Little Mosque on the Prairie
Is the name of a new half hour sitcom...shot mainly in Regina ('the city that ryhmes with fun'
; it's the capital of my province, Saskatchewan).
The creator is Muslim herself.
Quote:
....the CBC's newest half-hour comedy, Little Mosque on the Prairie. The first eight episodes, originally slated for the fall of 2007, were rushed into production and will now debut on Jan. 9 at 8:30 p.m. The show, which is shot mainly in Regina, is set in the fictitious Prairie town of Mercy (pop. 10,000) and focuses on a group of Muslims trying to assimilate into a small Canadian community. "We try to find the hilarity in everyday scenarios," says Zarqa Nawaz, the show's creator. "Muslim women cover their hair because they're worried men will be attracted to it. But what if the guy is gay and isn't attracted to it? Does that count?"
Some of the other topics include how Muslims in Canada deal with wearing face veils and with Halloween. Nawaz is a big fan of Everybody Loves Raymond and her show's humour -- including cheesy one-liners like "It's a good hijab if you can get it" -- is similar family-friendly fare. "We don't want to be political," says Nawaz, 39. "We just want to be funny." Of course, making a show about Muslims post 9/11 is inherently political -- even if it's on the CBC, and not, say, HBO.
As a mosque-going Muslim, Nawaz can afford to take greater comedic liberties with the material than a non-Muslim. And though she draws from personal experiences ("People back home," she laughs, "are more careful around me now"), she remains very sensitive to honouring the faith. "I know what I'd be offended by," she says. "This is an equal opportunity show. Both Muslims and non-Muslims will watch and ask, 'are they making fun of me?' I don't think either group can claim we're just picking on them."
Still, she anticipates some backlash. "A segment of the Muslim community will have wanted every Muslim to be a very good Muslim, for there to be no conflict and for everyone to follow Islam to the rule," says Nawaz. "But you can't make comedy without conflict."
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I am not sure we are ready for this quite yet
...but I am looking forward to watching it. I think it will be a HUGE step in the right direction if there is no backlash or outrage from the Muslim community about this show. Show us you can laugh at yourselves!
There are a couple more articles posted
on this page, scroll down.