Da dum. Da dum. There’s something in the water this week—or, more accurately, on your television screen.

Discovery’s Shark Week 2025 began yesterday (Sunday, July 20) and runs though Saturday, July 26. Let’s take a look at the history of this scale-filled event, its enduring legacy, and what’s new this year. Then we will do a deep dive on how to tune in.

The Discovery Channel’s “fin-tastic” fanchise first commenced on July 17, 1988, when the program Caged in Fear tested new motorized cages designed to resist shark attacks.

The goal of this program, and the nine others that premiered that week, was to educate the public about these misunderstood sea creatures. The event was so successful that it almost doubled the network’s prime-time average, and so a tradition was........

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