So I’m watching “Blood in the Water” as I’m writing this, Discovery’s “Shark Week” special dramatization of a series of shark attacks on the New Jersey shore in 1916 that inspired the story of “Jaws.” Good lord, it’s bad.

The format is bizarre, a mix of re-enactments and “interviews” with actors portraying witnesses, and there’s a documentary-type narration on top of it all. There’s no flow, no consistent narrative thread . . . it’s a complete mess. Terrible acting, terrible special effects, totally over-the-top melodrama.

Sorry, I can’t watch any more of this, I have to turn it off. I hate it when a subject so interesting gets so dumbed-down. The History Channel documentary a few years ago was so much better. Hope the rest of the Shark Week’s programming gets better. (As long as Les Stroud visits the jumping sharks of South Africa, it won’t be hard.)

UPDATE: The South Africa leaping sharks special is airing at 8 p.m. Monday – sweet! That’s totally DVR material.