Shark Week is that time of year when viewers will tune into Discovery in droves to learn about sharks and/or see scientists have fun with them, a la Dancing with Sharks with Tom Bergeron in the 2025 TV schedule. Forrest Galante is a regular contributor, and he was back with the latest Alien Sharks installment this year, but that wasn’t all on Discovery for July 2025. He also hosted a new three-part series called Animals on Drugs. According to Galante when speaking with CinemaBlend, he has a lot more animals in mind to continue for a second season.
I tuned in for the three episodes of Animals on Drugs, which all aired on Discovery on July 28 and are available streaming now with an HBO Max subscription. As somebody who was always fascinated by the tale of Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos in Colombia and a regular viewer of Forrest Galante’s attempts to find alien sharks each year (even when orcas pose a problem), the show was a natural fit for me. When I spoke with the host, he explained what sets Animals on Drugs apart and makes it important beyond a somewhat sensationalist title:
I've done a lot of series at Discovery at this point. A lot of different specials, and this one's really impactful because it's loud, it's silly in title, it's very fun and Discovery-esque. But the reality of it is it breaks down a really large problem, which is human-wildlife conflict in a pharmaceutical conflict way, which is our drugs going down the toilet, our booze getting left out for bears to get into. Literally, the cocaine trade, inspiring in the world's largest and most deadly invasive species. I mean, it's a crazy, actually scientific show, and I'm excited for people to understand that side of it, the animal side of it, and our human consequences of what we do and how it affects the environment.
With Discovery airing all three episodes back-to-back-to-back in one night and the show having such an incredibly specific premise, I really assumed that Animals on Drugs really had to be a one-and-done series. After all, how many animals could there really be that are so specifically affected by pharmaceuticals with enough evidence to make up a full special?
Well, according to Forrest Galante, there are a lot more animals that could fit the bill for future seasons of Animals on Drugs. He said:
There's three animals being featured in the upcoming special premiere, and that is meth gators, drunk bears, and cocaine hippos. And I guess if it does really well in this time slots or slots, I have a whole list of sixteen more where animals are being affected by various narcotics and influential substances. So who knows? Maybe this will be a long standing thing like Alien Sharks.
I’d known about the cocaine hippos from other documentaries, but meth gators and drunk bears were new to me! I won’t go too deeply into what happens with Forrest Galante’s efforts to learn more about how these species are affected by human pharmaceuticals, but I will say that there’s one segment of the meth gator episode that would have been too much for me to be part of in real life even if I was an alligator aficionado.
Galante didn’t list the sixteen species that he could cover in future seasons of Animals on Drugs, but sadly, there are apparently a lot. (Fun fact: Discovery aired a Shark Week special called Cocaine Sharks a couple years ago, also available streaming now on HBO Max.)
This year’s installment of Alien Sharks proved that he definitely hasn’t run out of sharks to cover in his recurring series of specials focusing on very specific, lesser known shark species that are often in danger from human encroachment. With 2025’s Alien Sharks: Death Down Under taking him to the waters of Australia and involving the host injecting himself with shark venom, I had to ask: is it ever hard to find a new angle for a series of species? He explained:
With over 500 incredible shark species on the planet, it's not hard at all. What's hard is getting Discovery to understand how we can keep showcasing more and more unique, unbelievable species. And it's not that hard, because they keep doing it and I keep doing it, so it's a great partnership, and I love it. I think Alien Sharks is just so wonderful because it allows us to bring these less recognized species of elasmobranch to the screen.
If you missed the wild ride of Shark Week 2025 or Animals on Drugs, you’re in luck with them all available on HBO Max. I went in not knowing what to expect from Animals on Drugs, interested but not really expecting that there could be more than those three species so affected by human pharmaceuticals that a full Discovery special could be focused on them. That just goes to show what I knew about… well, animals on drugs! Perhaps Galante will have the chance to cover more of those sixteen species he has in mind.
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