HELLO MEERKAT PEEPS. I HAVE A HUGE QUESTION HERE FOR EVERYONE. IF I MAY SCRAMBLE YOUR BRAINS NOW. UMM, WHY HAVE THEY NOT CONTINUED THE WHISKERS LIFE-SAGA THRU ZAPHOD?!?! HE IS STILL ALIVE AND THRIVING AS A DOMINATE MAN!!! I KNOW IT'S TOO LATE TO ASK, BUT DONT YOU THINK AS I DO THAT THEY COULD OF KEPT THE LEGACY OF THE WHISKERS ALIVE THRU HIM, AFTER ALL ZAPHOD WAS A HUGE PART IF NOT HALF OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FLOWER AND ZAPHOD?!?! BESIDES "DA-MAN" ZAPHOD IS GOING TO BE 11 YEARS OLD THIS DECEMBER!!! IF THAT IS EVEN RIGHT, CUZ ON ONE OF THE K.M.P. INFO SHEETS, THEY SAY HE WAS BORN IN SEPTEMBER-98, AND I HAVE SEEN ALSO THRU K.M.P. A DIFFERENT DATE, HE WAS BORN IN DECEMBER-98... HAVE A NICE AND SAFE DAY ALL!!!!

I would love to see Zaphod again-he's an awesome little dude!

One problem with that idea is that Zaphod is no longer the DM of the Whiskers. He is crrently the DM of the Aztecs family. Other than DF Monkulus, There aren't any Whiskers in the Aztecs anymore. Wait, Alonzo Mourning is in the Aztecs, but he is a part time roving male. Females Burdock and Squig are evicted half the time. All the other Aztecs are Monkulus' children.

This is a good number of Whiskers.

That would be a great idea, I do support that. BUt the others are right about the absence of certain 'kats and about Zaphod being the Aztecs' DM.

I suggested in one of my other forums that they should make a Zaphod Movie, like what they did with Flower, but instead showing the continuing sucess of our 11year old Kalahari King!

Zaphod (and Youssarain's) date of birth is December 9, 1998. He will be 11 next month

I would love to see a season 5 focusing on Zaphod. Of course I would watch a season 5 with ANY of the meerkats from any group.
Zaphod certainly deserves his own movie.... that's an excellent idea!

I'm assuming you mean continue to carry on MM through Zaphod...(correct me if I'm wrong).

First of all, please don't type in all caps as it implies that you're yelling at everyone :\

Secondly, I do agree with you on this matter. They could continue it through Zaphod. Unfortunately there are other factors working against the producers filming once more. Flower's death for one (as she was the big star) another being all of the negative feedback for season 4. Also, the Whiskers have new dominants now and new offspring, many of which the old MM audience would probably not recognize. Many of the groups currently are dropping in numbers due to TB and other natural causes, making it difficult for any one group to stay stable. The mobs also have wild individuals who are not use to being around humans and would flee at the sight of them....

All of these factors (and more) contribute to them discontinuing filming. It is disappointing, I know but that's how circumstance has it. Zaphod is still alive yes, but even though he was Flower's mate, him being alive is simply not enough to justify having continuing seasons as there are too many other factors working against it.

Believe me, it saddens me just as much as you

Rocket Dog was the new dominant female of the Whiskers that the viewers were introduced to in Season 4. She was mentioned only once by name in Season 3, and it was not even her. Ella (Sophie), the Whiskers DF was featured extensively in Season 4, so viewers are very aware of her.

Not all groups have low numbers due to TB. They are three big groups: the well known Lazuli with a Whiskers dominant male, Wollow, Mozart's son, the Kung Fu with a Whiskers DM, Ningaloo, Flower's son, and the Baobab with Whiskers females Hawkeye the DF, and Cruise. They are all habituated. And of course the Aztecs with three Whiskers females including Maybelline the DF, and Zaphod the DM. All these groups (and others) have many of Flower's grandchildren as members.

I personally would be happy if they continued filming, but began focusing on the Aztecs instead. I'm not against the Whiskers, but I would love to see more of the Aztecs too. Maybe they could even show the Lazuli as well. And I think it would be best if they brought back Sean Astin!

They could open the next season like they did season one. It's not like anyone knew Flower when they first started! And look how popular she became! They could do the same thing with Ella or Monkulus. Just a thought.

RDfan

And Alonzo Whiskers, Flower's son is still with the Aztecs.

