14 DAY TRIAL // Spike TV isn’t just out to prove that Bigfoot is real: it also wants everyone to get involved for the promise of the biggest bounty ever offered on a show like this. The person who can offer irrefutable proof of Bigfoot’s existence walks away with $10 million (€7.8 million).
It’s definitely the biggest, most daring and original concept ever applied to a reality show, which is precisely why Spike is convinced it will work, and wonderfully so.
However, to sweeten the deal even more, it has teamed up with insurance firm Lloyd’s of London, offering the one person who can bring evidence that Bigfoot is real (the winner of the show, that is), the whopping amount of $10 million (€7.8 million).
Not bad for a reality show, not bad at all.
The show, “10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty,” is now in pre-production and will premiere sometime in 2013. Only one season will be made, hopefully, Tim Duffy, Spike TV’s senior vice president of original series, says for The Huffington Post.
“If this series idea had come in without that Lloyd's of London mark attached to it, I don't think we would have taken it seriously, but that's no small chunk of change,” Duffy says.
“What it signified to us was an opportunity to attract the best scientists, zoologists, trackers and Bigfoot hunters in the world in an attempt to prove or disprove its existence,” he adds.
All of them will stand to win twice if they prove Bigfoot is real: first off, they’ve just proven the “myth” isn’t a myth, and secondly, they’ve just become millionaires.
Whoever stumbles across the hairy creature can also shoot and kill it.
Other conditions to get the prize money haven’t been set yet.
“We haven't gotten to that point yet with Lloyd's of London. Because they are the guarantors of this prize, they have a huge say in it. We're still in the process of figuring out what the requirements will ultimately be for the retrieval of the bounty by whoever is successful bringing Bigfoot in,” Duffy explains.
“No one has ever done anything like this before, and that's what I love about this show. We're going to do this right, not fast, and we're not going to do it purely for entertainment purposes,” he adds in reference to the show having ideally just one season.
The “10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty” will premiere at a yet to be announced date in 2013 and will include 10 to 13 hour-long episodes.