The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Richard Friedenberg |
| Produced by | Charles E. Sellier Jr. Raylan D. Jensen |
| Written by | Lawrence Dobkin |
| Starring | Dan Haggerty Don Shanks |
| Music by | Thom Pace |
| Cinematography | George Stapleford |
| Editing by | George Stapleford |
| Studio | Sunn Classic Pictures |
| Distributed by | Sunn Classic Pictures Sun International |
| Release date(s) | November 13, 1974 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| television series | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles E. Sellier Jr. |
| Starring | Dan Haggerty Denver Pyle Don Shanks |
| Narrated by | Denver Pyle |
| Theme music composer | Thom Pace |
| Opening theme | "Maybe" |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 38 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 hour |
| Production company(s) | Sunn Classic Pictures |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | March 02, 1977 – December 19, 1978, February 21, 1982 |
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, is the title of a 1972 novel by Charles E. Sellier Jr., a 1974 film based on the novel, a two-season NBC television series, and a 1982 TV movie. The title character — played by Dan Haggerty—is loosely based on the actual trapper, J. Capen "Grizzly" Adams.
Grizzly Adams (Haggerty) is a woodsman during the frontier era who flees into the mountains after he is wrongly accused of murder. While struggling to survive, Adams discovers an orphaned grizzly bear cub whom he takes in and calls Ben. The bear, despite his huge adult size, becomes Adams's closest companion. Adams proves to have an uncanny link to most of the indigenous wildlife of the region, who have no fear of him. In return, he resolves never to harm another animal whenever possible. In the television series, Adams had two human companions, an old trader named Mad Jack the Mountain Man (Denver Pyle, commonly featured with a mule named "Number Seven") and a native American named Nakoma (Don Shanks). Together, they helped various visitors while protecting the wildlife.
The series was concluded with a 1982 TV movie called The Capture of Grizzly Adams where a bounty hunter used Adams's daughter–-not seen or mentioned since the 1974 film—to draw him back to civilization. In the end, Adams proved his innocence.
Contents |
[edit] Production
Grizzly Adams was the creation of Sunn Classic Pictures, a company based in Park City, Utah which was operated by founder Charles E. Sellier Jr., who had written the book on which first the 1974 movie, and then the series, was based. The studio successfully made up for its lack of experience with lavish marketing and promotional budgets. The 1974 movie was a runaway success, produced on a $140,000 budget but which went on to earn $65 million at theaters. The 43% market share captured by a 1976 airing of this film on NBC caused network executives to greenlight a television series. This series drew a 32% market share, a figure which still remains very significant to this day. The enterprise also came at a time when the environmental movement flourished.
In a 1978 interview with TV Guide, Sellier said that the company used extensive market testing to produce the series, which was based on tests showing that audiences liked stories about men and animals in the wilderness; that bears were favorite wilderness animals; and that grizzlies were the favorite type of bear.[1] The actual filming locations for the television series took place in the mountains near Ruidoso, New Mexico.
The show's theme song, “Maybe,” was written and sung by Thom Pace. The song was released as a single in Europe, where it reached number one, and won the Goldene Europa award for best song.[citation needed]
[edit] Cast
- Dan Haggerty as James Capen 'Grizzly' Adams
- Denver Pyle as Mad Jack
- Don Shanks as Nakoma
- John Bishop as Robbie Cartman
- Bozo (a grizzly bear) as Ben (named after Benjamin Franklin who Adams viewed as a great man)
In addition to Ben, there were many other named animals in the series, the most prominent being Number 7, Mad Jack's ornery mule.
