Have the people that are making the decisions for S4 ever even watched MM? A friend loaned me the DVD's. I have just fininshed watching the first two episodes. After hearing that "we just need to get over Flower", "stop complaining about Mr. Astin", "all people do is gripe, gripe, gripe", "whining", "complaining" and on and on and on, I felt it necessary to see just why so many others felt like I did. Were we just whiners and complainers? Were we just obsessed with Flower and Mr. Astin?

I was actually suprised how little of Flower there was in the first two episodes. An introduction to who she was, a couple of scenes adding to the explaination, that was it. A lot of kats and action. Next episode, same thing. Yes, at some point, I came to see Flower as the Queen of the Kalahari, and it was LONG before JE. It was slow and tranquil, like seeing an old friend and learning just a bit more. I knew I always thought any meerkat was cool, but this one stood out...by herself, without a script.

The new kats in S4 have that same ability and quality, why not give it to them?

When Tosca appeared and was pregnant, we were not told she was a sleeze. It was up to us to decide the issue. When Shakespeare was biten, we were not told how slow he was. When the other kats left the snake alone, we did not have some analysis of what we had seen.

The kats did what kats do, it is that simple.

I have tried to keep an open mind about Ms Channing, a meerfriend likes her very much and I highly value their opinion. I know she has stepped into a baptism by fire, but I again see why Mr. Astin WAS MM (the "human" side, at least).

If MM "pulled off" endearing Flower to so many by just letting her tell the story and being natural, why in the world would it NOT work for the future generations of not only the Whiskers, but all kats. Frankly, I loved Hannibal, I could have watched a show that centered around him. It would be different from Flower, but I know he had quailties.

I saw such a difference in S4, yes, we have heard over and over and over "move on", "change is good"...but when the change and moving on kills the initial attraction, it defeats the purpose. MM was the highest ranking show, it stood on it's own. I FELT like I was watching kats, not some lame soap opera telling me what to think.

They know fully well that a great many of us will watch "for the love of the kats", they know that we "will settle". I am sorry, I do not care for that posture.

Jumping up from the computer, standing on the chair, and clapping my hands!!! Yesssssssssssss - VERY well put.

Nightweaver...you are brilliant. Great Great post....

Also Nightweaver...you need to post this on the blog so that the producers and powers that be can also see this.....

Nighweaver, you are awesome. Unbelievably well articulated. I feel exactly how you said it.

Jason, listen to Nightweaver please!!! She speaks for very many of us. Get rid of the sleeze and the fluzz. Bring back the magic of the kats. They don't need any emblishment. It dirties them. Keep them pure. They do what they do. You don't need to translate, because frankly, you are very bad at it.

Bring Sean back

NightWeaver, you've come through for us again - putting into words what I feel! Thank you so much. I can only hope AP is paying attention and not chalking up our 'whining' to new season/ new narrator blues. SEAN ASTIN speaks to us as only a good narrator can; PLEASE bring him back!
MaryJane

Hi all.

Good afternoon scmeerkatfan!

Hello sunshine-1!

How are you bischonmom?

c9691, plz check the burrow board for PM.

I only posted this because I have become a nay-sayer. I know a lot of people come here to get happy and share warmth and beauty and the negativity bums them out. I have watched MM since the first moment it was on, but I have only seen what AP airs, so it has been far too long since I "got back to the basics" and I just wanted to see why I have become such a "gloomy gerturde". Thank you for the support and my apologies to those who may be disheartened by my negative attitude.

Take care all!
flotosbea

Very well put Nightweaver.

I truly believed success went to the heads of the producers. Rather than let it continue to succeed on its very real merits, they meddled too much to try to enhance its appeal. The show has become overproduced, and the original charm has been lost.

Nightweaver you have started an excellent thread, I could not have put it better myself. You have stated perfectly what so many of us feel. I also agree with the sentiments added by others who have posted here. Producers-please, bring back the magic and PLEASE BRING BACK SEAN ASTIN!!!

NW:
Great! I just wanted to make sure that your post is everywhere. I definately do not need to add anything to what you have said as it was wonderful and so well thought out.

Change is sometimes positive and sometimes negative, but if the negative is looked at closely, and it can be improved on, then we must be honest. I know that many of us did not like some parts of MM last night. We are very vocal people and we want only the best showing of MM to appear. We care and we care deeply. Sean Astin made us feel like we were with him in everything he said. He showed such emotion when it was very sad and when it was light hearted it was such a great delivery. Not everyone can speak and narrate. It does take skill as I am sure that he was not there when they were filming. He has a gift and that gift was meant to captivate us all in the lives of our Meerkats. He did a wonderful job and I miss him very much. We went thru so much change last season and it was a blow to have Sean taken from us.

