This year, I am especially grateful for Shark Week. With all of the changes brought about by the pandemic, I’m glad that this has at least stayed the same. And on a personal note, this week has had a lot of highs and lows for me, so it’s comforting to know that I have something to look forward to at the end of every day. Thanks for being Jaws-some Shark Week!
Air Jaws 2020: Narrated by Mike Rowe, Chris Fallows and Jeff Kerr look back at 20 years of Air Jaws. Over the past two decades, there have been 13 Air Jaws specials on Shark Week! Did this clip episode add anything new to Shark Week? Nope. Was it fun and entertaining anyway? Yes! It was so great to see some of the older footage from the earlier yearss of the series. Especially since there were some nuggets of never before seen footage. Newer Air Jaws shows just haven’t quite been as strong as some of the original shows, in my opinion. But, lets be honest, as long as there are some cool breaches, you really can’t have a bad Air Jaws episode.
Sharkadelic Summer: Snoop Dogg narrates this clip show all about great whites in the USA. The episode is made out of footage of research expeditions, interviews with experts, and home videos. This episode is mostly just fluff; there’s not a whole lot of substance (but at least there’s a whole lot of shark). If anyone else was narrating this episode, it would probably just be “ok”. But having Snoop Dogg involved is what makes this show funny and interesting. I certainly wouldn’t mind if he narrated other Shark Week shows. I think it would be hilarious and entertaining if he were to do the narration for one of the more serious scientific shows.
Mako Nation: The first serious science show of the night. This was refreshing after all of the fluff from the previous two episodes. In the waters around New Zealand, Andy Casagrande and Riley Elliot are on a mission to research mako sharks. Little is known about these sharks because they live in the open ocean, so the goal of the mission is to learn more about their power, speed, and intelligence. I love makos so much that it was so wonderful to be able to watch them. And learning more about them will help shark conservation efforts since these sharks are at risk for getting caught by unregulated fishing boats.
Expedition Unknown: Josh Gates Tonight: The last Josh Gates Tonight of the week/year. I really enjoyed that it started off the same way as the first episode: with a Jaws parody. In this final episode, the house band finally got named “The Breach Boys”. And the puppet Rick Chomp is starting to grow on me. Normally, I LOVE puppets, but I’ve been on the fence with Rick Chomp. For this episode at least, I was sold; he had some pretty funny moments. The first interview of the night was with Bo Derek and John Corbett. Not only has this couple starred in films featuring aquatic animals, but they are both avid conservationists and love sharks. And the next interview featured Amber and Serena Shine. These twins will be appearing on Naked and Afraid of Sharks later this weekend. And, of course, throughout the episode, Josh Gates went on some Shark Week themed adventures. Bob the Shark even made an appearance! I’ve really enjoyed watching this show during Shark Week, and it’s a definite improvement over Shark After Dark. I really hope that Josh Gates Tonight gets the 11pm time slot for Shark Week again next year.
