The filming of Jaws: behind the scenes photo gallery

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

San Francisco Chronicle

30 minutes ago

San Francisco Chronicle

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, 'Jaws' unlocked dread in millions about man-eating sharks. This summer, that fear may be somewhat reduced as they become contestants on a TV dance show. Former 'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron steps up for a marketing masterstroke by Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week' — 'Dancing with Sharks,' where humans and 20-foot-long hammerhead sharks do a little mambo. 'I had a decade and a half experience of hosting a dance show, but this one was different,' Bergeron tells The Associated Press. 'I'd often thought on 'Dancing With the Stars,' wouldn't it be great if we could incorporate another species? And here I've finally got my dream come true.' In the show, five scuba-diving shark handlers use bait to twirl and guide various sharks into mini-waltzes, in what's being billed as 'the world's most dangerous dance competition.' One contestant wraps his arms around a nerf shark and spoons it. Another takes off her air tank and does a double backflip. A third — a hip-hop loving shark handler — does an old school head spin on the ocean floor as sharks swirl. 'These are some of the best shark handlers in the world. These are people who know the nuances of sharks, know how they move, know how to behave, know how to safely move with them, and they're guiding these sharks along as you would a partner,' says Kinga Philipps, a TV correspondent and one of the three judges. 'It is so fluid and beautiful, all they really had to do is put a little bit of music to it and they're actually dancing.' It's a shark-a-thon 'Dancing with Sharks' kicks off the week of programing, which includes shows on how to survive a shark attack, why New Smyrna Beach in Florida has earned the title of 'The Shark Attack Capital of the World' and whether a mysterious dark-skinned shark off the coast of California is a mako, mutant or possibly a mako-and-great white hybrid. The seven nights of new shows — and a related podcast — ends off the Mozambique coast with a once-a-year feeding frenzy that turns into a showdown between the sharks and their massive prey, the giant trevally. One highlight is Paul de Gelder's 'How to Survive a Shark Attack,' which he has intimate knowledge about. He lost his right hand and leg in 2009 during an attack by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. 'If you're in the jaws of a shark, you want to fight for all of your life. You want to go for the soft parts. You want go for the eyeball. You want to go for the gills,' he says. 'But if you're not being attacked by a shark and you're just encountering a shark, then you just want to remain calm.' De Gelder debunks one myth: Punching a charging shark will stop its attack. 'If you really want to hurt your own hand, go ahead,' he says. A better approach is to not thrash about and gently redirect the animal. 'The secret I got taught many years ago was don't act like food and they won't treat you like food.' 'Shark Week' has become a key part of the summer holiday TV schedule, a place where humans safe on land can see ancient apex predators unnervingly glide into view and snap open their jaws. This year's highlights also include the hunt for a 20-foot great white that can leap into the air — 'Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus' — and a show about male and female great whites competing in a series of challenges to determine which sex is the superior predator, naturally called 'Great White Sex Battle.' Joseph Schneier, senior vice president of production and development at Discovery, says the shows are born from listening to what the diving and science community is seeing, like pro divers moving artistically with the sharks as they fed them, leading to 'Dancing With Sharks.' 'We realized, well, there's something here that we can go further with,' he says. 'We're lucky that sharks continue to surprise us. Which helps us get kind of new stories and new things to focus on. That's been the mantra for us — the sharks are the stars, not the humans.' As always, there is a deep respect for the creatures and strong science beneath the amusing titles, sharky puns, dramatic music and racy titles like 'Frankenshark' and 'Alien Sharks: Death Down Under.' 'It's like putting your vegetables in a dessert,' says Bergeron. 'You get all the allure of a 'Dancing With Sharks' or other specific shows, but in the midst of that you do learn a lot about sharks and ecology and the importance of sharks in the ecosystem. It's all in your strawberry sundae.' Discovery's 'Shark Week' has a rival — National Geographic's 'SharkFest,' which also has hours of sharky content. There's also the unconnected shark horror comedy 'Hot Spring Shark Attack' and a movie earlier this summer that added a serial killer to a shark movie — 'Dangerous Animals.' Born from 'Jaws' 'Shark Week' was born as a counterpoint for those who developed a fear of sharks after seeing 'Jaws.' It has emerged as a destination for scientists eager to protect an animal older than trees. ''Jaws' helped introduce this country and this world to a predator we're all fascinated with,' says Schneier. 'But we also feel 'Jaws' went too far. These are not creatures that are out to hurt humans by any means, but they have had 50-plus million years of evolution to get to this place where they are just excellent predators. It's fun to celebrate just how good they are at their job.' Kendyl Berna, who co-founded the ecology group Beyond the Reef, and is a veteran on 'Shark Week,' says studying the ancient beasts can teach humans about changes to the planet. 'So much of the programming this year speaks to what's happening with the rest of the world — climate change and how much that affects where sharks are and when they're there and what they're eating,' she says. 'As a keystone apex predator, sharks do set the tone for what's happening.' Bergeron says being a part of 'Shark Week' for the first time and meeting some of the divers who interact with sharks has actually made him braver. 'I don't think I'm at a point where I could go down there with them and have the sharks swirling around me without a cage. But with a cage, I think I am ready to do that,' he says. 'Just don't tell my wife.'

