By Dean Robbins
Tribesman visit the U.S. in ‘Meet the Natives’
“Meet the Natives” (Sunday, 8 p.m., Travel Channel) heads to the small South Pacific island of Tanna, where the tribesmen are naked except for grass tassels covering their penises. Five of these primitive people agree to visit the United States with a camera crew in tow.
“Meet the Natives” could easily be offensive, condescending to the islanders as they traverse a strange new world of cars, skyscrapers and powdered coffee creamer. But the series gets the tone just right, and the islanders emerge as the most appealing reality-show subjects of the season.
In the first episode, they stay with a Montana ranch family for five days. When the islanders learn that the United States is at war, they feel badly and explain their concerns to their Montana hosts, “This brings shame on us all as brothers.”
At that moment, the guys in the grass penis tassels seem more civilized than we do.
‘Creature Feature Weekend’
Saturday & Sunday (SyFy)
While other networks fill the Thanksgiving weekend with heartwarming fare, SyFy unleashes two days’ worth of beasties. The marathon includes movies about strange things (“Basilisk: The Serpent King”), big things (“Anaconda 3”) and big things vs. other big things (“Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”).
Fun stuff, but was there no film that fit the Thanksgiving theme? “Mega Turkey vs. Giant Cranberry Sauce,” perhaps? CV
