A lot of cross promotion called my attention to what could be the most unique reality show on TV. It sounds a little offbeat, sure – Animal Planet, using fiber optics and other technologies, tracks the lives of meerkats in the desert. Instead of using some dry, low-voiced commentator to describe the behavior and social structure of the meerkats, however, Animal Planet uses Sean Astin. You know, the actor. And the script plays out a bit like a soap opera – Desperate Housewives meets Wild Kingdom…sort of. As strange as it sounds, Meerkat Manor is in its third season, and the show’s getting a fair amount of press. The promotions have picked up, the LA Times has reported on the series, and rumor has it that production is planned for two more years’ worth of soap operatic meerkat drama. New episodes of Meerkat Manor air on Animal Planet every Friday at 8:30 pm EST.

The meerkats depicted in the reality series are part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project. Meerkat Manor focuses mainly on the Whiskers family, which has 33 members. Season two’s drama featured the Whiskers family versus the Commandos, a fierce rival group with 14 members. In season three, the Whiskers family (having recently moved from their home) must battle for terrain and territory against the Zappa mob, which contains 9 members. I might as well say right now, I have an aversion to rodents. To anything rodent-like, as a matter of fact. Meerkats, whose male members weigh 1.61 pounds on average, have long, slender bodies of about 14 inches in length. They have little black noses, beady eyes, a tail that’s 7 to 10 inches long, and whiskers. And they most decidedly look like rodents to me. Meerkats are mammals, and part of the larger mongoose family. They naturally inhabit parts of Africa including the Kalkari Desert. They eat insects primarily, but will also chow down on lizards, snakes, plants, eggs, spiders, and other mammals smaller than they. They’ll also devour scorpions, and forage every day for their grub. While foraging, meerkats keep a sentinel on guard, a duty complete in hour-long shifts.

And while it may not sound engrossing, that’s exactly what many critics claim it to be. Meerkat Manor has received positive reviews from several notable publications, including USA Today. The show is already in its third season, and there’s much more meerkat melodrama promised to come.