Finding Bigfoot: Bobo Speaks to the Cryptomundians
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on July 2nd, 2011
Thanks for the kind words everybody. I came into the shoot really tired already by wrapping up crab season and then I got poison oak the 1st day and it plagued me the rest of the shoot. so i wasn’t sleeping much from that and the shooting schedule was grueling. but the biggest part was fighting with the producers trying to keep it as real squatching as possible. so i hardly ever felt like myself.
like i said in an earlier post, the producers had no idea what they had really gotten themselves into. as long as we hit decent numbers they didn’t see any reason to change and they thought we, especially matt and i, were being unreasonably difficult.
i had no interest in making a show like the 1st three episodes and was going to bounce. but we had a big meeting with the producers, executive producers, animal planet and discovery execs and they agreed to mine and our demands. my main beef was inserting manufactured sounds and thermal recreations without identifying them as such. so we are going to bring ace outdoorsman and squatcher tyler bounds from washington with us for season 2. we are also going to start with the real squatching the 1st night and have tyler stay there the whole week running high quality audio recording gear. i will be allowed to stay out there with him 3 nights of the week with just us. or switch with cliff as i know he will wish to also. so right there that will give us the audio we need at least some of the time. they will also id thermal clips of cast as such. unfortunately their research has shown that 90% of the viewers don’t want to watch any scientific analysis of any evidence we obtain. i know the cast and everyone on here are most interested in that but like i said the average viewer doesn’t care so much. but they agreed to get it analyzed and the results will be on the animal planet website. so if you are interested you can see vocal analysis, meldrum’s critique of casts etc… and if enough people check the evidence out they will include it in the show itself.
so the cast got some concessions that will make the show more what we want. and i know it will help the ratings in the long run. and like the discovery exec said, if they wanted a scientist they would have hired one. so they want ‘the bobes’ more in season 2. so ask and you shall receive steve!!
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Congrats, Bobo. You can continue to be the squeaky wheel, in my humble opinion. Somebody’s gotta hold their nose to the grindstone. I agree that too much science, right now, would dampen the audience enthusiasm (It’s a short-attention-span world, especially on cable), but I’m glad that findings aren’t just tossed to the cutting-room floor. And Tyler sounds like admiral addition, if he’s photogenic, like you (gotta pander to the masses, ya know). He was the one who found the footprint in the 1st episode, right? Good luck on the next season; and make sure there’s a meeting with those folks at the end…it seems to work.
Thank you Bobo! That is AWESOME news! I’m so glad you guys managed a deal!
I look forward to the follow ups on the web! It’s nice that you managed to talk the producers into letting you guys have a little more control over this one. This season will hopefully be funner for you and the Finding Bigfoot crew to film too!
Nice, can’t ask for much more than that. This is good news!
Now we’re gettin’ somewhere!
Way to go, Bobo… Squatch On!
It’s the first 2 – 3 episodes that are so popular because those are the episodes that are the most ridiculous. The majority of viewers are watching the show to see train wrecks and to get a good laugh. They don’t care about research, and I’d be willing to bet that 95% of the viewers don’t believe in bigfoot. Hell, man, spend a few minutes in the blogosphere; you’ll get a general idea of what people are thinking and saying about the show, and it’s not that positive. Case in point: many of my friends and co-workers are aware of my belief in bigfoot, and more than a fair share of them are now sending me emails and making jokes about it by citing “Finding Bigfoot” (this is how I learned about the show).
If you honestly believe that you’re going to have any ability to control production or direction, then you’re as foolish as the Discovery/A.P. execs think you are, so keep it real. Don’t do yourself a disservice by falling for their b.s.
Sadly, I don’t see any of this ending well. What’s happening here may end up giving a collective black eye to cryptozoologists everywhere. One step forward, two steps back? I hope not.
Yep, I’m pretty surprised.
Congrats to Bobo and the team.
Here’s to hoping that the presentation does change to what Bobo has revealed.
It is good that Bobo stood his ground for principles above fame and money. My sincere hopes are that they act as an equal team rather than it being the Moneymaker show.
Thanks James for the comments.
I wouldn’t worry about the majority of negative remarks being left here. Most of these people are armchair researchers who think ANYTHING on TV can be done better. So nothing you put out there will be ‘good enough’ to them.
I find it ironic that looking back over many postings here at Cryptomundo, that over half the comments left here by visitors is negative!!!!! What a surprise.
Everyone always believes they know better, can do better…so on ………
When Monster Quest came out, everyone hated the show. But…when it left the air, everyone spoke about how great the show was….
Regardless of what gets put on TV….the online keyboard warriors will always be of the belief that they could do better, that every photo/video is fake, and most of the time it’s the tired ol’ “it’s on TV so you know it’s fake” garbage.
It’s not wrong to be of a skeptical mindset, but some of you are beyond skeptical…..
