Entertainment NOW

2|Cover story Discovery's Shark Week dominates summer Feeding frenzy By Andrew Sawyer TV Media likely to be killed by a falling co- conut,that primal fear is a part of us,as demonstrated by an entire genre of shark attack movies. A healthy dose of fear is neces- sary when dealing with one of na- ture's top predators,but over the years the tide has turned in favor of more scientific study of these prolif- ic hunters for a more balanced view. N othing conjures up the image of sheer terror quite like that of a shark. Although you're more Enter Shark Week.A mainstay of summer programming since its de- but,the week-long programming event is celebrating its 25th an- niversary this year and is the longest-running cable television event in the country.Shark fin-atics of all kinds tune in each year for the captivating footage and up-to-date information on the very latest breakthroughs in shark science. Aug.12,with a series of documen- taries,including "Air Jaws Apoca- lypse."Picking up where the chum trail left off from last year's Emmy- nominated "Ultimate Air Jaws," Chris Fallows and Jeff Kurr continue their quest to study the incredible breaching behavior of great white sharks off of Seal Island,South Africa.The duo focuses on a 14- footer named Colossus,who domi- nates everything in his path.Team members risks their lives to get new angles and closeups,and they dis- cover dozens of great whites in one place feeding on pretty much any- thing smaller than them. On Monday,Aug.13,the Myth- Busters dive head first into the ac- tion.Adam Savage and Jamie Hyne- man tackle tall tales about sharks in the broadcast of "MythBusters' Jawsome Shark Special."They de- bunk common misconceptions about the graceful predators by counting down the top 25 myths about sharks and reveal the No.1 myth of all time. The event kicks off on Sunday, The "MythBusters"crew then brings back to life the largest shark to roam Earth's oceans in "Sharkzil- la,"a new addition this year to the Shark Week lineup.Kari Byron, Grant Imahara and Tori Belleci set out to build as life-like a model of the beast as they can,complete with hydraulic jaws that can rip through a car door like a can of tuna. The gargantuan megalodon grew to lengths in excess of 50 feet and could weigh more than 100,000 pounds.With teeth six inches long and jaws capable of swallowing a grown human whole, you can breathe a sigh of relief that this monstrous fish went extinct be- tween one and two million years ago. While the megalodon may be the biggest shark to have ever lived, the hungry rogue from the classic mega-hit "Jaws"is certainly the most famous.The iconic movie made waves when it hit theaters in 1975 and "How Jaws Changed the World"(airing Tuesday,Aug.14) ex- plores its impact — not only in terms of redefining the power of film but in bringing sharks into the public consciousness. Unfortunately,this led to mass killings of great whites and other large sharks and nearly drove sever- al species to extinction.On the flip side,the raised awareness and sci- entific inquiry into sharks has meant more conservation and protection in order to reverse some of that damage.Based on his novel of the same name,Peter Benchley co- wrote the script for "Jaws"and has since dedicated much of his life to protecting sharks and educating people about them,even acting as host for Shark Week back in 1994. There are plenty of additional jaw-dropping specials throughout the week that will entertain,edu- cate and sometimes terrify as Shark Week aims to tear down the image of vengeful villain to assemble a more complete view of these pred- ators,and how vital they are to our ecosystem. Sadly,shark populations have TV Media Weekly|August 11 - 17, 2012 CHANNEL GUIDE Comcast Walton Cable- Vision `uWTTV CW Indianapolis " WRTV ABC Indianapolis $ WISH CBS Indianapolis h WTHR NBC Indianapolis r WLFI CBS Lafayette y WFYI PBS Indianapolis d WPTA ABC Ft. Wayne g WNDY MNT Indianapolis WHMB IND Indianapolis WIPB PBS Muncie R WFFT FOX Ft. Wayne G WXIN FOX Indianapolis Arts and Entertainment American Movie Classics Animal Planet [A&E] [AMC] [AP] [BET] [CMT] [CNBC] [CNN] [COM] [DISN] [E!] [ENC] [ESPN] [FAM] [FOXN] [FSN] [FX] [HALL] [HBO] [HIST] [HN] [LIFE] [MAX] [NICK] [OXY] [QVC] Black Entertainment TV [BIGTEN] Big Ten Network [BRAVO] Bravo County Music Television Consumer News & Bus. Ch. Cable News Network Comedy Central [CSPAN] CSPAN [DISC] Discovery Channel Disney Channel Entertainment TV Encore Entertainment Sports Net. [ESPN2] Entertainment Sports Net. 2 Family Channel Fox News Channel Fox Sports FX Hallmark Home Box Office History Channel CNN Headline News Lifetime Cinemax [MTV] Music Television Nickelodeon Oxygen [SHOW] [SPIKE] [STARZ] [SYFY] [TBN] [TMC] [TNT] [TOON] [TRUTV] [USA] [VH1] 4 6 7 12 8 20 10 21 11 9 39 43 30 32 67 55 59 36 34 50 14 28 38 49 70 26 27 44 52 53 54 65 700 40 35 29 730 31 37 61 Quality, Value, Convenience 18 Showtime Spike Starz Science Fiction [TBS] WTBS Atlanta [TLC] The Learning Channel The Movie Channel 750 57 650 56 Trinity Broadcasting Network 13 41 47 Turner Network Television Cartoon Network TruTV [TWC] Weather Channel USA Network Video Hits One [WGN] WGN Chicago Local Programming 785 42 45 66 25 24 33 22 3 A great white shark, as seen during Discovery's Shark Week been decimated by the global fin trade and it's estimated that up to 73 million sharks a year are killed for their fins.Studies have found that continued overfishing of this top predator in the U.S.may lead to a boom in the population of cownose rays,which are prime prey for sharks.The rays feed on shell- fish,but with no sharks to keep the rays in check,the shellfish popula- tion could plummet. Conservation efforts — such as the Shark Conservation Act,which bans shark finning in U.S.waters, and the development of shark sanc- 11 24 18 14 33 27 21 9 5 24 15 37 30 35 36 9 2 7 14 34 37 24 33 9 19 17 35 26 36 22 20 29 9 10 26 29 4 6 8 13 22 2 Indiana 4 6 8 Sammo ns of 13 22 20 21 7 12 10 18 3 40 41 Tipton Cable TV 4 6 8 13 2 12 3 5 10 11 35 26 Oak Hill Cable 4 6 8 13 2 32 10 40 21 12 28 15 4 6 8 13 2 22 10 55 53 12 41 30 44 34 3 32 20 35 23 28 25 33 26 38 17 27 31 36 21 39 27 16 28 22 18 30 25 23 24 3 22 38 18 47 14 28 34 21 20 3 26 33 16 39 30 19 7 16 31 24 18 29 34 14 32 15 30 29 17 31 20 42 18 32 7 33 5 16 14 27 2 7 42 19 46 5 39 16 50 14 27 48 17 29 15 35 23 31 40 9 35 4 6 8 13 20 10 40 11 166 795 252 155 650 181 525 216 202 140 230 120 302 134 619 606 178 210 734 128 176 270 203 360 502 314 368 9 145 151 560 112 250 108 325 225 124 518 180 99 tuaries — have saved species like the great white from the brink of extinction.Shark Week's high-quali- ty programming also goes a long way in bringing sharks into the hearts and minds of viewers with hard science and breathtaking footage to help ensure they stalk the deep blue sea for millions of years to come. In the meantime,surf on over to SharkWeek.com for a frenzy of up- dates,videos,games and special live shark cams that offer a rare glimpse into their mysterious and watery world. Swayzee AT&T U-Verse

• Cover