The thread in the Pit about attitutdes towards Muslims (“Jesus Christ, this anti-Muslim shit scares me”) reminded me that the CBC is starting a comedy series next month, looking at a Muslim community in a small Canadian Prairie town: CBC Looks for Comedy at Prairie Mosque. It sounds like it might be interesting, and may be an interesting counter-weight to some of the anti-Muslim paranoia floating about.
The write/producer, Zarqa Nawaz, is a local Saskatchewan film-maker - I’ve heard her speak and seen one of her early short films, BBQ Muslims, which I thought was funny. I’m looking forward to seeing if she can carry it off in a main-stream comedy series.
And if it really takes off, maybe she and Brent Butt can collaborate on a cross-over piece with Corner Gas, another Saskatchewan comedy series.
Look people, we all feel badly for how Muslims are perceived but this is going to be on CBC so it’s not like it’s going to be entertaining. Let’s be realistic here.
The one where they’re curling did it for me - I’m going to watch it at least a couple of times to see what it can do. Corner Gas has really taken off; it’d be nice for the CBC to have another good show on the air.
If you went by promos and trailers you’d have to conclude everything is funny and/or exciting.
It’s a one-joke concept, really, and unless the characters and writing are strong enough that the show would survive WITHOUT that one joke, it ain’t gonna make it. I was disheartened to see the promo recycle the ancient prostitute/Protestant joke.
I agree, RickJay - like any good sit com, the sit is just the starting point - it has to be well written and funny to survive, or else it’s just an idea that was funny at the development stageand will be canned quickly. (I remember having the same feeling about Corner Gas when it was announced, and then was bothered that the first scene in the first episode just seemed to be playing to stereotype, with flatness jokes. But that turned out to be Brent Butt’s way of setting the scene by laughing at the stereotype.)
However, even if Little Mosque flops, it’s worth noting that Ms Nawaz and the CBC are willing to take a risk on a potentially sensititive topic (how Muslims fit into Canadian society and remain Muslim), and to approach it with humour instead of either dead-serious-documentary-dourness or hysteria. I hope it does well.