The Strange Wilderness Shark Scene: a Timeline of an Accidental Viral Phenomenon
By Chloe Bennett
On paper, Strange Wilderness appeared primed to capture the mid-2000s stoner comedy market. Directed by former Saturday Night Live head writer Fred Wolf, the film followed Peter Gaulke (played by Steve Zahn), an incompetent host fighting to save his deceased father’s syndicated wildlife television show from cancellation. The supporting cast featured an exceptional roster of comedic talent on the verge of massive stardom, including Jonah Hill fresh off Superbad, Justin Long, Robert Patrick, and Ernest Borgnine.
The narrative followed the misfit television crew as they traveled to South America in search of Bigfoot to boost their plummeting ratings. Between the narrative beats, the film cut to Gaulke’s disastrous educational broadcasts, sequences where the producers spliced cheap archival animal footage with hopelessly uninformative, slurred narration.
When the film debuted in North American theaters on February 1, 2008, mainstream critics were merciless. Roger Ebert described the humor as painfully desultory, while mainstream reviewers lambasted the production's pacing and narrative incoherence. Studio executives wrote off the project as a total loss within its second weekend of release.
Chloe Bennett explores the intersection of pop culture, streaming entertainment, digital trends, and contemporary lifestyle. Her weekly commentary reaches thousands of culture enthusiasts.
