Finding Bigfoot

This is hands down one of the worst shows I've seen on animal planet (and that's saying a lot). However this proves to be so entertaining that the "quality" of the show has no real importance.

The 4 squatch hunters seem to be borderline retarded and are willing to accept their hilariously lackluster findings (broken branches, vague knocking sounds etc) as "proof" of the existence of "Bigfoot's". Yet despite this infuriating lack of scientific method, they happen to provide some of the most entertaining T.V around. There are few things more fun than laughing at there ineptitude, especially if some kind of drinking game is involved.

Overall it is both an abomination of a T.V show and one of the greatest comedies of the 21st century.

This is another attempt at a show that has the potential to be good, but fails due to bending evidence to match preconceived ideas. Why do I say this? Here is an example: In the first show, one of the researchers does a "sasquatch call". They say, it sounds just like a squatch! In the next show, the "sasquatch call" sounds completely different. Not a little bit, but entirely 180 degrees different. The first call was deep sounding. The second sounded like a man with his privates in a bear trap! The comment after the second call, "Wow, that sounded exactly like a squatch!".

My biggest problem with this is, how can they say this is how a completely unproven creature sounds? Next, in every show they manage to find a "squatch" with the thermal cams. Now if this is true, why in the world would they not set out camera traps to try to get a conclusive photo??? Thermal cams are VERY expensive! You could buy a boat load of motion sensor game cams for the same price. I believe the reason they do not employ them is it would cause crew members to be photographed too often posing as a bigfoot.

This is another show going down the same road as UFO Hunters - Don't confuse me with the facts, I already know everything.

Waste of time.

I have seen some bad so-called reality shows - I especially remember that woman in Egypt trying to pretend she had found Neftiti's remains when the remains she found were actually those of a man - but these guys have no evidence whatsoever and they try to make something out of nothing. How can you make a Sasquatch call when no-one knows what they sound like??? "My tent was hit with a rock in the night" becomes a Sasquatch attack? This isn't even good enough to be called pseudo science, because there is no science involved. One thing in their favour, at least as far as the broadcaster is concerned, is that it must have been very cheap to make. They certainly didn't have to pay for any expert opinions.

I watch this show all the time, although I know the outcome is going to be like the dozens of Loch Ness Monster specials that have been done: Nothing will be found. At this point I watch not expecting them to find anything, but rather to see and hear the asinine things that will be said and done.

I find it comical that certain cast members are certain that they "know" many things about sasquatches, although they have never observed or verified any of them. Arrogant, self-assured Matt "knows" what sasquatches eat, how they track and kill game, that they're nocturnal, and that they use howls and knocks to communicate. On one show, he proudly announces that he was the one who "discovered" that they communicate with wood knocks - never mind that the creatures may not even exist. The fact that he attended law school in Ohio and chose his school in large part because of its proximity to alleged bigfoot sightings tells you where his focus is. Matt has been accused of using a reverse scientific method - taking his desired conclusion (that bigfoots exist), then cherry-picking evidence, no matter how thin, vague or inconclusive, to fit his desired outcome. Matt considers himself to be one of the foremost experts on these creatures, yet to call what he does "science" would be a considerable stretch.

Then there is hopeless, gullible Cliff. A one-time schoolteacher in California who quit his job and spent almost every night for the next year living in his car and searching for sasquatches, which he never found. I know that this will come as a shock, but he is divorced. Cliff frequently chimes in about bigfoot habits, which he knows even less about than Matt (who has allegedly at least seen a bigfoot). Then there is the inane chatter. Cliff, about a particular search area: "There are a lot of bears around here. There are some, but not many." I'm surprised that the editors didn't catch that he completely contradicted himself in two sentences. While talking about finding sasquatches, Cliff also injected the gem, "Water is the key." You can't get knowledge like this on just any program. When the team went to South Dakota, Cliff ran across a bison in the wild during a night investigation. He gushed for probably five minutes about how rare it is to see a bison in the wild. The next scene, an aerial view, showed probably 40-50 bison grazing on a hill. In one episode Cliff plays his guitar in the woods, which supposedly attracts any sasquatches looking for a concert or a dance hall.

Ranae, the trained scientist of the bunch, is the daughter of a professional daredevil (you can't make this up). She is the only non-Californian of the bunch, and the resident skeptic. While Cliff is ready to believe anybody, Ranae believes nobody. She comes up with implausible explanations for what people have allegedly seen - which the guys ridicule, because they have already decided that the people saw a sasquatch.

Bobo is the only member of the group who doesn't have apparent delusions about being a serious scientist. He is just out there for the fun of it. He is the only one of the bunch I would go out on an expedition with. He lost a bit of credibility with the statement that sasquatches speak Native American languages - which, if you smoked enough peyote, I'm sure you would hear them doing. Setting off fireworks in the woods was one of Bobo's brainchildren for attracting sasquatches. I'm sure animals came from all around to investigate the explosions and flashing lights. Right.

Whenever the team seems on the verge of finding anything, something invariably goes wrong - like four cameras in a remote watch location all failing at the same time (highly suspicious) or the DNA in supposed bigfoot hair being too degraded to identify what kind of animal it came from.

I am totally convinced that the crew is operating under false pretenses, and that they will never encounter a bigfoot (if they exist) doing what they are doing. Matt in particular is convinced that the creatures are nocturnal, yet a very large portion of alleged sightings have taken place in broad daylight. The crew also makes a great deal of noise in the woods, believing that they are stimulating curiosity in these creatures. If I wanted to drive away every animal within a five-mile radius, I would do exactly what they do: Go into the woods, yell and bang on trees. They don't seem to know even the most rudimentary things about animal behavior.

The shows have taken on an air of considerable predictability, which they will have to fix if the series is renewed. They follow a set pattern, with only a change in location each week.

To their credit, the cast has done a cute commercial for Wendy's in which they encounter a sasquatch coming out of the restaurant carrying a bag, and all they can talk about is the sandwich he is carrying.

"Finding Bigfoot" is a silly show, but for some reason, I can't get enough of it. If you are looking for a reasoned, scientific look at a group of four open-minded scientists trying to either prove or disprove the existence of the Sasquatch, this show is not for you. As a matter of fact, that show does not exist at all. "Finding Bigfoot" features three true believers and one skeptic (Ranae the Skeptic is reasoned compared to the other three, which really isn't saying that much) who go out in the woods and hear things at night. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm certain there are several nocturnal animals in North America that make noises and night and they are not all Sasquatches, but then again I'm not a Bigfoot expert, so what do I know? That being said, I cannot stop watching this show. The characters that the team comes across are earnest, honest people who mostly do not know what they saw and want answers. The team of Mike, Cliff, and Bobo are nice people who have a conclusion in mind and try to fit the evidence to fit this final idea (not really good science, but I digress), and Ranae usually fulfills the role of the viewer at home who is screaming at the TV "that noise was a deer, not a Bigfoot!" Finding Bigfoot is one of the least objectionable reality shows on TV right now, though maybe that speaks more of the other shows than this--either way, the truth is out there.