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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHas Discovery Channel "jumped the shark?"
Dear Discovery Communications,I have to say, I had high hopes for this years Shark Week. But were 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 planets oceans? The sharks 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 years 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. Theres only one problem: the entire documentary wasnt 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? Doesnt 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
(45,274 posts)quinnox
(20,600 posts)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
(20,605 posts)I was watching that last night and just thought WTF?
I love shark week for the science, not this bullshit.
Awful.
derby378
(30,252 posts)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
(32,076 posts)zappaman
(20,605 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)egold2604
(369 posts)SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)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
(26,355 posts)SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)and "The Day the World Changed" for my grown sons who loved those shows waaaay back when we first got TLC..
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Another one I remember was Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson.
I wish they still made shows like that.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)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
(15,189 posts)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
(4,185 posts)derby378
(30,252 posts)Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)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
(30,252 posts)"You see? You see? Your stupid minds? Stupid! STUPID!"
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)....so bad that in the speeding car seen the car actually changed colors. Maybe they crashed the first one ...lmao
jmowreader
(50,451 posts)Sharknado, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Giant Piranha and Snakes on a Plane?
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Super Shark
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Comedy tonight!
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)It's either on syfy or lifetime. It's culture
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)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
(16,399 posts)....and pass it off as real, that's a huge problem.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)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
(30,252 posts)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
(42,082 posts)Texasgal
(17,029 posts)it was interesting even if it isn't true.
It's kinda like those ghost shows!
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)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
(26,355 posts)Besides, the executives want the ratings from the room-temperature-IQ demographic, so we get lowest-common-denominator TV.
Texasgal
(17,029 posts)People have choices.
I enjoyed the program although I was skeptical, still entertaining though.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)quinnox
(20,600 posts)should be made on that one.
Tree-Hugger
(3,364 posts)zonkers
(5,865 posts)RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)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
(16,380 posts)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
(26,355 posts)csziggy
(34,120 posts)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
(20,605 posts)"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
(42,082 posts)csziggy
(34,120 posts)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
(19,776 posts)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
(30,252 posts)"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
(3,364 posts)ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)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
(20,605 posts)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
(22,974 posts)Turn off your TV.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,119 posts)Which, of course, will be staged in Lizard Lick, NC.
derby378
(30,252 posts)Good night, everybody!
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)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
(13,396 posts)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
(26,355 posts)That's the History Channel spreading fairy tales...