I have recently discovered the answer to the age-old question: is it possible to have a compelling reality show with no human characters? Yes, it turns out, and I have been shown the way by Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor.
Narrated by Sean "Peter Jackson be damned, he'll always be Rudy to me" Astin, the show is an ongoing documentary of the Whiskers, a family of wild meerkats watched incessantly by self-activating cameras. All of your typical characters are there: the overbearing mother, the passively protective father, the rebellious teenage daughter, and a gaggle of cute little ones. I went in to MM reasonably skeptical and unwilling, but then you just get sucked in by the cuteness. And there are actually plots and subplots! The courageous son Shakespeare was bitten by an adder and has been hanging in death's balance for a few suspenseful episodes now. Daughter Tosca gets knocked up against her mother's will. A rival family infringes on the Whiskers' territory. Those Lost writers could learn a thing or two from the meerkats about suspense and plot advancement.
The show airs on Animal Planet Fridays at 8, making it the perfect alternative to that What Not To Wear episode you've already seen eighty-three times.
1 comment:
-laughs- Who woulda thunk it? :) Thanks for making me smile.
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