Quote from: "Keeper"Watch the video, you will become a believer.

QuoteSunday's "documentary" Mermaids: The New Evidence delivered 3.6 million viewers, shattering the network's ratings record. Yup, even bigger than the Puppy Bowl. The program is not only a hoax, but a sequel to a hoax — to last year's rather effortlessly debunked Mermaids: The Body Found, which fooled more viewers than you'd think.



The straight-faced Mermaids specials basically play like Alien Autopsy for a new generation. Both Animal Planet specials purportedly show video of mermaids in the Greenland Sea, with actors playing scientists. The specials also darkly suggest there's government cover-up of mermaid evidence, complete with a spin-off site that says it's been seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.



Animal Planet's press release touting the new ratings continued the game, referring to the special's "exclusive interview with Dr. Paul Robertson, former NOAA scientist." There was a disclaimer that the program is science fiction, but you have to look for it in the show's closing credits.



So let's take a moment to appreciate this: Animal Planet is 17 years old. The channel is dedicated to series and specials about the natural world. And the most-watched program in its history is about a non-existent creature.



http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/28/mermaids-animal-planet-ratings/">//http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/28/mermaids-animal-planet-ratings/

Quote from: "Romero"Sorry Keeps, it's another 'hoax mockumentary' that has become popular and causing controversy recently.

QuoteSunday's "documentary" Mermaids: The New Evidence delivered 3.6 million viewers, shattering the network's ratings record. Yup, even bigger than the Puppy Bowl. The program is not only a hoax, but a sequel to a hoax — to last year's rather effortlessly debunked Mermaids: The Body Found, which fooled more viewers than you'd think.



The straight-faced Mermaids specials basically play like Alien Autopsy for a new generation. Both Animal Planet specials purportedly show video of mermaids in the Greenland Sea, with actors playing scientists. The specials also darkly suggest there's government cover-up of mermaid evidence, complete with a spin-off site that says it's been seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.



They just lost a viewer  

Animal Planet's press release touting the new ratings continued the game, referring to the special's "exclusive interview with Dr. Paul Robertson, former NOAA scientist." There was a disclaimer that the program is science fiction, but you have to look for it in the show's closing credits.



So let's take a moment to appreciate this: Animal Planet is 17 years old. The channel is dedicated to series and specials about the natural world. And the most-watched program in its history is about a non-existent creature.



http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/28/mermaids-animal-planet-ratings/">//http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/28/mermaids-animal-planet-ratings/

All's fair in tv and ratings, but I think it's awful. These channels aren't supposed to be silly fictional tabloid material. They're supposed to be serious. People are being tricked because they don't expect it and are led to believe it.



Discovery Channel has tried to make viewers believe the prehistoric shark Megalodon still exists, and the History Channel has had Ancient Aliens. This crap isn't supposed to be on these channels!

Quote from: "Chickenfeets"Thank you Romero.



I am always left to wonder why people feel the need to believe in this sort of cartoon silliness.And why is it that people never think to look for mermen? I mean, it stands to reason that, if there are mermaids, there must also be mermen around. And what of merboys and mergirls? You never hear about those. They're like baby pigeons.