Dallas and Wayne: The Bigfoot Hunters, which will air on WTZP The Zone, will have it’s red carpet premiere on September 11 at 7 p.m. in Shawnee State University’s Verne Riffe Center for the Arts.
Andy Dodson of Piscotti Productions described the show as “Dog the Bounty Hunter” meets “MonsterQuest.”
“The show is about Dallas and Wayne and their quirky relationship, as opposed to actually finding Bigfoot. That’s secondary to the humor that kind of takes place while they’re out hunting and the stories that they tell,” Dodson said.
Dallas and Wayne’s friendship and their adventures were also the focus of local filmmaker Jay Delaney, in his 2008 documentary film “Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie.” Delaney’s movie gained national attention and praise by film critics as it played at film festivals across the United States. The film was at one time available on Time Warner OnDemand and now the DVD is for sale at Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.
Dodson said he had the idea for his TV series several years ago while he was shooting videos for WHCP in Portsmouth, but at that time Delaney was already filming his documentary.
“This winter things were kind of slow. I had always talked about doing a Bigfoot show, and my wife said either shut up and do it, or just shut up. So I got a hold of them again and they were totally game for it,” Dodson said.
But he stresses that his show is its own project and is not part of Delaney’s film at all. The series looks at different elements of Dallas and Wayne’s friendship than was featured in the film.
“I think (Jay’s video) kind of showed a grittier, more sobering side of their lives. Whereas this show is going to be more the lighter, comedic side,” Dodson said. “Some of the stuff they say is absolutely hysterical. Whether they realize they’re funny or not, they really are. They’re really funny, and really sincere. They’re really funny, down to earth, nice guys.”
In one future episode, Dallas sprays himself with Chanel No. 5 perfume because he believes it will attract Bigfoot.
Each episode condenses 20 hours of footage into only 30 minutes of air-time. There will be at least 13 half-hour episodes in the first season.
The show will premiere with a red carpet showing of the first two episodes, beginning at 7 p.m. the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts at Shawnee State University on Sept. 11. Dallas and Wayne will also be at the event signing copies of Bigfoot Hunters: Episode One DVD. Tickets for the premiere are available at the McKinley Box Office and at Ticketmaster.
Afterward, the series can be found weekly beginning Sept. 18 airing Saturdays at 6 p.m. on WTZP The Zone; channel 24 for Time Warner Cable subscribers. Full episodes can also be seen online after they air on The Zone.
For more information about Dodson’s new reality TV show, visit the show’s Web site at www.dallasandwayne.com.
RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 235, or e-mail rottney@heartlandpublications.com.
Not now, not with what we've seen, so far. Who will get them to get in such a position, the people who've been in charge for decades? How will we do that? Hmmmmm