[edit] Episode list
| Prod.#[2] | Episode | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| — | The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams | November 13, 1974 |
| 701 | "Unwelcome Neighbor" | March 2, 1977 |
| 702 | "Beaver Dam" | April 27, 1977 |
| 703 | "Blood Brothers" | February 16, 1977 |
| 704 | "Adam's Cub" | February 9, 1977 |
| 705 | "The Fugitive" | February 23, 1977 |
| 706 | "Howdy-Do, I'm Mad Jack" | March 9, 1977 |
| 707 | "The Tenderfoot" | March 30, 1977 |
| 708 | "Home of the Hawk" | May 5, 1977 |
| 709 | "Adam's Ark" | March 16, 1977 |
| 710 | "The Redemption of Ben" | March 23, 1977 |
| 711 | "The Unholy Beast" | April 20, 1977 |
| 712 | "The Rivals" | April 6, 1977 |
| 713 | "The Storm" | May 12, 1977 |
| 714 | "The Trial" | October 26, 1977 |
| 715 | "Survival" | October 12, 1977 |
| 716 | "A Bear's Life" | October 19, 1977 |
| 717 | "The Choice" | December 21, 1977 |
| 718 | "Hot Air Hero" | September 28, 1977 |
| 719 | "Track of the Cougar" | December 14, 1977 |
| 720 | "The Search" | November 9, 1977 |
| 721 | "Marvin the Magnificent" | January 11, 1978 |
| 722 | "Woman in the Wilderness" | December 28, 1977 |
| 723 | "The Orphans" | November 2, 1977 |
| 724 | "Gold Is Where You Find It" | November 23, 1977 |
| 725 | "A Time of Thirsting" | January 18, 1978 |
| 726 | "The Seekers" | January 25, 1978 |
| 727 | "The Spoilers" | January 4, 1978 |
| 728 | "The Stranger" | April 5, 1978 |
| 729 | "The Runaway" | February 22, 1978 |
| 730 | "A Gentleman Tinker" | February 8, 1978 |
| 731 | "The World's Greatest Bounty Hunter" | May 12, 1978 |
| 732 | "The Littlest Greenhorn" | March 15, 1978 |
| 733 | "The Great Burro Race" | March 1, 1978 |
| 734 | "The Quest" | April 26, 1978 |
| 735 | "The Skyrider" | May 5, 1978 |
| 736 | "The Renewal" (two hours) | March 22, 1978 |
| 737 | Once Upon a Starry Night (two hours) Theatrically released as Legend of the Wild [3] |
December 19, 1978 November 1981 |
| — | The Capture of Grizzly Adams (two hours) | February 21, 1982 |
[edit] Referenced in pop-culture
- EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams, a professional ice hockey team in the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga, is named after the main chracter.
- In the 1980–1981 season of SCTV, Dave Thomas starred in a sketch as "Grizzly Abrams", a mountain man who discovers an injured turtle, nurses it back to health, and becomes its friend, sharing adventures. When the rubbing together of two sticks to make a fire causes an explosion, wounding Abrams, he sends the turtle to get help, but the turtle cannot run as fast as the bear in "Grizzly Adams," and it takes a while before it can reach town, summon the help of Abrams's friends Doc (Joe Flaherty), Keith (Rick Moranis), and Pepe (Tony Rosato), and get them to where Abrams is, by which time Abrams is literally a skeleton. Doc angrily states he wants turtle soup, after which the turtle puts on a burst of speed and gets away.
- In the film "Happy Gilmore" (1996) the antagonist, Shooter McGavin, mocks the title character's claim prior to a tournament that he'd beat him on the course by saying "Yeah right...and Grizzly Adams had a beard." Lee Trevino, who made several silent cameos earlier in the film, made his final appearance, correcting McGavin by pointing out that Adams did, indeed, have a beard.
- Dan Haggerty himself, played Jeremiah—a modern day Grizzly Adams—in the films Grizzly Mountain (1997) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000).
- Grizzly Adams inspired Peter Griffin to grow a beard, in the 2002 Family Guy episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows".
[edit] References
- ^ Chimpson, Janice C. (June 6, 1978). "Studio Cleans Up By Marketing Films Like Selling Soap.". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams: Episode Guide". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/the-life-and-times-of-grizzly-adams/show/2998/episode.html?tag=tabs;episodes.
- ^ "Once Upon a Starry Night". BFI.org.uk. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/301978.
[edit] External links
- The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams at the Internet Movie Database
- The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Capture of Grizzly Adams at the Internet Movie Database
- GrizzlyAdams.net, a detailed site with behind the scenes photos and episode summaries.