MitchIsBomb, I disagree with your reasons for discontinuing filming MM; in fact, I think your reasons actually build a case for continuing the filming. No one knew Flower or Zaphod - or any other Meerkat - before MM began; and once begun, it wasn't hard to follow the story lines. We 'seniors' would be so happy to have a Season-5, and I'm sure the 'newbies' would love to see some new 'kats and their story lines.
None of us really has to know what has gone on before in order to enjoy another season of MM; and if we could get Sean Astin again, it would truly be icing on the cake! At this point, I'm sure we would all welcome our neighbors narrating the episodes :-)
Hopin' and Prayin' (Dusty Springfield)

Personally, I don't think anything the kalahari influenced the decuision to axe MM. What mattered happened in the board rooms at Animal Planet and their rebranding efforts. They cited Flower's death and falling ratings as the reason for the discontinuatioin, but I and others don't think they took into consideration that the attempt to rebrand MM between seasons 3 and 4 was a spectacular failure, and this was responsible for almost as many lost viewers (and/or viewers who failed to return) as the losses in season 3.

I think MM could make a successful return based upon the characters we have now. Zaphod would be the connection to the old series, and maybe he would finally get the respect he deserves and didn't get in S4.

If a non-Whiskers group was featured hdeavily in another season/meerkat show, I would like to see Kung Fu. They are a very interesting and successful family, with plenty of adorable pups. The only problem would be the practical issue of it being difficult to film with Ningaloo on somebodies' head every ten minutes ;]

Also, I meant the general rebranding at Animal Planet. It and other specialty cable networks (the most notable example is SciFi, which went so far as to change their name, which AP may well have to do one of these days) have been dropping their base and going with more "broadly appealing" programs. What this really means is abandoning original concepts for the network's focus and creating lowest common denominator television. Shows about animal attacks (AP) and wrestling (SYFY) draw in those coveted young males with money to burn. Quality, broad-audience drama like MM (an animal show that made non-animal lovers watch) and Doctor Who (which was dropped as too SciFi from SYFY, despite its broad fanbase in the US and even more so in the UK) are thrown away by foolish executives who don't think they are cool enough.

In case there are any other US fans wondering, DW first runs have moved to BBC America, which unfortunaltely isn't as widely available.

Thank you Animal Planet for telling me how uncool I am....

"those coveted young males with money to burn".

No offense, but these young males lived on credit that is not available to them anymore. Animal Planet has to find another "coveted" demographic. Slightly older women have very good incomes these days. Additionally, in this economy that is not going to improve greatly in the future it's males that they lose their jobs, and not females. This is another aspect to consider.

I'm a 'slightly older' woman and I have money to burn. I've bought all the DVDs, some jewelry, some clothes, etc. Bring it on; just please bring back MM - I'll buy more!!!
m.j.

I see. I wasn't aware of that so pardon my error...

I want MM to be aired once again just as much as anyone here. But I was just simply stating the possible reasons why they are chosing not to film any longer.

I suppose they could play Ella as "Rocket Dog", however many fans are aware by now that RD is now deceased. So that right there raises a question mark. They could just call Ella "Mango" like they did in season 2 though...

Bare in mind there is a good chunk of viewers out there who are not on these forums, who do not take the time to view KMP's website or LH reports like you and I do. Hard core fans like use care about these things, but many viewers out there love the original characters and don't really realize that what MM depicts isn't always the truth. They love Flower, Zaphod, Mitch, Shakes, Mozart, Kinks, Tosca, etc. And god forbid any new kats be introduced into the show, because they love the quote on quote "originals". Don't get me wrong, I personally love the introduction of new kats on the screen and getting to know them and their personalities. But there is a chunk of viewers out there who are ignorant to that...

I didn't say all groups scummed to TB, I merely said that was one of the reasons and that there are other causes. Yes all of those groups you mentioned are flourishing. The Whiskers, however, just recently recovered from their all-time low of 6 individuals. The entire Elveera group recently scummed to TB (even though they were never featured on the show.) The Commandoes are gone, the Vivians (who played the Commandoes on the show) are gone. The Young Ones (who played the Zappa) are gone....and as I said before, many of the current groups have wild and nervous new individuals.

Well anyway...please don't think I'm trying to pick a fight I'm not just justifying my reasoning I guess. But you do bring up some very valid points.