HBO's The Newsroom will Pitch, "Bigfoot is Real"

The cast of The Newsroom, Dev Patel (far left) pitches Bigfoot is Real in episode 4

It may be a fleeting moment in a single episode of paid cable. But this is not just any TV show. This is The Newsroom written by Aaron Sorkin, one of the most famous writers in entertainment. Aaron Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The West Wing, the Facebook docudrama The Social Network. 

His newest venture is The Newsroom on HBO, an attempt to romanticize what happens behind the scenes of a TV news program. 

According to the episode guide for season one, on July 15, 2012 Newsroom blogger, Neal Sampat (Dev Patel) will pitch a Bigfoot is real segment for the nightly news show.

EPISODE 1.04 : I'll Try to Fix YouWill's "mission to civilize" takes a hit when he finds himself in the tabloid spotlight. Wade approaches Will with info on the government's flagging ability to fight financial crime; Don gets Maggie to fix Jim up with her roommate Lisa; Sloan strikes out as a matchmaker; and Neal's "Bigfoot is real" pitch falls on deaf ears. Against Reese's wishes, Will refuses to follow the media rumor mill and make a call on a breaking story. src: AceShowbiz

 You may remember Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire.

China to Explore Virgin Forest Home of 'Bigfoot'

The Yeren, literally translated as "wild man". AKA The Chinese Bigfoot

The Chinese Wild Mand a/k/a Yeren, a/k/a Bigfoot is said to be living in the forests of the Shennongjia region. You can click on the following link to learn more about the Yeren, the Chinese Bigfoot.

Below is an article from China.org.cn: and of course at the end of the article is our entry on our international Bigfoot variants map

Researchers will start exploring large areas of primitive forest this month in the Shennongjia region of central China's Hubei province, local authorities said Sunday.

Located deep in the remote mountains of Hubei, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve has long been rumored to be the home of an elusive creature known in China as the "Yeren," or "Wild Man" in English. [File Photo]

A group of 38 experts from several universities and research institutions will begin the expedition on July 8, according to a statement from the Shennongjia Nature Reserve's management bureau.

The trip is scheduled to last through August, the statement said.

The group will focus on studying the region's animals, plants and land features and will publish its research results later, it said.

Located deep in the remote mountains of Hubei, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve has long been rumored to be the home of an elusive creature known in China as the "Yeren," or "Wild Man" in English. It is also referred to as "Bigfoot" after the legendary North American ape-man.

More than 400 people have claimed to have seen the Yeren in the Shennongjia area over the past century, but no hard evidence has been found to prove the creature's existence.

With abundant rain and water resources, Shennongjia is home to more than 3,700 species of plants and at least 1,050 kinds of animals. At least 40 of its plant species and 70 of its animal species are under state protection.

The region is also home to the rare golden monkey, which is on the verge of extinction and was first spotted in Shennongjia in the 1960s.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Shennongjia to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1990.

View AKA Bigfoot World Map in a larger map

Media Blitz for Tonight's SyFy Bigfoot Movie Staring Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce

More like King Kong than Bigfoot, but we will take it. Tune in tonight as SyFy broadcasts, "Bigfoot" Starring  Barry Williams and Donny Bonaduce.

TONIGHT! "Bigfoot" on the SyFy Channel 9/8 Central!

All right fans this is the event we have been telling you about since our Feb 2 post, "New Bigfoot Movie with Danny Bonaduce". In fact, click on the following link if you want to read our entire SyFy Bigfoot Movie Coverage. The media is doin' an all out blitz revealing lots of enticing details and mocking comments. We picked out the best quotes from around the web and shared them with you below.

Cast of Syfy channel's "Bigfoot!", clockwise starting top left: Sherilyn Fenn, Andre Royo, Barry Williams, Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Danny Bonaduce, Bruce Davison and  Howard "Johnny Fever" Hesseman.

Syfy stomps out more schlock with ‘Bigfoot’

By Mark A. Perigard

The cable network last year scored a hit with “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid,” a film best remembered for the scene in which its stars, ’80s singers Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, brawled at a lawn party.

Hoping to cash in again on a twisted sense of nostalgia, Syfy pits ’70s teen idols Danny Bonaduce of “The Partridge Family” and Barry Williams of “The Brady Bunch” in a race to snare Bigfoot.

Neither actor has the camp appeal of Tiffany or Gibson, but they sure are bosom buddies in bad acting.

Bonaduce plays a concert promoter nicknamed Harley, and Williams, in a Mike Brady perm, appears as his onetime musical partner Simon, now an ardent environmentalist. There are sly references to their sitcom pasts. Harley loves to rib Simon about sleeping back in the day with his mom, who sounds a lot like Carol Brady. One of Simon’s many female followers is a Marcia look-alike with an IQ that matches her shoe size.

The two men clash as Harley’s outdoor rock concert in Deadwood, S.D., is ruined when the legendary mountain monster stomps all over the party.

There are real actors in the film. Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) plays the frazzled law enforcement officer who tries to save the community. She’s dressed like Frances McDormand in “Fargo,” oversized hat and all, and it’s sad her career has dribbled to this. Couldn’t Lifetime’s “Army Wives” draft her for duty? Howard Hesseman (“WKRP in Cincinnati”) is a hoot as the venal mayor, who, when asked to pony up some money to capture Bigfoot, offers up the firefighters’ pension fund, reasoning it will never be missed. Oscar and Emmy nominee Bruce Davison plays a sheriff and also directed “Bigfoot,” and to his credit, he keeps the film moving at a brisk clip.

