For one week every summer since 1987, we are treated to a special series of TV programs dedicated to our favorite underwater predator. Throw in a celebrity to host the event and it attracts a fanatical cult following.

The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week has viewers so captivated, they would likely jump through their screens and into the shark infested waters if given the option.

August 1 marked the return of this year’s installment of a non-stop series of shows about shark attacks, behavior, ecology and slow motion shots of them devouring various sea creatures. Craig Ferguson from The Late Late Show is the host of the 2010 event.

As seen in the above promo, The Discovery Channel markets the television event as “our gift to you” and a “reward for enduring the other fifty-one weeks of the year” that don’t involve nearly as much shark.

And the week-long event does serve as some form of a holiday for many individuals across the country, causing them to duck out from work, enthusiastically discuss every shark-related factoid with their friends and even scheme up Shark Week related drinking games. (An article from tv.com outlines plenty of possibilities to get you started.)

While the programs are fascinating to watch, an article from the Washington post suggests that the network might be focusing on the wrong animal.

Staff writer Melissa Bell points out that only one person died from a shark attack in 2007, while plenty of other animals prove to be significantly much more deadly.

“Twenty-seven deaths a year can be attributed to cattle violence,” she explains. “Where are the slow motion scenes of the brutal bovine?”

Until the Discovery Channel unveils Cow Week, the shark version will definitely be tickle city enough for us!