August 18, 2021
Tackling TV bare-handed Local producer’s new show about local wildlife rescue company, Wildlife Command Center, is set to air on Animal Planet this month
COMMUNITY VOICES By Becky Ahlvin. Pg. 2 Voters approve Prop R in support of St. Louis Community College. Pg.3 The Kaufman Fund will host Food for Vets event Sept. 24 to distribute food to veterans and their families. Pg.4
By Téa Perez The wild world of Animal Planet has landed in the suburbs of St. Louis. Local reality TV producer Michael D. Francis and local wildlife rescue personality Michael Beran have teamed up with Animal Planet to create a show featuring Beran and his company, Wildlife Command Center’s, excursions in the St. Louis area. “(The show) is a real unscripted reality show, they’re just going to follow us around and show you what our day-to-day looks like,” Beran said. For Beran, a day-to-day looks like saving an injured hawk, removing a black rat snake from a terrified mother’s home, and removing and treating a mangy fox from the Missouri Botanical Gardens all before 12 p.m. However, this show is unlike many other wildlife rescue shows seen on TV. “We rescue people from wild animals, mostly bare-handed,” Beran said. Properly nicknamed “Bare-Hands Beran”, this specific niche has attributed to Beran’s notability. While others in his field have considered this to be a negative operating style, Francis was able to turn that right on its head. “(Michael D. Francis) built this character, if you will, around the fact that I’m rescuing people from wild animals and mostly barehanded,” Beran said. “(Francis) was like, ‘that’s not a negative thing, that’s a positive thing.’” Francis has long been in the reality TV industry, working on shows like “Let’s Make a
Around Town
School Special Section - Back to School. Pg. 7
Features
Submitted photo St. Louis-based television producer Michael D. Francis (left) and local wildlife rescue personality Michael Beran have teamed up with Animal Planet to create a show featuring Beran and his company, Wildlife Command Center’s, excursions in the St. Louis area.
Deal,” “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Survivor” and many more. The qualities he looks for in a new potential show are rather straightforward. “I look for interesting people doing interesting things,” Francis said. “The person or people have to be engaging, have to be interesting to talk to, and doing something that people will want to watch.” Francis was introduced to Beran after he spoke at a production event. Beran approached Francis about helping him with his Wildlife Command Center YouTube channel he utilizes to showcase the actions of his company. In conversations with Beran, Francis had bigger ideas than a YouTube channel. “He told me what he did, but it sounds fake (...) nobody’s really doing these kinds of crazy things that he was telling me about,” Fran-
cis said. “So, I asked him to do a ride-along (...) and everything he said was true, and he is absolutely nuts. I saw that and I was like I don’t want to do the YouTube video, I think we have a TV show here.” Beran has deep roots of dealing with animals. He has spent time on submarines studying animals, and more specifically, learned about the biology and zoology of animals, and zoonotic, the transference of diseases from animals to humans. More than just the crazy elements of the show, there is a large educational element as well. “They do have him going in and figuring out what’s happening and knowing the science and the nature behind what it is so then (Beran) could prevent it from coming back into your home,” See ‘TV’’ page 2
Serving North & Northwest St. Louis County | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 100 No. 33| 636-379-1775
Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Moore On Life, Yeggs & Crossword Puzzle. Pg. F-4
Weather FRIDAY Scattered Showers 88/73 SATURDAY Partly Cloudy 89/71 SUNDAY Partly Cloudy 89/72