We just love our Meerkats!

Janelle

It is very confusing to me why they made the zappa seem so bad then they turn around when the old df is taken over and try to make people feel sorry for her! We want to watch nature, not a soap opra.

Hi all!

Thank you belleferret. Yes, the charm is "lacking".

Hello codyferret!

c9691...the PM was to ask you where the blog was...sorry, cyber dino gets confused?!?!?

Nice to see you lmg767!

Thank you all! I do not care for "killjoys" and I guess expressing myself has made it appear that I am just looking for anything to gripe about. On the contrary, I am just so disappointed that the "magic" is getting lost in corporate drivel.

NW:

Here it is....just for you....I read your mind.....lol


http://blogs.discovery.com/meerkat_manor/

Hopefully the producers will read it too!

Thx c9691! I am glad someone is watching out for my mind. LOL I will get that done! Take care and thank you for helping!

Have a nice evening and a wonderful Sunday!

I speak for myself and myself only - and keep in mind that I respect all opinions and all who are posting them. I ask that mine be respected too.

I am not dissatisfied with the changes to MM. I am aware that many are. But those of us who post constitute a very small number of the fans - millions watch the show, there are only a few hundred of us that have posted here over a period of time. I am sorry to see people that say they won't watch the show because of the changes, but that is their choice.

HOWEVER...the negativity of many of the posts and the borderline rudness does dismay me, not just on here but the blog also. Many of you have stated your dislikes very clearly, concisely and politely, respectfully. I am not pointing fingers or singling anyone out so don't pronk or spitcall me. I am not calling anyone any names whatsoever. This is my opinion.

The language I've seen on the blogis totally inapproriate. I don't recognize the name on that particular post. But it does not represents me as a fan of the show or a meerkat lover. It doesn't represent anyone in a polite manner regardless of opinions about the show. I too have watched the show from the begining and there were some things I would change too, if I could have. I am not the one in charge there; I think assuming to know the minds of the producers/writers/narrators is presuming too much. And that is my complaint. I know some of the statements posted are just too over the top - who knows what the producers are thinking or if success went to their heads or if they just thought the changes would improve the show. I find it hard to believe that they did this to run it into the ground and lose viewers.

I think some of the people that have posted ie, Queenflower (sorry to take your name in vain QF, but you are the best example) without all the vitriol or sounding so angry. It does impact me to read all of this because right now, it is overshadowing alot of threads, and I never know which one it's going to be in.

By all means, keep posting opinions for or against, yea or nay. I will too. But I would appreciate knowing that the heart of a meerkat is still what we are all about, not anger or outlandish statements.

okay, pronk away

Hello dmoo! How are you? I do appreciate and respect your input. If I have been one to "bring down the atmosphere", I do apologize. Please, none of my statements were made out of anger and I tried to avoid "outlandish". If I did not succeed, it was not intentional.

I respect the opinions of all. That is why I have started this thread. I know how it feels to be all "warm and fuzzy" and to stumble on something that "kills the feeling". I am trying to find a respectful and humble way to express that many of us do not agree with the direction the show is taking.

I also want the people who still feel that they are finding "the heart of the meerkat" in the show to express it.

It is not so much pronkering, it is simply that the "heart of the meerkat" has been overshadowed in many minds.

Thank you for your input, it helps me see things in a different light and I will bear that in mind when I do post to the blog. I will try to temper my words and make a polite and respectful point.

Take care and have a very nice Sunday...good to see you!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dmoo753:
I think some of the people that have posted ie, Queenflower (sorry to take your name in vain QF, but you are the best example) without all the vitriol or sounding so angry. It does impact me to read all of this because right now, it is overshadowing alot of threads, and I never know which one it's going to be in.
QUOTE]

I'm not quite sure I follow what is being said about me in the above sentence. Am I being commended or chastised?!

