The Henderson family were vacationing in the Pacific Northwest when they accidentally hit a seven-foot-tall creature that ran in front of their car. They took the creature, a Sasquatch (also known as Bigfoot) home to Seattle to nurse it back to health.
Their 10-year-old son, Ernie (Zachary Bostrom), quickly became attached to the bright, gentle, but clumsy Sasquatch, whom he named Harry.
Despite the misgivings of his parents, George (Bruce Davison) and Nancy (Molly Cheek), Ernie convinced them to keep Harry, which presented all sorts of problems since they couldn’t let everyone know that a Sasquatch was living with them.
The only others who did know were Walter (David Coburn), a young biologist working for the department of animal control, and their next-door neighbour, Samantha (Gigi Rice), a divorced TV reporter with a young daughter (Cassie Cole). Both of them were sworn to secrecy, to protect Harry from being taken by the authorities.
Walter and Samantha were duly dropped from the cast and Nancy’s younger brother Brett (Noah Blake), who moved in with the Hendersons, and obnoxious little Darcy (Courtney Peldon), who was infatuated with a disinterested Ernie, were added.
Later that season George quit his job with a sporting goods company to start The Better Life, a magazine dealing with ecological issues. Brett, who had helped finance the magazine, worked on it with George.
In the 1992 season, all of Seattle found out about Harry when he was in the Mercer Island Animal Control Center. He became a local celebrity, and Brett was forever looking for ways to capitalise on Harry’s fame.
Hilton (Mark Dakota Robinson), whose father was the local police chief, was a neighbourhood kid who had become Ernie’s good friend.
Adapted from the 1987 movie of the same name starring John Lithgow, with Kevin Peter Hall reprising his role as Harry – the huge hairy, apelike star of the show. When Hall passed away in the spring of 1991, the role of Harry was taken over by Dawan Scott.
Brian Steele, who had doubled for Harry earlier in 1992, took over the role at the start of the 1992-1993 season.
Harry
Kevin Peter Hall (1990-1991)
Dawan Scott (1991-1992)
Brian Steele (1992-1993) George Henderson Bruce Davison
Nancy Henderson Molly Cheek Ernie Henderson Zachary Bostrom
Sarah Henderson Carol-Ann Plante Samantha Glick
Gigi Rice Tiffany Glick
Cassie Cole Walter Potter
David Coburn Brett Douglas
Noah Blake Darcy Payne
Courtney Peldon Hilton Woods Jr
Mark Dakota Robinson
The only others who did know were Walter (David Coburn), a young biologist working for the department of animal control, and their next-door neighbour, Samantha (Gigi Rice), a divorced TV reporter with a young daughter (Cassie Cole). Both of them were sworn to secrecy, to protect Harry from being taken by the authorities.
