Anybody watching Shark Week?

I use to love it but it's lost its luster for me over the past few years. Mainly for the reasons you listed. I miss the days of informational documentaries and flying great whites.

That's the one that looks like it's a bunch of actors. The way they did that last bit was way too dramatic.

Discovery has obviously spent a lot of money on fancy equipment this year, though.

Even if it is faked that's some big arse sharks

Trying to put a camera on a mako sounds like a bet someone made when they were drunk

Agreed - we're not going to see some silly fake drama show this year, but they're most definitely playing up the danger angle.

"Right back through the kill zone..." in a voice that sounds like overly dramatic movie preview guy.

That last shot was definitely cgi.

"right through the KILL ZONE!"

looks like they went back to the basics

There was definitely some cgi, not all of it, but several shots of the sharks, as well as the dolphins. Ask yourself how they got that shot if they're all standing on the boat and the shot requires that a cameraman be swimming backwards at 20 mph.

The rest was just overdramatic bullshite. The narrator was ridiculous, the timing of events was way too convenient, the "scientists" were way too enthusiastic and dramatic and you'll never convince me that you could get accurate readings from a device the size of a Christmas turkey clamped to the dorsal fin of a shark.

But, just like last year with the megaladon show, it's being played off as 100% true, complete with appearances by the participants on the "talk show," hosted by the guy who directed Hostel.

Seriously, is Discovery practicing to be the propaganda wing of the government? It's all fun and games when we know mermaids and megaladons don't really exist, but this is getting bizarre.

I preferred Shark Week in the early years when the popularity had a twinge of irony to it. It was 100% educational, but the end product was a week of hypnotizing entertainment.