In the Shadows – Bigfoot TV shows - Article 31

I routinely get asked what I think about certain shows on TV that relate to Bigfoot, and my most common response is, please step aside so I can spit on the ground.  That is my views about Bigfoot TV shows, and let me explain why folks.

It’s done for entertainment-value only, there is no research being done while filming, it’s near impossible to do any real research when you have upwards of 4 to 15 people following you around with cameras, lighting, sound equipment and multiple re-takes of a scene that you just thought was done great, but the director/producer wants you to do several takes of it to have selections to put into the show.   That also causes a dilemma for the researchers as they have to try and keep track of all these people and what they are doing, because some production companies will send people into the woods to create ‘evidence’ for you to find or hear.

When I did Legends of the Ozarks with my friend Randy Harrington, we had a production team of 6 people to contend with, and for the 15 minutes of us being on the show, we had to film approximately 15 hours of footage.  We did have some responses to our wood knocks and the vocalizations that we call-blasted of my grandson’s juvenile sounding calls, but we couldn’t be sure if it was a member of the production crew off in the woods responding back to us for added suspense to the episode.  We tried our best to keep our eye on everyone, but there was times that several members of the crew would just disappear, minutes before we would have something happen.

One show in particular shows a bunch of mountain men looking ‘researchers’ who go out looking for all these different types of Bigfoot that people contact them about, and they carry rifles out in the woods to hunt these creatures.  It’s amazing that the producers seem to find all these different versions of Bigfoot and the accompanying ‘evidence’ that is shown on the show, despite no other real researchers having ever seen this stuff or even hearing about it.

In presentations I’ve done in the past for Bigfoot Conferences, I point out that one character on this particular show, has a very bad tendency to fall down a lot, while carrying a weapon.  It’s obvious if you watch close enough that they don’t give him a loaded gun, otherwise, he would have shot himself or one of the other cast members.

Another current show was just renewed for a third season, despite having been outed by the Bigfoot Community as falsifying information from where they actually are researching, to the evidence they claim to bring in.  The first season, they claimed that some computer algorithm showed them where to research in a remote region of Oregon, only to be outed mid-season as being on a dude ranch and using their props for the show.

Why do the researchers on the show lie about things, fabricate evidence and more, usually it’s because of their desire to be famous and they have dollar signs in their eyes if they become a star.  Some want their fifteen minutes of fame, others, like myself, had thought we could show people what we really do in the field, but after the experience, I’ve turned down several offers to the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center to star on TV shows, as the producers could ruin your groups credibility in a whim to make the show more exciting.  We did end up doing an episode of Osiyo TV that was featured on YouTube and garnered over two million views in one year.  But the Osiyo TV crew worked with us to make it as authentic as possible and we appreciate their efforts.

Just remember folks, that when you watch that TV show, it’s for entertainment value only, they show you the exciting parts that are likely fabricated to make the show exciting, when in real-life research, you may go out a dozen times and not have anything happen, and then boom the 13th time you have something.  But during all that time, is a lot of waiting and boredom while waiting for it to happen.