The lines between documentary and traditional comedy and drama continue to blur. This hybrid genre has created some peculiar stars, including Ozzie and Sharon, Paris and Nicole and two sets of “Office” drones from both sides of the Atlantic.

But tonight we may see the first nonhuman celebrities to emerge from a TV docudrama – the stars of “Meerkat Manor” (7 p.m., Animal Planet).

For the uninitiated, the meerkat is the “it” mammal of the moment. They live on the outskirts of Africa’s Kalahari Desert. Only 12 inches tall, the critters stand upright with the help of an 8-inch-long tail that serves as a kind of tripod. Meerkats also sport a raccoon-like mask that shields their large eyes from the harsh sun.

Like the stars of “The Simple Life,” they are diminutive and pretty in a certain fashion, but also vaguely grotesque. The sight of crowds of these masked, long-nosed creatures standing still and silent on the grim desert plains reminded me of extras in some low-budget foreign horror movie. I’m talking about the meerkats – not Paris and Nicole. They’re a homegrown horror and hardly low budget.

Narrated by Sean Astin (“Lord of the Rings”) and shot over a 10-year period by a film crew from Cambridge University, “Meerkat Manor” is a traditional nature film enhanced with a life-and-death storyline, cute names and healthy helpings of violence, rivalry and family intrigue worthy of the Borgias.

Meerkats are a matriarchal society, and the big Momma of this group has been called Blossom. She’s fiercely protective of her family, called the Whiskers. Blossom’s mate, Zaphod, is the alpha male, and together they struggle ruthlessly to keep all other Whiskers from breeding. They kill any babies not their own and send their own daughters into dangerous exile. External predators abound, including snakes and dangerous raptor birds. They’ve also got rival meerkats to contend with. And the fights over territory and food can get deadly.

With their habit of carving up territory and whacking family members, it’s no wonder that the scientific name for a meerkat family is a “mob.” Viewers may have to settle for the “Manor” while waiting for the last season of “The Sopranos.”

¢ Danny’s plans for a relaxing summer take a back seat when a villain named Freakshow (the voice of Jon Cryer) hatches evil plans on a one-hour episode of “Danny Phantom” (7 p.m., Nickelodeon).

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A fallen soldier has no direction home on “Ghost Whisperer” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Rob Schneider stars in the 2001 comedy “The Animal” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A killer’s mother may be the key to his conviction on “Close to Home” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ A lottery ticket changes 20 lives on the repeat of the pilot episode of “Windfall” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Rose questions her relationship with the Doctor on “Doctor Who” (8 p.m., Sci Fi).

¢ Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn star in the 2003 comedy “Old School” (8 p.m., TBS).