I Want A Baby Meerkat

Why I want a baby meerkat: Last night, this show premiered on Network Ten at 6:30pm. The meerkats in the show - especially the baby ones - are absolutely adorable!!

Why I love Wifey: She cried when baby Mitch was taken away from the burrow by his troublemaking teenage siblings and then abandoned, cheered when Mitch's older brother Shakespeare (who she'd earlier announced she liked) returned to be the hero and carry Mitch back to the burrow, and then cried non-stop when Shakespeare was bitten twice by the puff adder. She then left the room and refused to come back into the room after the final ad break to see if he survived, because it was making her upset. Suspecting that he'd be fine (he was listed in the show's opening credits, so they were hardly going to create an opening credit sequence that was redundant after one episode!), I insisted she come back and watch the end; for closure. Unfortunately, they decided to leave Shakespeare's well-being open-ended by finishing with the line, "It doesn't look like he's going to make it through the night ..."

Thanks, Mike!*

(Because this inconclusive statement set Wifey off crying again, I quickly jumped online, looked the show up on Wikipedia, and set her mind to rest that Shakespeare survives the double puff adder bites and earns the nickname of being so tough and courageous as a result. It made her much happier to go on and watch Australian Idol.)


Shakespeare, "the courageous one", babysits his newborn
brother Mitch by keeping an eye out for any predators

The show itself is a great idea, and while it pokes gentle fun at soap operas (and, as Mike suggested more than once in his introduction, is similar in style to reality TV shows like Big Brother), it's actually nothing more than an extremely clever way to camouflage a documentary as addictive and educational television.

In what must be miles and miles of footage (or "kilometres and kilometres" to us Aussies), the creators have ten years' worth of filmed action at Meerkat Manor with which to play, edit and formulate thematic 'episodes' with self-sufficient 'storylines'. It's brilliant.

We learn about the behaviours of meerkats in their natural habitat, the scientists learn more and more about their social and other patterns/skills, and we're entertained into the bargain! Everyone wins.

Despite being "really, really ridiculously good-looking" cute, it's a half-hour of documentary-style TV you'll find yourself actually enjoying. Maybe it's because David Attenborough isn't narrating it.




* Incidentally, it's good to see Mike Goldman having another gig while Big Brother's on hiatus. I think he's an excellent TV presenter and I'm glad he's being used rather than shelved during BB's off-season. Also, landing this voiceover gig appears to be quite the accomplishment. In the UK, it's narrated by Bill Nighy (decidedly not "The Science Guy"), while in the US, it's narrated by none other than Magical_M's favourite, Sean Astin. So Mike's in with some pretty impressive company, there. Considering the job of narrating the show could have gone to Rove, Bert, Kochie, Baby John, Livinia, Pete Smith, Shawn Cosgrove, Glenn Ridge, John Deeks or even Gretel Killeen, I'm happy for Mike that he was approached instead.


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