Animal Planet’s Buildup To Finding Bigfoot: “Swamp Ape”
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 5th, 2011
On Sunday, June 5, 2011, the programmers at Animal Planet (AP) have slanted a collection of episodes of cryptid-related shows to lead up to the evening screening of Finding Bigfoot episode, “Swamp Ape.” All the networks do it, whether the viewers are conscious of these day-long efforts or not.
Beginning at 5 am and 5:30 am (all times noted are Eastern), AP scheduled Lost Tapes: “Dover Demon” and Lost Tapes: “White River Monster.” The series Lost Tapes is a cryptofiction television docudrama that uses heavily edited interview-driven, supposedly nonfiction factoids on the cryptids being profiled to frame the created “tapes” that have supposedly been “discovered.”
Promotional image for Finding Bigfoot
The programming takes on a decidedly Bigfoot/Sasquatch and Florida orientation starting at 2:00 pm on Sunday.
Here is the line-up (all times Eastern):
2 pm Maneaters: “Gators/Crocs”
3 pm River Monsters: “Himalayan Giant”
4 pm Swamp Wars: “Killer Pythons” (Florida)
5 pm Lost Tapes: “Bigfoot”
5:30 pm Lost Tapes: “Southern Bigfoot”
6 pm Finding Bigfoot: “Bigfoot Crossing in Georgia”
7-9 pm Two episodes of Whale Wars
9 pm Man-Eating Super Snake (African rock pythons in south Florida.)
10 pm Finding Bigfoot: “Swamp Ape”
11 pm Finding Bigfoot: “Swamp Ape”
It appears that in the world of crypto-cable wars, this Sunday belongs to Animal Planet. For example, over on History, June 5th is devoted to a day-long marathon of the series, Ice Road Truckers.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I find it amusing that some bigfoot aficionados had, for so many years, falsely clung to the notion that “there are no bigfoot experts” … because that means no one is more skilled or knowledgeable than they are.
Thankfully the Animal Planet network knows differently. They know exactly who can fairly be called an expert at something. In my humble opinion, they’re using that label very appropriately in this case.
May watch the starting lineup, but when Finding Bigfoot comes up to bat, may have change the channel. Just can’t get past their evidence faking and Moneymaker’s attitude.
Oh man, has anyone actually watched ‘lost tapes’? It looks like something Nickelodeon would have done back in the 90’s. The CGI is obvious, the editing is oh-so-very-obvious and even my 8yo gave me a look and asked, “Are they for real?”
The only thing good that came out of that program was me being able to explain to my son is never trust a TV program, photo or internet article without being able to look up and verify things for yourself. Google peoples names, if this really happened it will be all over the place. Look for supporting evidence, more than one newspaper would have run the story. If they have evidence like that expect scientists or at least forensic analysis to be done. If you don’t see these things, be very, very suspicious of what you’ve been told/shown.
He listens to his Mother, he is the one the other kids go to for ‘what do you think’ regarding all sorts of things. I hear them talking and he does openly weigh out a lot of things before stating his opinion. I hear their debates and it makes me smile. I want my children (and their friends) to be inquisitive, and open to all sorts of ideas and possibilities, but I don’t want them to be suckers.
Matt:
While you’re right that there can be and are “experts” in just about everything imaginable, there’s a huge difference between someone being labeled an expert in that area by their peers vs someone crowing to the world that they’re the biggest expert in the history of experts. This is one of the reasons that so many in this forum were put off by your attitude. Your accomplishments via the BFRO speak to your dedication to the subject, but when you go on about yourself in such a grandiose manner you draw legit comparisons to Tom Biscardi, and I know you know that ain’t a good thing. Throttle back on the self-congratulatory back-patting and let your experience speak for itself. Anyone who has to remind everyone that they’re the greatest usually isn’t, and it becomes apparent very fast.
Best of luck.
Well if documentaries like finding BF are re edited and re-enacted I strongly suspect that a show based on urban legends with a horror twist, is extremely suspect. In fact, I’m rather certain lost tapes are frankly completely BS. It’s point is to scare, not to give information.
I think I managed to like watch one ep of Lost Tapes and it lost me real fast…. To over the top really.
Honestly this is television, it’s not about truth, it’s about cash in palm, and making a splash in the ratings pool.
