Discovery's Shark Week Chomps Down on 45 Hours of Programming

This year brings 45 hours of programming including William Shatner in a special edition of Discovery39s Expedition Unknown titled Expedition Unknown Shark Trek on July 12 Host Josh Gates39 Trekker nerdiness reaches enterprising levels as the duo flies to the Bahamas Shatner and Gates are pictured at top At the start of the show Shatner confesses quotI am deathly afraid of sharksquotConquering that fear they wade into a sharkfilled lagoon As Shatner espies a dorsal fin glide by he calls it quotthe periscope of deathquotShark Week also brings Tiffany Haddish Does Shark Week Haddishas it happens was curious about shark sex Who isn39t Her special will be telecast July 11The week continues with that special programming mashup Shark Week is known for a goofy sense of humor with ballast in scientific factHoward Swartz Senior Vice President of Documentaries and Specials Networks and Streaming took a deep dive exclusively with MediaVillage to discuss the phenomenon that is Shark WeekquotI love Shark Week for a number of reasonsquot Swartz said quotSharks have evolved into being the perfect predators over hundreds of millions of years they have survived every mass extinction and they39re the top apex predators in the ocean I think there39s a great mystery around that and there39s a lot of innate primordial fear in that as wellquotLike so many Swartz did not think all that much about sharks until the summer of 1975 Cue the music for JawsquotI wouldn39t even go in a bath for yearsquot Swartz recalled laughing quotAs a kid after seeing Jaws I was just so terrified And it does tap into something like that I think that once you get to know these animals you see how amazing they are that they39re not mindless killing machines that they are incredibly intelligent and just magnificent And beyond that their importance to the ecosystem is so critical God forbid if these apex predators were to go away I mean so goes the ocean so goes the EarthquotDocumentaries detail how biologists gather evidence to understand where sharks breed and how they adapt to an everchanging world These films will keep the most ardent fin fan happy with facts such as quotWhite sharks are feeding on much more than beforequot as we learn in Mega Predators of Oz streaming on discoveryStill as fascinating and compelling as the many documentaries are the networks are also running the two most famous and wildly fictional shark movie franchises The four Jaws movies are on the network and the six Sharknado films are streaming Hilarious and addictive they39re intentionally ridiculous Andy Dick as a New York City cop Who could ever believe thatOh and the movies39 premise is that massive groups of sharks swirl up out of the water in tornadoes to go on killing rampages while destroying cities In these sharks can climb stairs It takes the heroism of Fin Shepard a chainsawbrandishing Ian Ziering to save usTapping into the franchise39s fanbase the network premieres The Real Sharknado July 14 Tara Reid stays in a cage protecting her from sharks while Ziering swims with them sans chainsaw quotIt39s time to separate fact from fiction and the sharks from the stormquot the narrator announces quotContrary to Sharknado science recent tracking research indicates that during a storm sharks actually retreat from the surface and head to deeper waterquotIf you are gleaning your marine biology knowledge from Sharknado now would be a perfect time to dip into the documentaries Granted there are a lot of shark shows and some people may get confusedTake JB SmooveThe comedian39s friend country singer Brad Paisley pictured above right with Smoove is a diehard Shark Week fan and a lifelong admirer of sharks When Discovery executives heard about this quotWe jumped all over that and found a way to organically have him participate in the show because one of the things researchers look at is what sounds attract sharks and which sounds repel themquot Swartz saidPaisley wanted his pal to accompany him quotBrad calls JB to participate and JB shows up and he39s talking with Bradquot Swartz recalled quotHe39s got all these ideas for inventions He legitimately thought he was signing up for Shark TankquotSmoove however was still game and he39s in Brad Paisley39s Shark Country airing July 13When Shark Week officially launches on the network at 8 pm July 11 it will be with a familiar name Crikey It39s Shark Week features Robert Irwin Like his late father Steve Irwin Robert gets close to creatures including a great white sharkWhile we may be terrified of them let39s not forget that humans kill 100 million sharks annually a result of destructive fishing and hunting for fins meat and oil In FIN streaming July 13 filmmaker Eli Roth scientists and activists sail the world to uncover why millions of sharks are killed quotFIN is the scariest film I39ve ever made and certainly the most dangerous but I wanted to send a message of hope to end this needless massacre of sharksquot Roth who specializes in gruesome horror movies said in a statementStill news reports about sharks attacking do seem more common and Raging Bulls streaming July 15 documents Australia39s bull sharks becoming more aggressive In I Was Prey Shark Week 2021 airing July 17 two folks who survived shark attacks recount their storiesAfter all these years the purpose of Shark Week remains to teach viewers about these ancient creatures that have survived 450 million yearsquotNot to be histrionic about it but they are critical to the health of not just the oceans but of the planetquot Swartz explained quotWhen you combine how amazing they are that sort of intrinsic fascination people have with them with their importance amp8230 for me that39s what39s so fun about it to bring audiences facetoface with these animals that they may not quite understand or may have a fear about To show how amazing they are but to do so in a way that39s super entertaining and also sort of reinforces the notion of how important they arequotIf we do our job right it39s for people to walk away thinking that these are amazing animalsquot Swartz concluded quotThey39re worth saving If we can change people39s perceptions and have them see them for the beauty and the wonder and all that they inspire that39s the ultimate takeawayquotClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Discovery's Shark Week Chomps Down on 45 Hours of Programming

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Discovery's Shark Week Chomps Down on 45 Hours of Programming

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Jacqueline Cutler

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