'Madman of the Sea,'
goofing with sharks
Animal Planet series works hard to build suspense
By Tom Conroy
Feb 25, 2010
Jumping from a helicopter onto the back of a live marlin is a hard act to follow. So it’s probably not fair to criticize Matt Watson for failing to live up to his own previous stunt in his new series.
But by including footage of himself landing on and riding a gigantic billfish in the opening of the series’ premiere, airing on Animal Planet on Tuesday, March 2, at 10 p.m., Watson makes us expect to see some spectacular action in what is in fact a loose, enjoyable hour of typical shark footage.
If viewers can recover from the misdirection and figure out that the focus of the show is really humor, not suspense, they’ll probably be diverted enough to stay tuned.
After the overhyped intro — a disclaimer says, “The following program contains insanely dangerous stunts. Do not try this at home” — Watson, a New Zealander who previously was the star of Discovery’s “Man vs. Fish,” takes a generally lighthearted approach to his adventures. In the premiere, he films a low-budget version of his own shark-induced death using a blow-up doll as a stand-in, swims in a chum trail at night and cuts a DNA sample off a great white shark’s tail fin.
Admittedly, most of us would never venture into shark-infested water, much less stay in the water to get close-up shots of the predators. But such footage has become commonplace in recent decades. And by the standards of many TV nature documentaries, the action on “Madman” is a little tame.
What distinguishes “Madman of the Sea” from the usual Shark Week documentary is its humor. As Watson prepares to dive to get footage of an attacking shark, his shipmate Leigh stuffs Watson’s wet suit with fish sticks, then pours barbecue sauce over his back.
As Watson dresses his “stand-in,” he says in voice-over, “Why is there a blowup doll on board? None of your business.”
Occasionally, the guy humor falls flat. Too much time is wasted showing Leigh trying to catch a shark with an old bamboo rod. Watson obviously enjoys the macho byplay with his colleagues, but their fun isn’t as contagious as it’s meant to be.
More than once, the narration resorts to the old needle-scratching-across-the-LP sound effect, a sure sign of desperate writing.
Occasionally Watson slips in a message about conservation, which is commendable but is a bit of a buzz kill in this goofy context.
The show has a trump card: all that footage of makos, blues and great whites. The very existence of Shark Week shows that humans are still fascinated by the sight of a fin breaking the surface. Channel surfers will likely pause to take a bite of “Madman of the Sea” and will generally have a good time.
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