Hugh Hefner's widow, Crystal, files to legally ditch his last name

New York Post

30 minutes ago

New York Post

Hugh Hefner's widow, Crystal, files to legally ditch his last name

What's in a name? Hugh Hefner's widow, formerly known as Crystal Hefner, 39, is now going back to her maiden name. She filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to legally change her name from Crystal Margaret Hefner to Crystal Margaret Harris, reported Us Weekly. 'I am a widow and reclaiming my maiden name,' the former Playboy model reportedly wrote in her filing. 9 Hugh Hefner and Crystal Hefner at Playboy Mansion's Annual Halloween Bash on October 25, 2014. Getty Images for Playboy The playboy mogul died in 2017 at 91. Harris was Hefner's third wife – the former couple, who had a 60-year age gap, were married from 2012 until his death. In her 2024 memoir, 'Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself,' she wrote, 'I was never in love with Hef, but I loved this old man in the ways you are supposed to love your elders.' Her name change comes ahead of her upcoming nuptials to microbiologist James Ward. 9 Hugh Hefner poses with Playboy Bunnies Playmate of the Year 2013 Raquel Pomplun (2nd L) and Crystal Hefner at Playboy's 60th Anniversary special event on January 16, 2014. Getty Images for Playboy 9 Crystal Hefner at the Premiere of 'My Truth: The Rape Of Two Coreys' at Directors Guild Of America on March 9, 2020. Getty Images In a lengthy Instagram post in June, Harris spoke out about her desire to return to her maiden name. 'To everyone I've had to block: I'm exhausted. If you've harassed me, you're gone. I don't owe anyone access to my peace,' she wrote. 'But to those who are here with open hearts, who genuinely support my journey — thank you.' 9 Crystal Harris, formerly Hefner, in April 2025. crystalhefner/Instagram 9 Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris celebrate Hefner's 85th birthday April 9, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. WireImage She explained, 'The media and the trolls of the world told me I wasn't enough without the name, without the house, without the image. I came from nothing. I had spent a lifetime feeling small. So I clung to the story I was fed. And it worked — for a while.' She added that, under the Hefner name, she made 'eight figures' and 'launched businesses.' 'But here's the thing — none of that was ever about the name,' she said. 9 Crystal Hefner attends GBK Brand Bar Pre-Oscar luxury lounge at Beverly Wilshire, on March 8, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. Getty Images for GBK Brand Bar The star continued, 'It was about me. And now, I want my name back. Crystal Margaret Harris. Not because I'm ashamed of who I was — but because I finally know who I am.' In a 2024 interview with People, Harris said she 'lost herself' in her relationship with the Playboy founder. 'At the time I thought I was on top. I thought, 'Wow, if I just like everything that he likes and do all the things that he wants me to do, then I'm the favorite.' And I was, but I just lost myself in the process.' 9 Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris celebrate Hugh Hefner's 84th birthday on April 10, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. WireImage 'I realized I was dealing with a really big power imbalance,' Crystal said. 'It seemed like a world of success and fantasy, but everyone's having to sleep with an 80-year-old. There's a price. Everything has a price.' The former Playboy Playmate of the Month also divulged how restrictive the lifestyle at the mansion was for her and the other Bunnies while under Hefner's roof. 9 Crystal Harris on the cover of the July 2011 Playboy magazine. Playboy She added that he would give each of his 'girlfriends' an allowance that he handed to them in neat bills. Harris recalled that when her natural brown hair started to show its roots beneath the blonde dye, 'I'd have to go bleach it and it would burn my scalp and I'd have blisters.' 'But for some reason, I thought this was all normal and that's what it meant to be seen as beautiful in Hef's eyes.' 9 Karissa Shannon, Kristina Shannon, Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris at AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Michael Douglas on June 11, 2009 in Culver City, California. Getty Images Hefner's former girlfriend, Holly Madison, 45, had a similar sentiment, exclusively telling The Post in April that the Playboy mansion felt like a 'cult.' 'You can't even say — not even something bad, but you can even say something bad-adjacent about him without being like, excommunicated,' Madison said. In July 2023, Harris told The Post why she decided to name her book 'Only Say Good Things.' Hefner's widow revealed that she once had 'a conversation with Hef and he let me know: 'Once I go, when I'm gone, please only say good things about me.'' She explained, 'I kept that promise for the last five years. After going through a lot of therapy and healing, I realized that I needed to be honest about my time there. The book is about healing from a toxic environment.'

