Ready to expand TV-watching to “Little Mosque on the Prairie”?
When it comes to producing a funny television
show or movie in Canada, producers have a reliable stable of topics. But Islam
does not make the list, which is one reason the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation’s new sitcom, Little Mosque On The Prairie, is attracting such
attention in North America.
When it comes to producing a funny television show or movie in Canada, producers have a reliable staple of topics: Quebecois v English speakers and anything that involves a bumbling politician or the United States.
But Islam does not make the list, which is one reason the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s new sitcom, Little Mosque On The Prairie, is attracting such attention in North America.
The show follows a small group of Muslims in a prairie town in Saskatchewan where, in the first episode, the group was trying to establish a mosque in the parish hall of a church. A passer-by, seeing the group praying, rushes to call a “terrorist hot line” to report Muslims praying “just like on CNN”, which touches off a local firestorm.
The show has generally been well received by Muslim leaders, who welcome the light touch it brings to issues that are normally debated in numbing seriousness.
The show is a hit in Canada and the producers are offering it to networks around the world. I wonder if it will get any play in Saudi Arabia — or the U.S.?
Cripes, I don’t even get to see Trailer Park Boys, anymore.
Posted: Sun - January 21, 2007 at 12:19 PM