'Sharknado 3' takes bite out of Washington
Los Angeles had one, then New York. Now, the warning is up for Washington, D.C.: A “Sharknado’’ is in the forecast.
You could insert your own joke here, but Syfy likely has it covered as its campy, popular horror-movie franchise continues with “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!’’ at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Not only will America get to see sharks drop from the sky onto U.S. landmarks (and eventually onto Florida, as the crisis moves along the East Coast), so will much of the rest of the world, since the picture will premiere that night on Syfy channels in 86 countries.
“It kind of just makes sense now,’’ says Ian Ziering, the “Beverly Hills, 90210’’ alum who has found renewed television fame as chain saw-wielding shark-fighter Fin. “Syfy is rolling out a new way to present what’s almost a series. It’s become a summer event for them. Based on ratings, of course — like everything else — if this continues to do well, I’m pretty sure they’ll continue this summer tradition of ‘Sharknados.’”
Noting the worldwide debut of “Sharknado 3,’’ recent “Celebrity Apprentice’’ player Ziering hopes future chapters take him to foreign shores. “If I’m going to spend 15 (filming) days running and gunning,’’ he reasons, “it would be nice to do it in a location that’s somewhat exotic. This was made popular by the people, so I think it would only get better if we started bringing it to the people out there. There’s global anticipation for this.’’
The latest “Sharknado’’ introduces Fin’s father, an astronaut played by someone with quite a following overseas: “Baywatch’’ and “Knight Rider’’ veteran David Hasselhoff, who’s pleased to add a battle against sharks to “Piranha’’ and “Anaconda’’ sequels he’s made. He says he worried he’d have to turn it down due to aftereffects of a knee operation, “and I could hardly walk. And they said, ‘“It’s OK. You can still do the show, because you’re going to be in outer space!’”
Hasselhoff had to refuse the offer of a “Sharknado 2’’ cameo earlier because of another commitment that ultimately evaporated. “Then, boom! I get the call again’’ for a role in “Sharknado’’ No. 3. “And I said, ‘You know what? I’m not really interested in doing a cameo.’ They called me back and said, ‘We have this really cool idea of you playing Fin’s father.’ And they were going to pay me some money, so I went, ‘Great!’”
Tara Reid and Cassie Scerbo also reprise their roles from earlier “Sharknados,’’ with “10’’ icon Bo Derek as Reid’s mother — and, as with “Sharknado 2,’’ an army of familiar faces in cameos. Among them: Penn & Teller, Jerry Springer, “Today’’ co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, former “Incredible Hulk’’ Lou Ferrigno, Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm in the Middle’’), wrestler Chris Jericho, and ex-politicians Michele Bachmann and Anthony Weiner. And, as the U.S. president and vice president, Mark Cuban (of the appropriately titled “Shark Tank’’) and political commentator Ann Coulter.
Director Anthony Ferrante and writer Thunder Levin also are back for “Sharknado 3,’’ and Ziering muses that by now, “Everybody gets it. Everybody but the actors, and that’s what the fun is. Everyone is in on the joke but the people in the movie, and you enjoy it for what it is.’’