To be an “expert” on Bigfoot you would have to know its biology, social behavoirs, diet, mating habits etc. None of that let alone its existance is known or documented as scientific fact or proven; so enclosing no “real” Bigfoot “experts” exist, they are just as unproven to exist as Bigfoot itself. Sorry to burst your ego bubble Matt. The way it seems is that you’re making it up as you go along.
As for Lost Tapes, it was fun campfire story type of stuff, but made itself cyrstal clear at the begining of each and every episode it’s fake. Something Finding Bigfoot should do as well.
Matt, you would think they are using it appropriately because they are putting you on TV. Ughhh… You can’t be an expert on something that you have never physically studied at length, let alone something that hasn’t been proven to exist. That’s like me claiming to be an expert on unicorns because I’ve devoted half my life to studying them. The only “evidence” of bigfoot that anyone has come up with are sounds of something screaming, some large prints in the dirt and some grainy, out of focus video. All of which can easily be faked by humans…or say anyone on your team as has been shown in your first episode.
As someone previously said, you can label someone an expert on something all day long, but the label does not mean you are in fact an expert on the subject.
This show is fake…just more reality TV that makes money for someone ironically named Moneymaker.
Moneymaker wasn’t bad on the initial show except for two horrendous instances. One where he falsely laid claim to being the first to discover wood knocking and call blasting. And the second was when he tried to discredit the fisherman eyewitness when he said that apparently to his knowledge all BF have black noses. If he truly believes this than he must believe the Patterson film is a fake because the creature in it certainly does not appear to have a “black” nose. Explain that Mr. Moneymaker please?
Just watched the Swamp (Florida) episode, and just wanted to let you know something…you stated that the only thing that could pull the bird feeder post down like that and take the seed had to be something with thumbs, making a squatch or human to do this. Well, wrong! Raccoons do this, they do it to my feeders all the time. The exact same post, that was shown on the show. If you don’t believe me, feel free to come down to Ky and see for yourself! Try getting an actually degree so you can at least know that many creature have thumbs out there like coons and Opossums just to name a couple.
Actually most things with hands and feet have thumbs, now opposable thats another story. But I do agree that they are way too quick to say there is no other explanation other than a “squatch” by the way that term got old about 5 mins into the first episode. If you want to be taken seriously in this field you must be even more objective in your investigations than the skeptics and to say there is no other explanation when there very much could be is just not good science.
I finally saw the ‘Georgia’ episode last night (haven’t watched ‘Swamp Ape’ yet.) Based on that episode and Mr. Moneymaker’s recent posted comments here I think ‘Finding Bigfoot’ is at best light reality entertainment and at worst a blow to Bigfoot/crypto research. While BFRO has done good service in collecting sightings and gathering together interested individuals nationally the unfounded hype I saw in FB by Moneymaker and his team was really surprising. Now I’m sure (I hope!) not all BFRO researchers are as seemingly gullible.
While the police video was very interesting where was the professional video analysis/breakdown? I honestly thought the recreation looked similar to the original video and to jump to saying ‘it was a bigfoot’ with other options on the table (hoax etc.) and no other evidence seemed to show unwarranted bravado.
The few eye witness testimonies seemed to be accepted without any background research to the individuals and/or the historicity of their cases. I mean a 9ft 8″ (I think that was the measurement which is on the extreme high end of sightings) squatch crossing a busy road in front a residential driveway? Both MM and his cohorts just seemed so eager to accept that kinda evidence (or lack thereof!)
The night surveillance was just full of conjectures without any reasoned restraint or scientific methodology.
As mentioned MM calling himself an ‘expert’ on Bigfoot. Really? So Bigfoot has smaller legs, longer arms and a dark nose? How do we know? Photo evidence? (Paleo)anthropological evidence? Back up your hypothesis.
They may be ‘experts’ on examining sightings/evidence (I got a more amateur vibe honestly) but until you’ve confirmed the creature exists and really studied a live sample, its biology and its daily life in its habitat nobody is an expert.
I must make mention of our local Virginia researcher William Dranginis. His name was dragged through the mud by MM but from what I’ve read and researched Bill has approached his hunt with solid scientific methodology and left the hype at the door. As Jeff Meldrum was quoted regarding Bill “He’s seems to be levelheaded and not prone to embellishing his stories.”
That’s not what Finding Bigfoot seems to be about and Bill is better off not being associated with BFRO/MM IMHO.