Anyway, I posted something on the blog earlier tonight after I rewatched last night's episode of MM and had some time to settle down and reflect so I thought I would post it again here because it's buried somewhere in another thread. So here it is:

After yet another long and stressful day at work I came home and in order to de-stress I decided to replay last night's episode of Meerkat Manor a couple of times. I've had time to get over the shock of the new intro and the narration. From reading a lot of the responses, there are a fair number of you that seem down right disappointed (some of you being extremely vocal about this). I understand where you are coming from. I too have watched MM since day 1 and I too have kept the Whiskers, especially Flower, extremely close to my heart. But, and there's always a but , I have to tell you after rewatching the episode a couple of times I really enjoyed it. I won't rehash the shortcomings of the episode especially with regard to the disrespect shown toward Zaphod, the debacle of keeping the character of Nikita (who is not really Nikita since she is no longer with us) and how Stockard is no where near as great a narrator as Sean (I hate the way she says Rocket Dog). I understand all of this and more. But in the end, I would still rather have this than nothing. I really enjoyed seeing the wonderful Kalahari scenery, the aardvark, the yellow mongoose and most of all seeing our adorable fuzzies in action again. I love them so much. Zaphod is adorable in his collar, Rocket Dog is the spitting image of Flower (she really is a meerkat beauty queen) and Maybelline, well, she's the bomb. I totally dig her. There was also some clever stuff in the script which passed me by last night. I know it's a shock to everyone's system and I know we can never recapture the magic of the first 2 seasons (especially with all that we know from FKMP and the LH sheets) but still it's only the first episode. Let's just give it a chance (don't worry I'm not going to say don't judge just watch). No matter what we still have the fuzzies and that's what really matters.

QF
(just trying to inject a little something positive in here)

Only commendations, QF. I respect the way you write about your feelings, thoughts, and opinions, and the respectful and courteous manner which you use. It's a good example for all to emulate. I think our opinions can be stated and we can be represented as fans without being seen through an antagonistic atmosphere. Just the cyber-interaction that AP has initiated for us makes me happy as a pup with a skink! To think that I can get my questions taken seriously and answered by the researchers is just amazing to me.

Perhaps I should have used your line, "we still have the fuzzies and that's what really matters."

Dmoo753 thank you so much for your kind words. You seem like a wonderful person. I very much agree with your previous post about expressing ones opinions in a respectful, polite manner. AP has given us a lot here. Let's not forget they opened the door to the Kalahari for us. If it were not for them I would have never known Flower and all the other wonderful meerkats hereby known as "the fuzzies". And if that wasn't enough (and believe me it is), they have provided us with this forum where we can meet other meerkat lovers and express ourselves. If it wasn't for this site we would have never been able to form the East Coast Meerkat Society and help the Staten Island meerkats. And now they have given us a link to the inner workings via Jason. Like you said, the researchers are answering our questions and we are able to post our input on these blogs. We don't want AP to regret they did this for us.

Well my meerkat sister, it's way past my burrow time even if it is a Saturday. It was nice talking to you and I hope you have a peaceful Sunday.

Queenflower

QF
(just trying to inject a little something positive in here)-Quote

Queenflower, Thank you. I loved the new show. While I will miss Sean Astin, I thought Stockard Channing did a wonderful job. If it had been Stockard Channing all along, and Sean Astin stepped in, would we still have all the complaints? I think we would. I thought the music was just fine. The camera shots were excellent!

I dont know what all this talk is of recapturing the magic. I too have have watched this show since the first epidsode aired. For me it was Magic, seeing Rocket Dog, my does she look like her mama! Magic to see Maybelline, and Magic seeing Zaphod! I had no problem recapurting the Magic, the kats do that for me everytime! They are my Magic, Flowers offspring, and her long time love, now roving. Seeing all the kats is what creates the special Magic for me. That is the what got me so addicted to this show in the first place, and so for me, its still there.

I know they change the story line, they said Zaphod and the other males went too far and got lost. I know Zaphod knows the kalahari. Its just a story line. Like saying Nikita is a mean pup eater. We all know all DFs do that. They have to have a bad guy. In this case a bad girl. More storyline. It does not detract or take away my Magic. I refuse to let it.

I'am in love with Meerkats, not Narrators, or storylines. Its true the narrator adds to the story, but its also true that our attitude towards the narrator makes a big difference in how we feel. So I choose to have a good attitude, and not let anything take away or detract my reason for watching my beloved Meerkats. Everyone is entitled to their opion. This is just mine, and how I see things. Thanks.

I just read the above posts by Dmoo and Queenflower, amen sisters

We love you Nightweaver
Oh yes we do
We know to our kats you'll be true
Oh, Nightweaver the words never fail you
(A little take off from a pre-historic song of my time)

Hello Bischonmom, I liked your song. Its great you feel that way about Nightweaver. I dont have anything against anyone. In fact, I never use the word hate at all. Its counter productive for me. Live and let live, thats my motto. I dont like some of things about the new show, but I just choose to enjoy seeing the kats, and let the rest fall by the way side. I realy did enjoy seeing them again.

We all love our kats or we wouldn't be here. So we can all agree to disagree and respect each other. I was only being silly in my little ...whatever... not trying to be sarcastic and apologize if it came off that way.