Meerkats on Emmys' red carpet?

In today's L.A. Times issue of The Envelope, which chronicles the awards season, Tom O' Neil writes that the animal lovers' favorite soap opera-tinged reality show "Meerkat Manor" may take home its first Emmy nomination for nonfiction series:

Despite media and viewer mega-hype, "Meerkat Manor" hasn't been nominated in this category yet, but it got a hefty push at the tail  end of Emmy eligibility and the start of the voting period as Animal Planet ballyhooed a special heart-tugging movie version focusing on the animals' matriarch -- the formidable Flower, otherwise known as the "Kalahari Desert Rose."

"Meerkat Manor" has serious competition though. O' Neil's short list of favorites:

"American Masters"
"Biography"
"Deadliest Catch"
"Iconoclasts"
"The Jewish Americans"
"Meerkat Manor"
"This American Life"

Will the stars, who reside in the Kalahari Desert, show up?

"We know some meerkats in Palm Springs," executive producer Mick Kaczorowski told The Times, "but they don't let them out...maybe live satellite."

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Animal Planet