Shark Week is here, and while the show got off to a dramatic start, many are wondering if it still has the same bite that it had 30 years ago.
Back then audiences could not tear themselves away from the screen. The movie "Jaws" was still fresh in our minds and people were petrified of sharks, which were considered to be nothing more than human killing machines.
The Discovery Channel satisfied our morbid curiosity of sharks when it debuted the first-ever Shark Week in the summer of 1988, The Week noted, but a lot has changed since then.
For starters, the prevalence of many shark species has declined dramatically over the years, and scientists and activists including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have campaigned to break down misconceptions about sharks.
Shark Week has also drawn its share of criticism from the scientific community who feel that Discovery has been fusing fact with fiction, prompting ratings to rise and fall dramatically, The Atlantic noted.
However, last year Discovery ranked as cable's top network in prime time during the airing of Shark Week, achieving its highest-rated telecast in the program's history, Fortune noted.
This year the broadcaster said it aimed to generate $18 million in related retail sales, which is a massive increase from the combined $3 million in Shark Week products sold in the past two years.
Shark Week kicked off to a thrilling start this week when the official host, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, teamed up with Rob Riggle for his first shark encounter.
O'Neal, who was skeptical about diving with sharks, climbed into a custom-built shark tank but, while submerged, a small shark wiggled into the cage with him, Yahoo noted.
He escaped unscathed but the episode was enough to have audiences on the edge of their seats.
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