Saw the first part last night. What a huge disappointment....from start to finish!! Not only was it a technical disaster (mics weren't working properly) but much of the show did not appear to be "live", IMO. The show was packed with lame comments from the hosts who obviously knew little, if anything, about Yellowstone or its wildlife. The special also contained "canned" footage that was, obviously shot at another point in time or location which, no doubt, was simply added as a time filler for the special.
More importantly, why on earth would anyone choose the month of August to broadcast a "live" show from the Park and the GYE if the primary focus was observing Yellowstone wildlife? August is probably the worst month of the year for observing wildlife in the GYE. Why? Because August weather in the GYE is very dry and HOT, which tends to drive most animals to the higher elevations to escape the heat. Showing wildlife footage that was shot from the road side by the Yellowstone Institute in the Lamar Valley (with cars driving and whizzing by) is hardly my idea of being in the wilderness. I suspect that other Yellowstone enthusiasts who watched Part 1, questioned that as well.
For those of you who saw the first part, did you notice how the gal in the helicopter kept saying that she wasn't able to spot any wolves? I wish that I would have counted the number of times that she and the ground photographer kept saying that they weren't seeing any wolves "at the moment" or that they must have just missed an animal or would check back later. I blame the show's producers and the technical crew for that because they, obviously hadn't done their homework or done any research on Yellowstone wildlife or where they normally would be, during the month of August. I almost felt sorry for the gal in the helicopter and the ground photographers. They must have been totally embarrassed, not to mention being humiliated, especially, when Nat Geo had touted them as being some of the best wildlife experts and photographers in the world. Ha!!
Yellowstone has always been a big draw that tends to increase a network's viewers and ratings. But IMO, Yellowstone Live was neither an honest or a well-produced show. So whether or not I'll I'll even waste my time watching the rest of the Yellowstone special remains to be seen. The entire production of the show was obviously done on the cheap. I've got a BA in Communications with a mass communications option. My hubby also worked in the media for over 20+ years (radio and television). We've also been going to Yellowstone together for over 30+ years. So we can say from our professional experience that you never ever do a live remote broadcast from the field unless your equipment is working flawlessly....And, you always have backup equipment with you in the event that any of your gear should fail (like the mics in Pt. 1 of the Nat Geo Yellowstone special). Did Nat Geo care? Obviously not, in light of what I saw. In fact, I bet many of our own forum members could have done a far better job and, probably, would have enjoyed contributing to the show (ie: providing GYE wildlife locations for specific animals and birds) based on their own personal knowledge of Yellowstone and the GYE wildlife coupled with their own professional photography and technical expertise.
On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest rating, I rate last night's show a minus 10. Hopefully,the rest of the Yellowstone Live Special will be better, both technically and in content. At this point, all I can say is, "Shame on you, Natl Geographic. You could have and should have done a much better job!" For me, the Yellowstone Live special was a major flop. And, that's really too bad because the special could have been a huge boost to help promote Yellowstone and give global Nat Geo viewers an opportunity to see, up close, the power, magic and majesty of Yellowstone.
I'm pretty darn happy that Bob and Ray didn't see last night's show. Bob and Ray, you see, are my two most favorite Slough Creek bison bulls that I've photographed for several years. If they had seen last night's special, they'd likely be rolling around in a wallow down by the Creek right now, kicking up sand and snorting their disapproval of last night's Pt. 1 of the Yellowstone Live special.
