Shark Week started on Sunday, much to the delight of superfans of the annual Discovery Channel event. But, like a great white whose feeding territory has been encroached upon, some Shark Week fanatics aren't so thrilled.
This year, one of their favorite programs is missing from the lineup. Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives is a faux documentary that premiered during Shark Week in 2013. The fictional film explores the myth of a gigantic prehistoric sea monster, Megalodon, and features "scientists" played by actors. It was such a hit that in 2014 the channel aired a sequel, Megalodon: The New Evidence.
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Though both mockumentaries contain disclosures that the movies are fictional, they're evidently presented as real enough that they were panned by experts for being deceptive and misleading, especially coming from a nonfiction channel like Discovery. Although the original program was the highest-rated in Shark Week history, according to NPR, the criticism was enough for the channel to take it off the schedule. And Twitter is not having it. Here are some of the most enraged reactions to the mysterious disappearance of Megalodon.
very upset shark week has no megalodon shows this year?
— kalena (@kalenaseaman) June 27, 2016
Also where's my boy MEGALODON at #SharkWeek
— Monica.. (@sassosaurus) June 27, 2016
it's shark week where my megalodon documentary
— kitri rainbolt (@kitri600) June 27, 2016
I've been waiting all year for shark week just to watch the megalodon documentaries
— Lyss (@Lyssa_Bauer) June 27, 2016
Honestly this shark week scheduling is sub par. So many repeats, yet no rerun of Megalodon?
— Delaynie (@DelaynieK) June 27, 2016
Hell hath no furry like a Shark Week fan scorned.
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