Little Mosque on the Prairie

[- Femme -]

Check out the website here

 

New York Times Review

 

One episode of “Little Mosque on the Prairie” focuses on a character’s dismay at finding that a man has replaced her female swimming instructor.

 

In a scene from “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a father goes trick-or-treating with children and his clothes are mistaken for a terrorist costume.

 

OTTAWA, (AFP) - Canada's public broadcaster CBC hopes to lighten religious tensions between this country's Christian majority and Muslims with a new sitcom, "Little Mosque on the Prairie."

 

The show is a parody of the acclaimed US drama "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983), starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about the life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the 19th century American West.

 

But instead of raising pitchforks, tumbling down hills and selling eggs at the general store, this fictional Muslim family struggles to find its place in Canada's vast western prairies in a post-September 11, 2001 world.

 

CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said Monday the broadcaster has ordered eight episodes and will begin airing them in January.

 

"The producers recognize that this is a potentially sensitive topic," Keay said.

 

The Roman Catholic pope Benedict XVI's recent comments on Islam, an alleged Toronto terror plot foiled in June and attacks on mosques have divided Canadians lately, he acknowledged.

 

"But, the show is a comedy. We hope people will laugh," he said.

 

Liverpool-born filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz wrote and produced the satire.

 

Her previous films include "BBQ Muslims" about two brothers who are suspected of being terrorists after their barbecue blows up, and "Real Terrorists Don't Belly Dance."

 

Her production company is called Fundamentalist Films; its motto is to put the "fun back into fundamentalism," according to its website.

 

It is going to premiere today at 8:30 pm on CBC (channel 3).

 

What do ya'll think?

[ElPunto]

^Mixed feelings. May have the potential to enlighten and educate but have a feeling it will help to reinforce the idea of Muslims as some monolith and providea forum for all the sterotypes and prejudices held by many.

[Taako Man]

I've seen the Commercials on CBC and it looks interesting.

[Aaliyyah]

I think this is certainly a good way to educate others that we Muslims aren't any different than others...most north american have wrong impression of muslims.. from my personal perspective I think it is a great way to change their views....what is a better way to educate others through comedy i am all for it insha-allah ama watch it 2NIGHT .

 

wasalaam..

 

p.s. lool she has a funny suit on ...dam she is gonna swim with that .. :rolleyes:

[LayZie G.]

Femme, I read about the creator of the show not long ago and ofcourse all her previous work, as well as this current project. What happened was, lastnight I had asked my mother to record it on the DVR, and this morning when I was having breakfast, I sat to watch it as I was getting ready, but only a 1min of the show has been captured by the recording device, so I don't know what happened lastnight, but they better show a re-run of this same episode real soon.

 

Other than that, I think the show can have a potential to stay for a while. The girl who created the show has done some very interesting projects since leaving CBC radio all these yrs ago.

[Zafir]

It was stupidh to say the least; the fact non-Muslims portraying muslins when we have able and talented ones is never a good thing in my opinion. There is this scene, when a lined up Muslims are praying in a jumaca, and this non-Muslim man who’s behind them walks into the door and stumbles on chairs making loud racket. Some of the folks in the Jumaca turn back to see what is going on and abandon their Salat to chase this intruder. I ceased watching after that.

[Aaliyyah]

Zafir looooooool come on it was funny...u suppose to laugh, dont take everything u c seriously.Ya Alaah. Once in a while it is good to laugh yr head off.

 

Wa salaamu alaykum

[Miriam1]

I missed it lastnight when it aired. But it was repeated tonight. It was interesting, and real what they discussed specially with the conflict that always happens every year on when ramadan started, was funny. Barbar was pure JOKES!

[Modesty]

I find it to be one horrible show. They are just repeating stereotypes people already have, and the imam at the jum3ah prayer didn't even recite the Quran properly. This is just ******, as most muslims aren't that weird lol.

[- Femme -]

I had to cringe alot of times because the acting was just SO BAD but laughed a couple of times too. The issues were real and I liked how they portrayed it esp at the airport.

 

Some glaring problems with the show:

1) They do not give respect to the Iman. The Iman is a young kid joking around with the people (thats ok) and shaking hands with the women. Excuse me??!! Some of the normal men I could understand because not everyone follows the rules of the religion, but to belittle the Iman's position like that?? That was just stup!d and offensive (don't care if it was a show).

 

2) NO ONE (nevermind the whole praying group) looks around at distractions. Kids don't even do that (except the very naughty or absentminded). They should know how prayer is important to the muslims and cancelled that scene. I don't think that's funny at all.

 

3) The Iman is too flirty - he jokes around with one of the women in the mosque and she mutters leaving him (although he can hear and she's saying it jokingly) 'you are so lame'. Again, more respect to the Iman please. Pick on anyone but leave the religious figure alone. I've never felt comfortable with that.

 

 

Other than that - I really enjoyed the show. There are so many subjects to find humour in but I would hope they get some of the facts straight. Afterall, a majority of the 2 million viewers (a record set for a homegrown show) are muslims.

[Strawberry_Xu]

The "you're so lame" comment pissed me off too. The mosque wasn't really segregated either, but maybe that's understandable considering they only had one room.

 

But man, I couldn't help but laugh a lot of times. A lot of the things felt real to me, including the debate about the moon sightings, getting fatter during ramadan stuff etc.

 

Or the "Why doesn't he go back to Toronto" comment.

 

 

I mean, it's easy to achieve a balance of entertaining the audience as well as educating them, and I don't think they should sacrifice that for the kind of cheap laugh you get from cliched 'sitcom situations'. There are a lot of things Muslims do that lend themselves for great comedy, as people who operate sites like Maniac Muslim manage to exploit for great effect. Also there's more to play with than the mistaken suicide-bomber/terrorist/'fundementalist' confusion that's probably bound to appear.

 

But this first episode was overall enjoyable.

[asha aviv]

sick i wana watch it

it seems so funny

lol mistaken as a terrorist

lol