Ready for the return of a drama about certain families that involves adultery, treachery, murders of family members by rival gangs, love affairs, plots to create power shifts, turf wars and more?
No, The Sopranos hasn’t come back. These real-life “mobs” are the heroes, heroines, villains and those of murky intent found in Animal Planet‘s cult hit Meerkat Manor, debuting its third season Aug. 10. Already a part of pop culture, with references to the ‘kats made on shows such as Rescue Me, Jeopardy!, Brothers & Sisters and The Class, the series offers all the combined cuteness and hard-edged reality of the pre-sanitized days of Disney cartoons, when kids (and adults) were asked to deal with troubling but cathartic events such as the death of Bambi’s mother and Dumbo’s separation from his mother. In this series, the life-and-death situations in which these animals find themselves are also very real, and even viewers who don’t normally watch “animal shows” often find themselves sympathizing with at least one of the “characters” in this natural drama. And when one of the ‘kats is mortally wounded, viewers know it isn’t going to get up off-camera and happily walk away to its next role. Most nature programs bring home to some degree the harsh nature of survival in the wilderness, but perhaps none bring it so immediately as Meerkat Manor does. How often has a gazelle seen eaten by a lion been given a name, and time to display its personality, as the little critters in this series have been and do?
This season, things get more interesting for the Whiskers, the primary meerkat family followed in this series. After being evicted from their manor by the vicious Commandos clan, they try to settle in a new area, only to encounter yet more not-so-nice neighbors — the Zappas, led by (of course) Frank and featuring dominant female Lola, bad boy Houdini and Lola’s ambitious sister Punk, who secretly has designs on leading her own group. Unfortunately, at one point, Flower — the Whiskers’ dominant female — finds that her newborn pups have gone missing in Zappa territory.
Right off the bat there is plenty of drama, and you can get in on it even earlier by visiting the meerkats virtually at animal.discovery.com for one week beginning Aug. 3. Also airing Aug. 3 on Animal Planet is a recap special to get you up to date on all the goings-on with these addictively fascinating animals.
