Despite Animal Planet announcing in September of last year that “American River Renegades” was canceled, Boutte’s Wayne “Kip” Benoit and fans have been waging an online campaign to get the show back.
An estimated 200 people clicked on a link that lead them to a form where they told Animal Planet they wanted a second season, but he’s gotten no response yet.
Benoit maintained the show with its six episodes filmed last year got good ratings and was surprised when its producer, Warm Springs Productions, told him the show was over.
But, when Animal Planet started airing the episodes again recently, he was advised it could be a good sign or possible “numbers hunt” to gauge viewer interest in the show.Although he’s back to catching alligators, he’s also become a numbers hunter, too.
“I’m hoping and praying that someone at Animal Planet looks over the situation and says, ‘Why did we kill this show?” he said.
The show’s demise came a surprise to Benoit, who had bought an airboat and four-wheeler in anticipation of shooting more episodes.
“Animal Planet never explained why the show as canceled,” he said. “Up until the end, they were two days away from flights to come down to film again.”
It was in July of 2013 that the local hunter started filming episodes of American River Renegades in St. Charles Parish. He announced it would feature areas back of Lake Salvador crabbing or catfishing in Lac Des Allemands.
The show debuted on May 26,featuring the Boutte alligator hunter among four outdoorsmen from across the nation who made a living surviving off the land. Much of Benoit’s footage was taken in and around the Paradis marshland, not far from where he grew up in Taft. His lifelong friend Ward Martin joined him on the show.
The two shot were included in six episodes. A teaser clip of the show began with an aerial shot of the Hale Boggs Bridge in Luling and an overhead view of Benoit and Martin traveling down the Paradis canal in an airboat. treks out into local marshland with Martin on ATVs.
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