Grizzly Adams

My father was a forest ranger at the Soapstone Guard Station for nearly 30 years. As a child and early teen, the Uinta Mountains, where many of Sun Productions' films and TV series were filmed, was "my childhood back-yard." With my dirt bike allowing me access to miles of travel all around the area, along with my intimate knowledge of the area and any big events occurring in or around it, I was able to watch many, many days of scenes being set-up and filmed.

Grizzly Adams with Doug Suess' huge grizzly-bear Ben, was one of my favorites. Doug and his son Clint still live in the Heber City area and have quite a stable of film-ready "wild animals" for hire. Another classic movie filmed in and around the area was Robert Redford's "Jeremiah Johnson." Still classic films... and even fonder memories.

I loved the character of James "Grizzly" Adams, who was played by the perfectly cast Dan Haggerty, whose warmth and caring was conveyed effectively. Denver Pyle as his friend Mad Jack was funny and memorable, and Don Shanks as his blood-brother Nacoma performed his part as a Native American with sincerity and respect. Then of course there was Ben, the big grizzly that Adams rescued as a cub from a mountain ledge and is now his protector and companion.

Like the 1974 film that preceded it, some will no doubt complain that the series is too simple, even corny, but I reject these views, since Adams is a good man, unjustly accused of a crime he did not commit, but has no way of proving his innocence, which is why he fled to the wilderness.

A series that presents respect for nature, Native Americans, and helping one's fellow humans and animals should be treasured, and I'm glad this series is at least on DVD, though would look even better in HD!

"Maybe", the show's theme song, is beautiful, and may bring a tear to the eye!

Just recently the TV series was aired again on German TV for an... x number of times. It "realizes" everyone´s dream to just leave this hectic, violent world behind. The plots are simple, which isn´t necessarily negative. As a matter of fact, it is one of the few TV series with little to no violence. It brings back memories of one´s own youth and dreams of a perfect world in which all problems will be solved in a nice way at the end. An entertaining series with good actors, beautiful sights of nature and unforgettable Ben.

Sunn Classic Pictures was a movie company out of Salt Lake City Utah that made a lot of good high quality films in the 1970's. Films like The Mysterious Monsters, In Search Of Noah's Ark, The Lincoln Conspiracy, Beyond And Back, The Bermuda Triangle and In Search Of Historic Jesus. This tv series was a forgotten jem. It is an absolute atrocity that people do not remember it or cannot see it today, especially in the light of the trash that they call tv shows they shove down people's throats. Dan Hagerty and Denver Pyle did a wonderful job in creating a fine show that the whole family can enjoy. Grizzly Adams was a tv hero that kids can look up to. We need him today more then ever. I watched this show growing up in Fairmont, West Virginia and have such fond memories of it. They need to put it into syndication. Shows like this and Little House On The Prarie and Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman teach such important lessons to our children. A great tv journalist named Edward R. Murrow once said that without a social conscience, tv is a horrible weapon and will corrupt our children. By the way, I loved the song for this tv show "Maybe, theres a world that we won't have to run maybe, theres a time we call our own living free in harmony....take me home, take me home.

While I know that this show was no emmy-winning fare, it brings backs memories of my youth and gaining an appreciation for nature and all animals.

Somewhere in all of us, lies that Walden-esque desire to abandon the trappings of modern life and live in the wilderness among nature. While this was merely a television program, and undoubtedly fraught with errors and impossibilities (i.e. raising an orphan cub to be your "buddy"), it allowed for soles young and old to live out that Western fantasy, albeit vicarisely. I miss those days curled up with a pillow on my Grandma's floor and imersing myself in Grizzly Adam's world.