Sharky's Friends
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| Sharky's Friends | |
|---|---|
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| Format | Game show/Children's Show |
| Presented by | Miranda Deakin |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes (Including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Original airing | 2007 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
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Sharky's Friends was the 2007 replacement for The Shak in the 4pm timeslot on the Nine Network every weekday except Wednesday, when The Sleepover Club replaced it. The children's gameshow is hosted by Miranda Deakin and features puppet shark who is named Sharky. Sharky will compete against children which are known as "friends" in word games, which are worth various prizes if the friends win their games, but Sharky never wins any prizes, even if he wins, in which case the contestant receives a "consolation" prize, although it is not much different from the winning prizes. The show is produced by Ambience Entertainment. Only two weeks after it debuted, The Shak returned and it was moved to weekend timeslots; in Kids WB on Saturdays and in a 7am timeslot on Sunday. It had a short hiatus before returning to weekends in a different timeslot. There have been four themed episodes; a tropical themed episode, a pirate themed episode, a spooky themed episode, and a yellow themed episode.
[edit] Gameplay
The game is fairly simple, and three games are usually played in one 30-minute episode including commercials. Firstly, Miranda will give a clue to the definition of a word of which only a portion of the letters is shown. The contestant will have a chance to guess what the word is, and if they are wrong, the word is given to Sharky, and if he gets it wrong, which he usually will, the word is handed back to the contestant with more letters revealed. This will go on until one gets it right, in which case they will win a "fish cake", which closely resembles a large cupcake with icing and plastic toy fish on top. They are probably made from clay, on account of the sound they make when Miranda puts them down on the bench and because she often says that they will break your teeth if you try to eat them. The first player to win three fish cakes is the winner, and if the contender wins 3 nil, it is known as a Shark Blitz. In this case Miranda will ring a special bell
[edit] Smelly Telly-The Smelliest Telly on Telly
As well as the word games, a game called Smelly Telly is sometimes played, usually when there is a score of 2/1. While a covered raised silver plate is sneaked onto the set, Sharky will sing a song, which strangely seems to be different each time. Miranda will then put blindfolds on the players, one resembling goggles for the contender, and one resembling headphones for Sharky, since he has eyes on either sides of his head. Miranda reveals what the smell is coming from, and even if it is a good smell, the audience will make sounds like it is horribly repulsive. The players each get a smell, and are allowed to guess and win a fish cake if they are correct. If both players are incorrect, however, unlike the word games, no fish cakes are won, and the players will only get one chance to guess.
[edit] Criticism
The show has been criticised for being too easy, uninteresting, and generally poorly executed. The program's "Smelly Telly" segment, also, has been criticised since it is impossible for viewers at home to play along with. The Sketchy at Best podcast discussed the show for several episodes, in which they expressed their disdain at the fact that the questions are usually far too easy, and that "it's got nothing on (90's kids show) A*mazing or Legends of the Hidden Temple". The episode "Sharky at Best" culminated in a rip-off of Sharky's Friends titled "Tigey's Mates", in which one word that the contestant had to answer was "S-T-U-P-I-something". The 'episode' concluded with the studio audience "ganging up and killing Tigey". In the following episode, in the Likey or No Likey segment, both hosts rated the show as 'likey' since they simply could not stop watching such "awful TV".