The cheesy comedy horror film doesn’t stint on the CGI beastie. Bigfoot here is King Kong-sized, with feet that can flatten an unsuspecting human. His footsteps reverberate like thunder, yet he always manages to sneak up on his victims. He has a nasty habit of biting heads off the clods who get in his way and kicks cars like soccer balls into helicopters, severely undercutting the military’s attempts to corral him. src: Boston Herald

We forgot that Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce had crossed paths before on Celebrity Boxing. This show is essentially a rematch.

Barry Williams accepts Danny Bonaduce 'Bigfoot' rematch 'on one condition: I can kick his butt'

By Jay Bobbin 

The two actors were among ABC's most popular stars of family-friendly sitcoms in the late '60s and early '70s, Bonaduce as precocious Danny on "The Partridge Family" and Williams as earnest Greg on "The Brady Bunch." Their paths crossed memorably in the 2002 premiere of FOX's short-lived (as in, two episodes) "Celebrity Boxing," with Bonaduce pretty much ruling their bout.

On Saturday (June 30), they're back together in "Bigfoot," a new Syfy movie that makes them opponents again, this time in pursuit of the title creature. Other notables are involved -- Howard Hesseman ("WKRP in Cincinnati") and rock icon Alice Cooper are among co-stars, and actor Bruce Davison ("X-Men") is the director -- but there's no question the Bonaduce vs. Williams rematch is the main event.

"I felt terrible," Bonaduce tells Zap2it of the outcome of their meeting a decade ago. "I box, and I had boxed for years. It was a good payday, but trainers and other people I knew said, 'Hey, he's gotten himself into a situation. You've got to carry him a bit.' But boxing is kind of a dirty business, and he was going to a real gym, where champions of the world train."

In a separate interview, Williams maintains he "got in a lick or two" during the bout but admits, "Danny dominated the fight. I've got to tell you, on both a personal and professional level, that was not very comfortable for me ... so when they approached me about being an adversary of Danny's in 'Bigfoot,' I said, 'I'll do it on one condition: I can kick his butt.' And I do. And he was great about it." src: Zap2it

 The Deadbolt also reminds of the celebrity boxing match and with a nod to how both actors have moved on to make the SyFy Bigfoot movie.

Fighting Over Bigfoot with Barry Williams and Danny Bonaduce

by Reg Seeton

Nowadays, years removed from their boxing match and even more from the shows that made them household names, Danny Bonaduce has a better understanding of Barry Williams, the man, after their time in the ring.

“I hit him so hard my shoulder hurt and he continued to get up. What’s the biggest scene in Cool Hand Luke? The guy who won’t stay down. George Kennedy, if I’m not mistaken, is not the star of that scene. It’s Paul Newman because he refuses to stay down. And I know this may sound like an overdramatization of a fight, but until you’ve been in one, they’re pretty dramatic. That’s my impression of Barry Williams.”

In taking on Bigfoot, both Danny and Barry were all about having fun together on a project that pits one against the other as they both hunt for the mysterious creature for different reasons.

For Danny’s Bigfoot character, it’s all about the hunt and kill. For Barry’s Bigfoot character, it’s all about conservation and preservation. But, like in life, there can only be one final outcome for a hunter either way.

Going into the Bigfoot, how did Barry feel about going up against Danny on screen instead of the ring?

“Doing the movie, we’re coming into it in a completely [new] way, both trying to make the best movie and have the most fun and make the best movie we could. So there’s no real animosity there except the acting part.”

In Bigfoot, Danny Bonaduce and Barry Williams star alongside Howard Hesseman (Head of the Class), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), Andre Royo (The Wire) and shock-rocker Alice Cooper. src: TheDeadBolt.com

The best review so far is BLC's hometown paper the Oregonian.

SyFy's 'Bigfoot' pits Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams against a forest monster

By Grant Butler, The Oregonian 

SyFy network wraps up what they've been calling "the most-dangerous month on television" on Saturday with "Bigfoot," a low-budget original film that stars 1970s sitcom stars Danny Bonaduce and Barry Williams. Like most SyFy Saturday night movies, this one appears to have been shot on a budget of roughly $37, and features special effects that may have been created on a Commodore 64 computer. But no one watches a SyFy flick expecting great artistry. People want laughably bad acting and campy dialogue, and "Bigfoot" certainly delivers.

Bonaduce plays a radio DJ in Deadwood, S.D., who is organizing a 1980s rock festival (oddly headlined by Alice Cooper, and only attracting an audience of about 50 people). Williams plays a washed-up musician turned environmental activist who is concerned about the festival's effect on the environment. Before the former stars of "The Partridge Family" and "The Brady Bunch" can really square off, the festival is disrupted by Bigfoot, and mayhem begins. 

There's lots of running around, people being stomped on, and plenty of geographic oddities (South Dakota, at least in the SyFy world, is located near the Pacific Northwest). It all culminates with a scene on top of Mount Rushmore that pays homage to but hardly rivals the finale of Alfred Hitchcock's "North By Northwest."

Included in the cast are Andre Royo (he went from "The Wire" to this?), Sherilyn Fenn (of "Twin Peaks" 20 years ago), and Howard Hesseman (from another '70s sitcom, "WKRP In Cincinnati"). It's directed by Bruce Davison, a one-time Oscar nominee who these days is playing judges on shows like "Drop Dead Diva." 

Should you watch it? Heck, yes! It may not rise to the campy glories of "Jersey Shore Shark Attack" earlier this month, but it's got Williams and Bonaduce enough cheese to make nachos. Don't forget the tortilla chips! src: OregonLive.com