Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Favorite Fictional Character --- Ben from Grizzly Adams


When I'm sitting down to write these posts, my mind has been wandering back to some of my favorite childhood TV shows.  I seem to have had a fondness for shows that either took place in the Wild West or shows that featured animals.  So I figured why not talk about one of my favorite characters from a show that not only took place on the frontier but featured one of the coolest animals ever to grace a television screen.

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams was loosely based on the life of Capen "Grizzly" Adams, who was a frontier trapper.  Now I'm sure that most people who remember this show would consider Grizzly Adams to be the main character of the show.  Now while I agree that his character was interesting to watch and his kindness to animals was to be admired, the reason I watched was to see Ben, the orphaned Grizzly bear that he adopted when he was just a cub.

Growing up (at least part of my childhood) on the North shore of Lake Superior, I had some great opportunities to see bear cubs in action, so bears have always been a fascination of mine.  Ben was the kind of bear that every little boy and I'm sure quite a few girls, would have loved to have around.  He was gentle and kind and you could just imagine yourself curling up with him and falling asleep.  He was that love able family dog that you could fall asleep in front of the TV with, taken to the next level.  Ben taught me, at a young age, the importance of taking care of our environment and the animals that we share this planet with.  He will always have a special place in my heart, and I always think of him when I happen upon a really cute Teddy Bear.




9 comments:

Zia said...

I loved this show as a kid!

ibeeeg said...

Oh my gosh...I loved watching this show while growing up. For me, it was both Ben and Grizzly Adams that made the show.

Anonymous said...

I honestly never watched this show. "Outdoorsy" has never really held much of a draw for me.

Alexia561 said...

Never watched this show, but Ben sounds amazing!

Staci said...

My brother and I adored this show. I wish that the head honchos would start making quality television again. Shows that you can watch with your kids as they're growing up. I feel like they've missed out on some wonderful stories! Thanks for taking us back to this one!

Literary Feline said...

I loved this show when I was growing up. Like you, Ben was my favorite character. Thank you for bringing back the memories. :-)

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Oh MY! I forgot about this character and series. :) Great series to pick for this. It is cook to watch. Great pick!

Martha Eskuchen said...

Wasn't this a movie? I thought I remember liking it but couldn't get my DH to watch. I'll have to double check the "old" movie group.

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

I never watched this show (though I probably would have loved it) but I'm quite familiar with Grizzly Adams because people always say my dad looks/acts just like him. :)