Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives was Shark Week's highest-rated program in history and its least scientifically accurate. The 2013 "documentary" featured a 100-foot, 80-ton "serial killer of the seas" that's actually been extinct for millions of years. And yet when the "Super Bowl of the ocean" kicked off on Sunday, there was not a fake shark in sight.
That's because the Discovery Channel has decided to kick it old school. When the annual Shark Week began 28 years ago, its purpose was to educate people on sharks, not perpetuate the animals' false man-eating reputation. The Discovery Channel's newest head of development and production, Howard Swartz, told Mashable that he pushed the show to return to its roots. "This year we're focusing quite a bit on research and science, more so probably than we have in the past," Swartz said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
