Friday, January 4, 2008

Yikes! Monsters!


I'm in love with History Channel's new-ish wonderful (in the true sense of the word) series MonsterQuest, a weekly journey into cryptozoology (the study of mysterious, rare and elusive animals). Now, whether or not something this exciting and fanciful even belongs on History Channel is certainly up for discussion, but I understand their desire for younger demos and this may be a great way to capture them. If the show weren't so well done there might be an issue, but it's super. Nat Geo already has Is It Real? which deals with some of the same subject matter (and seems quite at home on the channel), and it's good too, but there's something about MonsterQuest -- probably starting with the hilarious menacing beastly eye logo that shows up frequently during the show (as seen above)-- that is extra-exciting and oh so watchable.

If you've never checked out this well-made and serious-minded show, you've got a chance tomorrow, Sat. Jan. 5th, when they're running six episodes on a row starting at 11am. You'll see the latest on Giant Squids, Sasquatch, strange big cat attacks (kind of relevant really, with that tiger attack at the S.F. Zoo, and what about the revelations that those boys may have been taunting the tiger with slingshots? Ick. The Flaming Nose hates animal abuse and that changes the whole story, doesn't it?), Killer Apemen (with kooky CGI footage of an army of Russian chimp footsoldiers marching in Red Square, very much worth tuning in for!), Swamp Beasts, and giant killer fish. It doesn't get much better than that.

Grounded in hard science and with much use of DNA and modern identification techniques, MonsterQuest has one foot planted in crazyville and the other in the laboratory. I love the sincerity of those who study this field and hope that one day they'll find their Yeti, Nessie, Ogopogo or whatever else they search for. Until then, we can all go along for the ride and experience our vicarious monster-hunting thrills on History Channel's MonsterQuest!

(If you don't catch up with tomorrow's marathon, MonsterQuest regularly airs Wednesdays at 10pm. Check out the show's website for more information and fun extras! I also found this nice interview with MonsterQuest's creator Doug Hajicek right here.)


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