A tiger shark bites Paul de Gelder's prosthetic arm in Discovery's 'How to Survive a Shark Attack', part of 2025's 'Shark Week' on the network. Discovery Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text It's mid-summer, the heat is on across the country and - as they've been doing for more than 30 years - many of the nation's TVs are tuned in to... educational programming? That's right, it's Shark Week on Discovery Channel, the massive, annual television event that this year offers 20 new original programs featuring the underwater apex predator. Now that it's arguably bigger than ever, one has to ask how Shark Week has endured the storm of cord-cutting and ongoing streaming wars to become a ratings juggernaut and the longest-running cable television event in history? Related Stories Lifestyle 'Shark Week' 2025 Is Here: Everything to Know About Discovery's 37th Annual Event TV Shark Week 2025 Brings New Thrills and Old Favorites to Discovery More than a decade after the release of Steven Spielberg's Jaws (and a year after Jaws: The Revenge), the original blockbuster that kept audiences out of the water, terrified of what lurked near the shore of ocean beaches, Discovery launched an earnest attempt to promote shark education and conservation, as "[Insert Topic Here] Week" content blocks and events were all the rage on television. The first Shark Week consisted of 10 episodes of shows, including Caged in Fear, Sharks: Predators or Prey, The Shark Takes a Siesta and Sharks of a Different Color. Today, the stakes are higher and the budget has soared, amid dramatic reenactments, celebrity-hosted specials and pulse-pounding footage. This has led to a drift, the annual TV event's critics say, arguing that the small-screen spectacle has moved too far from its roots in science education. As Shark Week continues to command attention and Discovery looks to top the 25 million viewers who tuned in last summer, the question is now whether the line between education and entertainment has disappeared into the water. While the event has its detractors, its purveyors are happier than ever with the fruit of their efforts. "Shark Week continues to evolve as a cultural phenomenon, blending adrenaline-fueled storytelling with cutting-edge science," Howard Lee, chief creative officer of U.S. Networks and president of Discovery Network, told reporters, including The Hollywood Reporter, ahead of Sunday's debut. (Shark Week runs July 20 - 26.) "But what truly sets it apart is the sheer joy and wonder our teams feel in bringing it to life. Every year, we dive into uncharted waters - discovering new stories, pushing creative limits and celebrating the awe-inspiring world of sharks with fresh eyes. This time, the sharks aren't just circling - they're dancing." Lee references what may be Shark Week's biggest spectacle yet: a Tom Bergeron-hosted deep-sea dance-off called Dancing With Sharks, where five divers - all trained by a world-class underwater choreographers - dance down their shark partners and are judged, reality competition-style. The entertainment value is high, while the educational value here isn't quite the draw. Jamie Ferguson on Discovery's Shark Week Program, 'Dancing with Sharks' (courtesy: Discovery) Discovery The event has also been derided by some critics over the years (Wil Wheaton's 2013 accusations and the boycott following the airing of a mockumentary about the extinct Megalodon, which was presented as factual, come to mind), as is using cheap tactics to become a purveyor of junk science and using wild theories over data points. An adoption of a fictitious docudrama style, where scenarios are created for the show's cast, brought in more subpar episodes which many feel didn't help the cause. It also didn't help when Olympian Michael Phelps' televised race against a great white wa later discovered to be computer-generated. Kendyl Berna, a documentary producer, marine biologist and co-founder of Beyond the Reef, who appears on the thrilling Black Mako of the Abyss, one of this year's major new shows, spoke about this last week in an interview with THR. "Even though it is entertainment - and a lot of times, there's probably certain scientists and academics who are looking at it like, 'That's a weird way to approach shark science' - we're doing this for the greater good of getting some science out of it, while also just showing people how awesome sharks are and why they need to be protected," she said. Elsewhere in this year's Shark Week, the ideal balance of education and entertainment value is struck. In How to Survive a Shark Attack, affable host Paul de Gelder, who lost an arm and a leg, literally, when he survived an underwater encounter with an ocean terror, makes the bold decision to re-create that attack with live sharks and share with audi