Animal Planet: Mermaids

[mr. tegu]

This airs May 27th at 9 pm EST. They are really making this out to be a legitimate documentary as if something conclusive has been found. It seems to be a mixture of some scientific stories, sightings, and cinematic entertainment. I really wouldn't expect a half movie/half documentary such as this from Animal Planet, escpecially since it seems that it is being advertised as an actual documentary with actual evidence. I don't know what to make of it but I think it looks interesting if at least for the entertainment it might provide.

[Bob Dole]

If you go look at the Animal Planet website, they explain that it is science fiction.

Press release states:

Monster Week culminates with a stunning, two-hour feature that claims the existence of the lost, mythical sirens of the sea in MERMAIDS: THE BODY FOUND. Throughout history, people from nearly every culture have spotted or spoken about this half-man, half-fish anomaly. Amped by stunning CGI and animation, MERMAIDS: THE BODY FOUND details the first-hand accounts of a team of government scientists who testify they've found the remains of a never-before-identified sea creature with ties to human origins. In a story about evolutionary possibility grounded in scientific theory, experts reveal the natural history of mermaids and show us what they looked like, how they lived and how they could have evolved but remained hidden... until now.

Looks entertaining, at least.

[Fish]

Watched this. What an insulting pathetic bunch of pseudo science passed off as a documentary. I can't imagine how many idiots watched this with no clue that it was all fake.

I really hate this new trend of entertainment passed off as science. Such a disservice...

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Watched this. What an insulting pathetic bunch of pseudo science passed off as a documentary. I can't imagine how many idiots watched this with no clue that it was all fake.

I really hate this new trend of entertainment passed off as science. Such a disservice...

I was pretty dissappointed in it as well. The little story lines with the mermaids was laughable, especially when they showed the one sacrifice itself for the others to avoid getting eaten. I guess that was there way of showing human-like behaviors in them

[Fish]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

I was pretty dissappointed in it as well. The little story lines with the mermaids was laughable, especially when they showed the one sacrifice itself for the others to avoid getting eaten. I guess that was there way of showing human-like behaviors in them

Yeah. Like they needed to include a fake heartwarming tale of self-sacrifice, to add plenty of drama... and throw in a little bit of conspiracy theory, just for good measure.

If they were clear about it being completely false, and not based on any factual evidence, it would be one thing. But it's very clear that they absolutely intend on it being taken out of context as a true documentary by a portion of their audience. Knowing that there's some lazy idiot out there going "Well I'll be damned.. Earl, come look at this! Mermaids is real! It's on TV!"

[ThaVirus]

I liked it.

I had only heard briefly about the aquatic ape theory beforehand and did some research afterward because it sounded really interesting. So kudos to them for at least teaching something..

Would have been far more interesting if they had more factual evidence. As far as I could tell, "the bloop" was the only "real" piece of evidence they had, correct? (I'm aware that "the bloop" doesn't even confirm mermaid's existence; perhaps just some other undiscovered creature)

[Fish]

Teaching something? WTF? Teaching misinformation?

The aquatic ape theory is a horrible theory that completely ignores everything known about evolution. That's not teaching in the slightest. It's bullshit hollywood dramatization.

This program prompted the NOAA to release a statement saying "Dear Idiots, you were duped on this stupid pile of shit. Mermaids aren't real, and there's no possibilities or what ifs necessary. This shouldn't be necessary, but we know a large majority of you believe any ridiculous bullshit you see on your TV. So here you go."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...questions.html

Even Snopes created a page declaring this horseshit.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/supernatural/mermaids.asp

[Bump]

Originally Posted by JBucc

Bigfoot, chupcabras, other cryptoids are nothing new for the Discovery family of channels. If it weren't for the BBC they wouldn't have any documentaries worth watching.

they really did find a chupacabra though

[Silock]

They did this with dragons before.

[ThaVirus]

Man, they're really running with this..