Bigfooting in Lemuria

“Finding Bigfoot” is a never-ending (?) reality (??) show, aired on Animal Planet. It features a group of four investigators traveling across the United States, and sometimes to other countries, in search of the elusive Sasquatch (a.k.a. Bigfoot), an ape-like creature most scientists consider purely mythological. Three of the intrepid explorers belong to the BFRO, a group which believes in the existence of the monster. The fourth is a skeptic. This is actually the second half of the 8th season, plus some additional material. For some reason, Amazon has dubbed it “Season 10”.

The most interesting episode is “Supernatural Bigfoot”. So far, the BFRO team has more or less avoided the paranormal dimension of the Bigfoot phenomenon, BFRO's official position being that the creature is an unknown species of animal. Occasionally, however, even this “respectable” series makes fringe claims, as when team member Bobo claims to have a recording of the Bigfoot language, or when BFRO leader Matt says that Sasquatches follow power lines (the paranormal is often electromagnetic in character). Since many people who watch shows of this kind presumably believe in the paranormal, the Bigfoot-New Age crossover was bound to happen sooner or later…

In “Supernatural Bigfoot”, the team heads for Mount Shasta in California and meets a somewhat eclectic group of people who investigate both UFOs, ghosts and Bigfeet. Mount Shasta is sacred to the Native tribes, but it's also a hot spot for New Age people and outright cultists, Guy Ballard's meeting with an “ascended master” from Venus circa 1930 being the most well known incident. The episode should be taken with a grain of salt, featuring Neo-Shamans who expound on Lemuria, eye witnesses who claim that Bigfoot can vanish into thin air, a lady who claims to channel a Bigfoot, and discussions on telepathy and Bigfoot language (a different one from that recorded by Bobo). As usual, the “night investigations” are extremely dragging. And yes, it's entertainment, but at least the BFRO team makes a nod in the paranormal direction!

One thing that intrigued me was the obvious difference between the BFRO team and the Supernatural Bigfoot Crew (SBC). For starters, one of the SBC-ers is Black, while all other Bigfooters I've come across on TV are White! Also, the BFRO try, with varying degrees of success, to emulate the “outdoorsman” ideal, while the SBC look like displaced urbanites. Otherwise, the main difference is simply that the SBC doesn't sift out the paranormal from “their” eye witness reports, something the BFRO presumably does (when not on prime time network hour). Whether we like it or not, the Bigfoot phenomenon is messy!

With that, I leave you for now. And, hey, let's be careful out there…