USA Today Promotes SyFy's Bigfoot Movie

Danny Bonaduce in SyFy's 2012 Bigfoot Movie

"I had one condition, and that was that I could beat the heck out of Danny Bonaduce at some point in the movie," -- Barry Williams (Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch)


USA Today teases at a few updates regarding the much anticipated SyFy movie simply titled Bigfoot. Click on the following link for our previous coverage of the SyFy Bigfoot movie. Below is an excerpt of the USA Today article

•Bigfoot, starring Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch). Airs June 30. 

"We've put together four fun movies in a row," says Syfy original movies chief Thomas Vitale. "It's June. It's escapist popcorn fare. They're the kind of movies that are released theatrically in the summer — the big, special-effects-driven movies to give you an emotional release."
They may mix fun and fear, but "their production is taken very seriously," says Ken Badish of Active Entertainment, which produced Arachnoquake and past Syfy originals Swamp Shark and SwampVolcano. "We're able to do so much more even on a relatively lower budget than we could a few years ago." 

Badish says technological advancements have enhanced filmmakers' ability to add higher-quality CGI for less. "We have the ability to deliver production values that are comparable to studio films because we're using the same cameras, the same lenses, the same (executive producers) and crews. We're able to make better B-movies." 

And the actors appreciate the benefits of mixing horror with hoke, and are quick to joke about it. 

"I had one condition, and that was that I could beat the heck out of Danny Bonaduce at some point in the movie," says Williams, best known for playing squeaky clean Greg Brady. (In a 2002 match on Fox's Celebrity Boxing, Bonaduce, who played the mischief-making Danny Partridge, bested him.) 

Williams knows that casting him and Bonaduce is a publicity stunt with the potential to draw curious fans of these vintage '70s shows. "When you team Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce in a movie, that's inescapable," he says. 

Bonaduce shares the sentiment. "If you took The Partridge Family-Brady Bunch quantum out of this, you'd have yourself a pretty good sci-fi movie about Bigfoot. It's just that big numbers (of viewers) are going to be coming because of Greg Brady vs. Danny Partridge going after Bigfoot. Otherwise, you'd just have the Bigfoot cult and the sci-fi cult."

Untimely Yeti Footprints found in Siberia

Siberian Yeti foot print (© Photo: «Vesti.Ru»)

We use the word "untimely" because usually Yeti news in the Shoria region falls in late September and early October. This timing usually funnels right into the tourism season starting with Yeti Day on November 11th. Of course this does not dis-qualify the great research (read our Kemerovo news coverage) being done in the region, we are only asserting that the Yeti is not usually on the minds of the population and media until Yeti Day begins to approach.

Below is an article from the Voice of Russia. 

Do yetis exist after all?

Maria Domnitskaya

Jun 19, 2012 18:31 Moscow Time

Fresh footprints of a yeti have recently been found in the region of Gornaya Shoria in Siberia. This picturesque mountainous area is sometimes dubbed a “Siberian Switzerland”.

A group of Italian scientists plans to visit Gornaya Shoria to look for more evidence that yetis really exist.

This is not the first time that footprints which are believed to belong to these mysterious creatures have been discovered in this region. Some local residents claim that they have seen yetis with their own eyes. As a rule, yetis’ footprints are found in the vicinity of the Azasskaya Cave and the Karatag Mountain.

Yetis’ footprints are bigger than those of humans – they can reach 45 cms in length. That’s why yetis are also called “Bigfoot”.

Gornaya Shoria has already become to be associated with claims of evidence that yetis exist. Every year, the tourist season in the local mountains opens with a celebration of ‘Yeti Day’, when tourists can find yeti souvenirs all over Shoria.

Local hunters call Bigfoot “the spirit of the taiga”.

In October 2011, a delegation of US, Canadian, Swedish, Estonian and Russian scientists explored the Azasskaya Cave. They didn’t find a yeti, but discovered a large footprint and small samples of hair inside it.

The hairs were up to 8 cms long, curly, gray along the whole length except at the root which was black.

