But, Really, Who Is Bob the Shark?

If you find yourself speeding home from work, scarfing down your dinner, and running like a lunatic to your couch each night this week, you're not alone: It's Shark Week and that's pretty damn exciting. If you're a die-hard fan of Discovery Channel's most popular seven days, odds are, you're intimately familiar with Bob The Shark, the co-host of the late-night program, Shark After Dark . But when you think about it, how well do you really know B The S? What are his interests? What's he doing when he's not outfitted in a shark costume? Wait, is he always outfitted in a shark costume?!

I did a little digging around on the ol' Internet to see what I could unearth about Bob, and as it turns out, he actually does have a life outside of Shark After Dark. In fact, his real name isn't even Bob The Shark! (I know, I feel cheated, too!) In "real life," he goes by Bob Oschack and he's got a pretty impressive resume, pre-shark fame — as well as some skeletons in his closet.

Here, five important things to know about one of Shark Week's most popular staples.

He's a professional comedian with some pretty great writing credits.

Oschack has been writing for television for close to 15 years. The shows he's worked on range from Premium Blend (anybody remember that show?!) to, most recently, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson .

He's a big... Oprah fan?

Wouldn't have pegged him as one, but hey, whatever floats your fin, dude.

He's seriously afraid of sharks.

I mean, who isn't, but it's kind of ironic. Oschack recently said in an interview with Mashable, "When I look at [sharks] and it strikes something basic, and yeah, it's fear... there's something about that that doesn't age."

He likens being Bob the Shark to doing us all a favor.

Admit it. Some of the shows on Shark Week can be downright terrifying and not exactly something you want to watch before heading off to bed. Oschack thinks of himself as a way to lighten the mood before people turn out the lights. He recently said, "I'm comic relief for an event that celebrates a very serious creature. We have a little more fun with it than the deadly serious voice over and the drama. We send viewers off into the evening with a bit of a smile on their face, ideally." The man's got a point.

He was a part of racist skit that was pulled from the air.

Well, this is awkward. In my digging around, I learned that Oschack was part of a supposed-to-be-funny sketch for Fox Sports that involved making fun of Asians' accents (do people really think that's amusing?). The skit was pulled and apologies were issued. Not cool, Bob. And not cool, Fox.

And judging by this tweet, you should know better:

Image: Discovery; Fox Sports