Pouring over the vast number of comments left on each story at Cryptomundo….people in one thread praising a show, then in another 2 days later, telling us all about the same show and how things are faked and they could do better…..it’s seriously alarming that so many regular visitors here are so defensive of a field they do NOTHING to contribute to.
“Oh it will give us a blackeye…”
“Oh it’s so un-scientific it’s ruining our credibility…”
I know many in the field, many who have been written about here, and in all honesty… instead of blaming TV shows for everything that is wrong with the field…. maybe take a look at yourselves a bit more. Perhaps try doing something productive…..like research and presenting evidence of your own…… I mean after all…..if you can do better than everyone else…… then show us “evidence faking” researchers how it’s done….
Someone here once said ‘Finding Bigfoot is a joke’…….funny, that same person still leaves comments on EVERY thread about the shows episodes and EVERY posting is negative…….go figure!
I still laugh over all the “experts” here who claimed they ‘contacted Animal Planet’ about a season 2 and were told no it’s not happening. Yet another example of people here complaining about fakery and lies on a TV show in every thread, claiming they “know better”……yet turn around and spout out a mouthful of lies of their own and get so upset when someone calls them on their BS.
If it was a TV show doing it, you would want an apology for the ‘good of the field’…..
Yet you expect not to be held to the same standards???
There’s a reason people like us are out and about doing investigations into the unknown and why you’re here online crying about photo’s/videos/stories/tv shows etc….. because some of us have the courage to follow our dreams while others like to sit at home and watch us live out our dreams……and complain all about it……
Spending hours of your life staring at Bigfoot pictures online or watching Bigfoot videos online doesn’t make you anymore credible than anyone on Finding Bigfoot, or any serious researcher such as myself.
Don’t expect anyone to take you serious anymore if you can’t hold yourself up to the same standards you try to hold others up to!!
If the keep their word and label the recreation, enhanced images as such, that will go a long way with a lot of us. I know I personally put that as 75% of my issue with the show.
So glad to hear you took the bull by the horns and stood up for what you know is right. I’ll give the show another shot with the new season, although I’m apparently part of that 5% that likes to see some science with my evidence. It would really be great if you guys could get some STRONG evidence on one of your 3-7days in the woods stays. I’m assuming you’ll have a smaller crew so maybe the lack of humans will make it easier.
Congrats on another season and I hope things go better for you and you get much more air time. Everybody seems to enjoy your presence and I think we should see more of it.
Thanks Bobo, you are one of the positives of the show. If they lose you it would be like losing Charlie Sheen! (Well maybe that is an exaggeration but close – LOL). Anyway, I am glad that they are listening to you and equally glad there will be a second season. Even a show with flaws is fine with me when it is about my favorite subject and that is BF. Congrats and keep up the yeoman work on the show. I love your BF stand ins and the recreation of sitings in general. I wanted to ask you have you guys ever thought about making a BF decoy using a suit over a giant manequin? You could insert a camera inside it and then try call blasting near it. Sort of similar to turkey hunting?
That’s awesome. Nice to see that speaking up and holding your ground has some weight, even in the fantasy world of television.
Like I said before, keep the faith. Will see you in season II…
Bobo you kick ass… your doing what you love and that puts you ahead of 98% of the world…keep it real.
“and like the discovery exec said, if they wanted a scientist they would have hired one.”
That says it all. I think we need to stop looking at Finding Bigfoot as something it’s not. It’s Destination Truth meets Lost Tapes, the intro with the snarling CGI Bigfoot speaks volume.
Enjoy it as a silly romp that’s not meant to be taken seriously. We’re meant to be scared for the investigators, we’re supposed to laugh at them. Why not, the whole scientific angle is Animal Planet having a laugh.
Exactly as I posted here on Cryptomundo 2 weeks ago at: Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot: Research or Entertainment?
Bobo says the first three episodes were the pits, I admittedly tuned out after the middle of the second one, so in light of the changes Bobo has managed to bring about I will give it a second look.
Kasper, I find it ironic that your post about people spending so much time typing responses on here is, so far, the the most verbose of the lot. LOL. By the way, just because you read a negative response from someone does not mean they don’t spend time in the field. Time spent in the field does not translate into instant acceptance of all things offered.
Far too many claims of noises having to be made by bigfoot when they are probably coyote, elk or birds. This show is just typical of EVERY show like it in history. THEY NEVER EVER FIND THE SUBJECT. Eventually, as in Ghost Hunters, they bring in staging teams to fake evidence. The show then jumps the shark. The only way to do this is to spend an entire summer in hot Bigfoot territory and bring high-tech gear and multiple tracking teams to look for evidence and lure the creatures in. Matt has the right spirit but a Jeff Meldrum would make a good addition if not center figure for such a show. Still, I will faithfully watch it and root you all on simply because it IS good TV, not good animal tracking.