The hair samples were taken to St. Petersburg and thoroughly examined at a local zoological institute. It turned out that they were identical to which was thought to be yetis’ hairs found earlier in California in the US, as well as outside St. Petersburg and in the Ural Mountains in Russia.

One of the members of the expedition, a member of St. Petersburg and New York academies, Valentin Sapunov says:

“These hairs are very similar to the other hairs which were found in 4 different parts of the world and are believed to be yeti hairs. The results from the tests conducted by the scientists indicate that these hair samples are very likely to belong to creatures of one and the same species. A scientific mistake would be highly unlikely.”

However, only genetic testing can prove or disprove that yetis are related to the Homo Sapiens. An attempt made by Russian scientists to examine the DNA of yetis’ hair samples found near St. Petersburg and in the Urals was unsuccessful due to lack of appropriate equipment. But when US scientists announced that the results of their testing apparently proved that the DNA of the yeti’s hair from California was in no way different to that of the Homo Sapiens, very few people actually believed them.

At present, Russian scientists are trying to extract DNA from the hair samples believed to be those of a yeti, which were found in the Azasskaya Cave.

In the meantime, a well-known genetic Professor Bryan Sykes from Oxford University is concluding his own tests. Using equipment of the latest generation, Professor Sykes is trying to prove that yetis really exist. As a sample, he uses what is believed to be yeti remains, which are held at the Museum of Zoology in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Professor Sykes has posted a request on the museum website, which asks everyone, who may possess what they believe to be yeti remains, to send them to Professor Sykes for testing.

He promises to announce the results of the testing in December.

Bigfoot Hair Samples for 30 Bucks -- While Supplies Last

One of the 100 samples of Bigfoot hair being sold by Ty Shafer

"You would think it would be coarse, but it looks really soft — like you would see on a well-groomed dog or something,” Ty Shafer Collector, Novelty Retailer

UPDATE! After talking to Ty Shafer again, he clarified the man who gave him the hair was from Utah and the hair was, in fact from a trap in Washington. Also the hair is no longer available for $30 it will be available and up for auction July 7th. We also asked about the odor and he said there was no discernible scent to the hair at all.. 

Lufkin man puts 'Bigfoot hair' up for sale

Posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 10:26 am | Updated: 10:46 am, Tue Jun 19, 2012.

By ERIN PRADIA/The (Nacogdoches) Daily Sentinel

Monsters may not lurk under beds and in closets, but hair from Bigfoot may be bought at a place near you.

While Lufkin resident Ty Shafer cannot be 100 percent certain the hair he has in his possession is from Bigfoot himself, he is selling the novelty item for $30.

Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is commonly known as a hairy ape-like monster.

Shafer thought local residents may be interested in the novelty item because of the rumors of a Bigfoot wandering wooded areas of East Texas.

“If I sell it, it’s fine, if not I’ll keep it,” Shafer said. “Since I’ve been buying and selling things, my collection just keeps getting a little bigger.”

Shafer doesn’t have a shop, but he sells novelty items online, in local auctions and by taking out classified ads in the newspaper.

Shafer will appear on the History Channel’s Cajun and Pawn Stars show 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. According to www.history.com, Cajun Pawn Stars, puts a Southern spin on the History Channel’s hit series Pawn Stars, with a cast of quirky characters.

Shafer has taken out a classified ad to sell his lock of alleged Bigfoot hair.

“I got it from a guy out of state, actually. I can’t confirm it’s Bigfoot hair. You’d have to have the actual Bigfoot to match the hair,” Shafer said. “He’s just a big Bigfoot fan.”

The man Shafer purchased the lock of charcoal colored hair from had it labeled number seven of 10.

“You would think it would be coarse, but it looks really soft — like you would see on a well-groomed dog or something,” Shafer said.

Shafer is asking $30 for the lock of hair. So far, he has not had any serious inquiries in the two weeks since he acquired the hair.

“People who call about it are more curious than anything,” Shafer said. “They ask a few questions, but then they say they’ll get back to me.”

For information about the “Bigfoot hair,” or other items sold by Ty Shafer, call (936) 676-6059