Bigfoot in TV Guide
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 7th, 2006
Scores of people in the media find their way to me, oftentimes to ask where they can obtain this or that image. In the case of the recent series of Bigfoot movies on the Sci-Fi Channel, TV Guide approached me asking if I could help them with the rights to a frame from the Patterson-Gimlin film. Needless to say, I sent them to Mrs. Patterson and René Dahinden’s heirs to purchase and obtain permission.
For people that missed it, here’s what TV Guide produced:
Please click on the image for a full size version.
Interestingly, the editorial board room discussions about the way to characterize these movies was spirited, I hear from inside sources. But in the end, TV Guide tried to go with a serious, straightforward approach to the subject. One slight nod to skepticism is the question mark that was placed on the caption to the Patterson-Gimlin footage frame.
The appearance is merely another acknowledgement of how you can talk about Sasquatch. TV Guide communicated the popular cultural importance of the topic, with a smile, perhaps, but without ridicule.
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 think until he is caught or worse killed there will always be skepticism abound on the subject.
I find it a bit ironic that one of the most dignified, if short, treatments of the topic would be in TV Guide of all places. Nice, but ironic.
It is nice to see the worm has started to turn.
I find it interesting that over 50% of Americans believe that we have been visited by an alien race, yet BF still gets ridicule.
“I think until he is caught or worse killed there will always be skepticism abound on the subject.”
“He”? “He” meaning Lawrence B.F. “Squatchmo” Sasquatch, Esq.? They ain’t catchin’ THAT cat…
And Andre… I miss Andre.
The impressive thing about the ‘Six-Million Dollar Man’ BF was how seamlessly they switched from Ted Cassidy to Andre the Giant. The costume made it hard to tell between the two. It’s a pity everybody remembers Andre, but not the man who originated that series’s BF character.
I’ve found the beef jerky commercials a total scream. My family thinks I’m strange for even being interested in BF, but they find the commercials just as hilarious as I do. What I think is even funnier is that BF is so “willing” to be out in the open for just anyone to find in the woods, esp. taking nap in the middle of a opening. It makes me wonder just how much “research” went into making the advertisments.
“I’ve found the beef jerky commercials a total scream.”
I love those.
On someone killing a bigfoot, shame degradation boo and hiss!
They better think twice if they try to do so on purpose and only wound one. In my mind these are powerful creatures and retribution could come swift and permanent. I sure wouldn’t want to make one mad.
I think TV Guide is reflecting what is already an established fact that people are very open minded and willing to respect what others believe to be true whether they themselves do or not.
“It’s a pity everybody remembers Andre”
“Pity”? Andre’s flat-out unforgettable! The man would drink two cases of beer before a match!
A friend of mine was in a Chinese restaurant once, and Andre came in after a match, and the proprietors refused to let him in, allegedly because his shirt was unbuttoned, but it’s probably because this place had an “all you can eat” special!
Imagine BIGFOOT at an all-you-can-eat joint!!
“Restaurant”. Sorry!
“They better think twice if they try to do so on purpose and only wound one. In my mind these are powerful creatures and retribution could come swift and permanent. I sure wouldn’t want to make one mad.”
I wouldn’t want to think of one being wounded either, for purely humanitarian reasons. But I don’t really grasp the thinking behind “Don’t wound Bigfoot and make him mad or he’ll SURELY come and get you”. After all, every year hunters shoot and wound other large, ferocious animals such as bears. And while a few hunters DO get attacked, the vast majority don’t. Given the thousands or even millions of hunters in the woods every year, attacks on hunters by large, wounded prey are very uncommon.
If you shot and wounded a Bigfoot at close range, so that it could see you and know that you had hurt it, you would be in danger. But modern weapons give shooters an amazing reach. If someone was standing on the other side of a valley & shot a Bigfoot, I doubt that “retribution would be swift”. Unless Bigfoot is somehow supernatural and/or telepathic.
Before everybody starts shouting let me make it clear: I am NOT proposing that someone go out and try to wing a Bigfoot. I just think it’s sort of naive to believe that a Bigfoot is more likely to retaliate against a hunter than, say, a grizzly bear is.
BTW I get a kick out of the commercials too.
Macgyver had a cool Bigfoot episode in the third season. ( Now on DVD ) It was the first episode my kids ever saw of Macgyver on cable and they were hooked, on Macgyver and Bigfoot.