To kick off the 26th annual Shark Week, and first since Sharknado, the Discovery Channel aired a fake documentary last night called Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives, about the extinct lion of the sea that Toothless John down at the ol’ Fishing Hole says was as big as life itself and twice as nasty. It was an obvious sham (the phrase “power chumming” was mentioned) to everyone except the kind of people who bitch about sharks on Facebook.
A typical angry reaction on Shark Week’s Facebook page as of this morning:
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Shark Week sank to this level after the documentary where the “researchers” pretended to remake the movie Jaws. Frankly I have lost all respect for the network with this as there was no disclaimer that the footage was fake. Nothing on the guide, episode info, in no way is the network making sure viewers are aware this is “fiction.” Now I look and tonight’s line-up is much the same. One good documentary followed by a sensational pile of drek that isn’t worth the effort to not watch it about sharks in swamps eating people. I am a huge fin-atic, and to have my love for these animals and this week of programming perverted in this way is one more slap in the face regarding this channel.
“Fin-atic.” It somehow gets better.
Shark week is absolutely my favorite week for TV each year. I post about it and share my excitement with everyone. However this year I would like to express my utter disappointment with the FAKE megalodon so called documentary last night. Opening shark week with something like that was a joke. The acting was almost as terrible as the fake footage. Completely dissatisfied. Please never show anything fake for your shark week fans again or plan to lose a lot of viewers!
#sharkweekhasbecomereallylame
We want facts on Discovery Channel. Leave fabricated science-fiction to the SyFy Channel. Shame on you for this megalodon show.
Are you ready to say sorry for megladon? Please bring us the facts on sharks now. We want information and real stories not lies and falsehoods.
Hope it gets better over the rest of the week. Discovery channel used to mean quality, intelligent programming. Megalodon was trash. I couldn’t find any record of the “sinking”, nor could I find any record of the beached body of a whale attacked in 2009, nor were there any results for a WWII u-boat shark photo. So as far as I’m concerned the whole thing was trash.
Megalodon???? Its a shame that now I will not believe anything discovery shows until i validate it myself. If they just said this is fake in the beginning it would have been better… but to deceive all of us outright is very sad. I thought shark week was to educate us about sharks…this should have been shown on syfy!!!
Shame on you for running your best week of the year.
I had a full chubby starting off shark week, consider that flaccid now.
The megaladon kick off show JUMPED THE SHARK! Fake stories, fake pictures, fake cgi sharks, fake chum trail, fake actors…..What next? The cast of NJ shore goes fishing and fist pumps with Megaladon?
I have e-mailed Volkswagon and told them I am boycotting VW, because shark week has been ruined since they became advertisers! Fake mockumentaries and a lame knockoff of the “Talking Dead”. What happened to education? Also, enough with the Air Jaws already! How many ways do we have to watch the sharks jump out of the water. What is next? Put a bottle rocket up it’s but to make it go higher?
Megalodon:The Monster = fake and false information from a once informative tv station. Competing with “Mermaids the new evidence” What a waist of time……
Shark Weak is more like it! Very sad now…..
That is a perfect comment.
(Via)
