out a few facts, they may be worth something.

[MFM008]

36. oh crud

Next it will be unicorns. I like facts with my shark attacks. They keep it up and National Geo channel will take over with "Shark Fest".

[derby378]

40. Or maybe AMISH SHARK MAFIA

"We live a carnivorous Christian life without electricity, which we believe is divine providence because we live in the ocean. We're sharks! But sometimes we need a shark to step up and defend our feeding frenzies in a way that our bishop, Hammerhead, cannot. That's when we bring in Levi the Bull (Shark)."

[Tree-Hugger]

50. +1,000

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

43. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was annoyed

I'm perfectly fine with a Shark Week show debating the possibility of Megalodon still existing. Inventing a fictional tale to pad a two hour show and sell it as a "documentary" pissed me off.

[zappaman]

45. You are not alone!

I kept watching it because I was mesmerized by the sheer bullshit of it!
And 70% of the people who saw it, believed it?
Unfuckingreal.

[tabasco]

49. Long ago.

Turn off your TV.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

51. BBC documentaries make the Discovery Channel look like long-term glue huffers by comparison. n/t

[Buns_of_Fire]

52. I vote for "Megalodonado vs. Honey Boo Boo"

Which, of course, will be staged in Lizard Lick, NC.

[derby378]

55. FTW!

Good night, everybody!

[Scootaloo]

53. That this passes itself off as "learning" has the effect of making people stupid

It's like finding a starving man and offering him a display of marshmallow peeps. Oh, he'll eat the fuckers, and he'll feel full, but they're not going to help him out any.

[brewens]

54. What was the one a couple years ago about some possibly Mayan monument on

an Island off the coast of South America. Something special about it anyway that was "astounding". This pile of rocks, more like a natural outcropping they tried to pass off as a monument was idiotic. That was huge waste of time.

Okay. I just went and found it.

http://www.ask.com/wiki/Apocalypse_Island?o=2801&qsrc=999

[backscatter712]

57. The Bible miniseries from a few months back is another epic fail.

That's the History Channel spreading fairy tales...

[Demo_Chris]

58. I rather enjoy Deadliest Catch. Needs more Mermaids though. nt