Associated Press

an hour ago

Associated Press

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, 'Jaws' unlocked dread in millions about man-eating sharks. This summer, that fear may be somewhat reduced as they become contestants on a TV dance show. Former 'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron steps up for a marketing masterstroke by Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week' — 'Dancing with Sharks,' where humans and 20-foot-long hammerhead sharks do a little mambo. 'I had a decade and a half experience of hosting a dance show, but this one was different,' Bergeron tells The Associated Press. 'I'd often thought on 'Dancing With the Stars,' wouldn't it be great if we could incorporate another species? And here I've finally got my dream come true.' In the show, five scuba-diving shark handlers use bait to twirl and guide various sharks into mini-waltzes, in what's being billed as 'the world's most dangerous dance competition.' One contestant wraps his arms around a nerf shark and spoons it. Another takes off her air tank and does a double backflip. A third — a hip-hop loving shark handler — does an old school head spin on the ocean floor as sharks swirl. 'These are some of the best shark handlers in the world. These are people who know the nuances of sharks, know how they move, know how to behave, know how to safely move with them, and they're guiding these sharks along as you would a partner,' says Kinga Philipps, a TV correspondent and one of the three judges. 'It is so fluid and beautiful, all they really had to do is put a little bit of music to it and they're actually dancing.' It's a shark-a-thon 'Dancing with Sharks' kicks off the week of programing, which includes shows on how to survive a shark attack, why New Smyrna Beach in Florida has earned the title of 'The Shark Attack Capital of the World' and whether a mysterious dark-skinned shark off the coast of California is a mako, mutant or possibly a mako-and-great white hybrid. The seven nights of new shows — and a related podcast — ends off the Mozambique coast with a once-a-year feeding frenzy that turns into a showdown between the sharks and their massive prey, the giant trevally. One highlight is Paul de Gelder's 'How to Survive a Shark Attack,' which he has intimate knowledge about. He lost his right hand and leg in 2009 during an attack by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. 'If you're in the jaws of a shark, you want to fight for all of your life. You want to go for the soft parts. You want go for the eyeball. You want to go for the gills,' he says. 'But if you're not being attacked by a shark and you're just encountering a shark, then you just want to remain calm.' De Gelder debunks one myth: Punching a charging shark will stop its attack. 'If you really want to hurt your own hand, go ahead,' he says. A better approach is to not thrash about and gently redirect the animal. 'The secret I got taught many years ago was don't act like food and they won't treat you like food.' 'Shark Week' has become a key part of the summer holiday TV schedule, a place where humans safe on land can see ancient apex predators unnervingly glide into view and snap open their jaws. This year's highlights also include the hunt for a 20-foot great white that can leap into the air — 'Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus' — and a show about male and female great whites competing in a series of challenges to determine which sex is the superior predator, naturally called 'Great White Sex Battle.' Joseph Schneier, senior vice president of production and development at Discovery, says the shows are born from listening to what the diving and science community is seeing, like pro divers moving artistically with the sharks as they fed them, leading to 'Dancing With Sharks.' 'We realized, well, there's something here that we can go further with,' he says. 'We're lucky that sharks continue to surprise us. Which helps us get kind of new stories and new things to focus on. That's been the mantra for us — the sharks are the stars, not the humans.' As always, there is a deep respect for the creatures and strong science beneath the amusing titles, sharky puns, dramatic music and racy titles like 'Frankenshark' and 'Alien Sharks: Death Down Under.' 'It's like putting your vegetables in a dessert,' says Bergeron. 'You get all the allure of a 'Dancing With Sharks' or other specific shows, but in the midst of that you do learn a lot about sharks and ecology and the importance of sharks in the ecosystem. It's all in your strawberry sundae.' Discovery's 'Shark Week' has a rival — National Geographic's 'SharkFest,' which also has hours of sharky content. There's also the unconnected shark horror comedy 'Hot Spring Shark Attack' and a movie earlier this summer that added a serial killer to a shark movie — 'Dangerous Animals.' Born from 'Jaws' 'Shark Week' was born as a counterpoint for those who developed a fear of sharks after seeing 'Jaws.' It has emerged as a destination for scientists eager to protect an animal older than trees. ''Jaws' helped introduce this country and this world to a predator we're all fascinated with,' says Schneier. 'But we also feel 'Jaws' went too far. These are not creatures that are out to hurt humans by any means, but they have had 50-plus million years of evolution to get to this place where they are just excellent predators. It's fun to celebrate just how good they are at their job.' Kendyl Berna, who co-founded the ecology group Beyond the Reef, and is a veteran on 'Shark Week,' says studying the ancient beasts can teach humans about changes to the planet. 'So much of the programming this year speaks to what's happening with the rest of the world — climate change and how much that affects where sharks are and when they're there and what they're eating,' she says. 'As a keystone apex predator, sharks do set the tone for what's happening.' Bergeron says being a part of 'Shark Week' for the first time and meeting some of the divers who interact with sharks has actually made him braver. 'I don't think I'm at a point where I could go down there with them and have the sharks swirling around me without a cage. But with a cage, I think I am ready to do that,' he says. 'Just don't tell my wife.'

The filming of Jaws: behind the scenes photo gallery

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Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

Hugh Hefner's widow, Crystal, files to legally ditch his last name

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

The filming of Jaws: behind the scenes photo gallery

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Related Articles

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

Hugh Hefner's widow, Crystal, files to legally ditch his last name

Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing

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