In July, Netflix launched an exclusive show called Mako Mermaids. You don’t hear about it as much as the most of the other Netflix originals, but it’s available to stream, and it has its audience.
In fact, Mako Mermaids came with a built in audience, much like Arrested Development, another Netflix “semi-original”. The show is a spin-off of popular Australian show H2O: Just Add Water.
The show debuted with thirteen episodes, and last month, it was announced that an additional thirteen would become available on September 15th, which is this Sunday.
Titles for the forthcoming episodes are: Battlelines, Sirena’s Secret, Truce, Moon Ring 2, The Trident Job, Where’s the On Button?, Nowhere to Hide, Aquata Returns, Evie Times Two, Zac’s Choice and Trust.
Netflix also debuted another original this week – the Ricky Gervais comedy/drama Derek. While dubbed a “Netflix Original,” it actually aired earlier on Channel 4 in the UK.
Here’s more of what you can expect to hit Netflix in the coming week.
Orange is the New Black isn’t the only Netflix exclusive show debuting in July. The company will also launch Mako Mermaids, a spin-off of popular Australian teen snow “H2O: Just Add Water“.
The show will reportedly debut on July 26th. The LA Times reports (in an article tweeted by the official Netflix account) that the show is a result of a deal Netflix struck with Jonathan M. Shiff Productions. Netflix has the rights to go forward with 26 episodes in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordics.
The report quotes Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos as saying, “We are thrilled to be the exclusive home of ‘Mako Mermaids’ in all Netflix territories. H2O’ hit an amazing chord with teens around the world who love the clever mixture of action, comedy and romance.”
You might think that a show about mythical creatures would just be good for a laugh, or maybe for indulging in a fantasy about how awesome it would be if there were weirdly beautiful almost-people living in the ocean. And you’d be right. But you would also be correct in assuming that some people believe everything they see on television, and therefore a show about mermaids has become Animal Planet’s most popular event to date.
“Mermaids: The New Evidence” brought in 3.6 million viewers last Sunday night, which broke all kinds of ratings records for the network. The show, which was a sequel of sorts to “Mermaids: The Body Found”, showed “video footage” of mermaids in the Greenland Sea and suggested that there was a government cover-up of the creatures. While it was done in a documentary style, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association released a statement to clear up the confusion:
“Mermaids – those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea – are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial. But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.”
Apparently, people really love fake versions of “reality”…which is fairly evident, considering the success of “found footage” type films and the barrage of “reality” shows on television.
“The phenomenon of Mermaids has truly been a watershed – and a watercooler – moment for Animal Planet,” said Animal Planet president Marjorie Kaplan. “These extraordinary television specials have electrified, challenged and entertained television audiences and online fans alike.”
Mermaid body found: Although the “documentary” you watched last night aired on Animal Planet, it wasn’t real. I know that’s a little confusing for some folks to grasp, especially since the program appeared on a network that usually devotes itself to facts rather than fiction. As a result, people have been searching frantically for the truth behind these tall tales, prompting “mermaid body found” to rise to the top of the trends once again.
In fact, as a response to the original airing of this perplexing documentary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a statement declaring that mermaids do not exist. Well, as far as they know, anyway. The study seemed to be a direct response to the Animal Planet’s program, which caused quite a bit of confusion the first time around. Now that the network is doing the summer rerun shuffle, people have once again mistaken the show as something legit.
Here’s the “plot” for the documentary, straight from Wikipedia:
Two former National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration scientists, after investigating mass stranding of whales, claim to have recorded mysterious underwater noises coming from an unknown source. This sound resembled a sound previously recorded in 1997, called the “bloop”. They recovered 30% of the remains of an unknown creature from inside a great white shark which was said to possess attributes of the human body. They alleged that the marine creature had hands, not fins, and the hip structure of an upright animal. These findings, along with many others led the team to determine that this unknown animal was very closely related to humans — a mermaid.
To reiterate: “Mermaids: The Body Found” is not a real documentary. What you’re seeing are CGI images crafted on a computer, nothing more. The idea behind the program was to give viewers an idea of what mermaids would look like if they were, in fact, real. So stop freaking out and quit believing everything you see or hear on television. Chances are, someone is just messing with your head, kind of like the video embedded below. By the way: It’s fake.
If you’re curious to see what all of the fuss is about, take a look at the video embedded below. Someone in their infinite wisdom thought it would be a good idea to upload a subtitled version of the documentary onto YouTube, so it’s probably only a matter of time before it gets yanked. However, if you don’t mind terrible picture quality and wonky sound, by all means, have a look. It’ll give you an idea of what people are talking about.
Mermaids don’t exist? To most, that’s sort of goes without saying. But what about those men and women who honestly believe that mermaids are real? Maybe the only thing that gets some sad, lonely little guy through the day is sitting on a beach, hoping that his Ariel will come flopping out of the sea and into his arms. What if his dreams are forever shattered by this heartless, insensitive government study? What about him? Never mind that such research is a remarkable waste of time, money, and resources — think about the people who won’t be able to get through the day knowing that mermaids “officially” don’t exist. Think about the people.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced to the world that there’s no evidence these half-human, half-fish hybrids exist anywhere in the world. Next week, I’m going to apply for a grant to study whether or not Candyman shows up in my mirror after saying his name five times. I’m more than willing to risk my well-being for the greater good.
Perhaps I’m being too hard on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for spending their time researching mermaids. I’m sure they need to break up the seriousness of their work by turning their attention to lighter, more disposable fare every now and again. In fact, I’m almost willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. And if it turns out this nothing more than a direct response to the fictional Animal Planet program “Mermaids: The Body Found”, I’m okay with that. People get confused sometimes.
Although it’s a little alarming that such studies are being funded when meaningful federal programs are watching their budgets slowly disappear, I’m still more worried about that guy on the beach. His dreams have been forever shattered, all because everything has to be so black and white these days. In fact, I sincerely hope that he never reads this silly little article. Because sometimes it’s just fun to imagine that mermaids exist.
