Sean Astin is lending his voice to an intriguing new series
from Animal Planet. It's called Meerkat Manor, and it's part documentary, part soap opera. I'm not sure how
exactly they're going to pull this off, but Astin will narrate thirteen episodes that follow the life and times of a
meerkat family. The press
release promises all the goodies we've come to expect from soap operas: from backstabbing to love affairs to family
feuds. Apparently meerkats are quite the dramatic bunch. The writers even gave all the little fellas names like Zaphod
(Beeblebrox?) and Shakespeare, and they're all part of the 'Whiskers' family.The series begins Friday, June 9 at 8 pm (ET) on Animal Planet.
Okay, kids, for this addition of "The Five" we're going to talk about
those voices we love so much. I'm going to focus entirely on television announcers, but I'm expanding the topic to
include anyone whose job in television is (or was) centered around their vocal cords. That's why you won't see Mel
Blanc or Daws Butler on my list, though they most certainly would have been on it otherwise. Everyone on board? Okay,
let's do it:
Adults of "a certain age" (translation:
30 and older) might remember a CBS current-events program called In The News, which aired in between the
network's Saturday morning cartoons. These short reports were able to inform young viewers about the news of the week
without talking down to them or going over their heads. Most people will remember the program, though, for the
distinctive voice of its narrator, Christopher Glenn, who narrated and/or reported over 5,000 episodes of the
broadcast, which ran from 1971-1984.
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