5 Responses

  1. Red Pill Junkie
    Red Pill Junkie February 11, 2014 at 5:06 pm |

    Loren, if you had consulted for this program, what you would have changed?

    I hadn’t seen it myself –I don’t watch a lot of TV nowadays, and I have a deep distaste for ANY kind of reality TV programming– but perhaps I’ll give it a try… if I can find it on Pirate Bay that is ;)

  2. alanborky
    alanborky February 12, 2014 at 4:53 pm |

    Loren I’d sensed this program signified some sort o’ leap o’ credibility over the gate erected by certain organized cynics t’prevent the mainstream acceptin’ Bigfoot other than on a *silly/fun* basis but I hadn’t really grasped how big a leap or the full cultural context till now [that mindbending Margaret Mead essay in TV Guide info's a breathtakin' example o' your scholarship in my estimation].

  3. Shamusmac
    Shamusmac February 12, 2014 at 8:27 pm |

    I found your observations about reality TV and popular culture to be on the spot. I think you are correct about the positioning of the “Bigfoot Hunter” in popular culture as well, however I think that what this program does, is unfortunate. I see it as adding tinder to the already combustible idea that people interested in ‘big foot’ are fringe-dwellers who are not to be taken seriously.

    Sadly I think this is what much of reality TV does with any subject, whether it is about family life, dating, or the pursuit of a career. Reality TV debases it’s subject matter by giving primacy to entertainment of the audience before any respect for the participants in the show. Unfortunately mockery of the participants in reality TV fuels audiences.

    I would much rather watch an earnest documentary on the subject myself. However you are correct in that “reality TV” is contemporary format and for better or worse “bigfoot Hunters’ have been targeted. Being noticed isn’t necessarily a positive thing when it is for the wrong reasons.

  4. cryptidfan
    cryptidfan February 13, 2014 at 10:07 am |

    A very insightful article. But I’m not sure how a second season of 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty would work. Would the same “field tests” be repeated with the new cast of characters? Or would the show’s “formula” be changed up? Interesting to think about…

  5. poeticsofbigfoot
    poeticsofbigfoot February 13, 2014 at 6:00 pm |

    “Perhaps the title of the series is a handicap, but 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty has proven to shown Bigfooters as they really are – real people who sometimes dislike each other….” I don’t think there’s much that’s real about this or any show like it.

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