Little Mosque on the
Prairie Enters Second Season
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Cast of Little Mosque |
“Little
Mosque on the Prairie”, a cutting edge Muslim-Canadian
TV sitcom, has not only successfully survived its first season
and the religion-culture divide but in actuality it has thrived
with it. It enters a brand new season on the Canadian Broadcast
Corporation (CBC) and its media promoters were kind enough
to share its success and newest episode called “Grave
Concern” with this writer via DVD.
Since this “Little Mosque” is the brainchild of
Liverpool-born and Toronto-raised Zarqa Nawaz (of Pakistani
origin), it remained to be seen how the western and eastern
values concurrently present within the originator would seep
onto the screen. It also remained somewhat up in the air as
to how viewers in Canada would receive the show, and that
includes not just the mainstream but the Muslim-Canadian population
as well.
The original cast of this WestWind Pictures/CBC production
seems to remain pretty much unchanged. Zaib Shaikh (Amaar),
Carlo Rota (Yasir), Manoj Sood (Baber), Sheila McCarthy (Sarah),
Derek McGrath (Reverend Magee), Debra McGrath (Mayor Popowicz
), Sitara Hewitt (Rayyan), Neil Crone (Fred) and Arlene Duncan
(Fatima) make quite a team. Comic talent from across faiths
is the secret ingredient that makes this show work. There
is some great chemistry between Yasir and Sarah within their
cross-cultural marriage. But there is also that slowly developing
“relationship” between Amaar and Rayyan that is
of interest along with Baber’s conservative clashes
with just about everyone, especially his daughter.
Little Mosque on the Prairie and the town of Mercy in this
series appear to have successfully overcome many pre-conceived
notions and prejudices that may have existed within some North
American viewers. And now this show has entered the international
television market with even greater ambitions. It is soon
to air in Gaza , the West Bank , Finland and Turkey and will
begin airing in Israel on October 23, 2007 on the Star 3 satellite
channel.
Zarqa Nawaz |
One
can argue on the lack of humor between the Muslim-West relationships
in North America after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001
. But a more complete picture could take quite some time.
The fact of the matter is that this relationship predates
terrorism by centuries and is as old as the beginning of slavery
in this part of the world. Millions of followers of the Islamic
faith are resident in Canada and the United States , and many
comfortably so. Since 9/11 some problems have arisen but solutions
are not impossible if lines of communication between people
are maintained. One way of maintaining this communication
is through humor and that is where this TV series comes in.
Thus far “Little Mosque on the Prairie” has tackled
many interesting issues. The perennial one has been the relationships
between men and women inside the Mosque.
The constant tug of war between conservative and liberal Muslims
has also found a permanent place on the show. The “Us
and Them” between the rural Canadian mainstream and
Muslims is highlighted in this comedy too. Issues such as
dating, barriers inside Mosques and polygamy have also been
hilariously presented.
Muslim comedy in North America is already gaining some ground.
I was recently at a performance by British-Pakistani comedian
Shazia Mirza which received quite a bit of attention. The
“Allah Made Me Funny” comedy act here is going
to be made into a movie soon (by Dave Chappelle along with
Unity Productions Foundation’s Michael Wolfe and Alex
Kronemer). It will focus on the work of Preacher Moss, Azhar
Usman and Mohammed Amer, the comedy trio who continue to gain
prominence here. And now “Aliens in America, ”
an American comedy TV show, has succeeded in inviting a practicing
Muslim kid from Pakistan into our living rooms. “Little
Mosque on the Prairie” is no longer alone in promoting
interfaith understanding today. Its successful launch and
execution offer some hope for “Aliens in America ”
and its future too. Little Mosque creator Zarqa Nawaz certainly
deserves credit for being amongst the pioneers of this comic
communication.
This clever “Little Mosque” title was inspired
by Laura Ingalls Wilder's “Little House on the Prairie”
American TV series which was very popular during the late
70’s or the early 80’s. Now “Little Mosque”
is following the legacy of new (Muslim) pioneers in the West.
Its wagon train can already boast of 1 million weekly viewers.
It has won the MAXIMO Award for best TV Product, won for Best
screenplay and Best TV Series at the Roma (Italy) FilmFest
and Best Comedy Award at the Yorkton Short Film and Video
Festival.
During this new season, 20 new episodes of Little Mosque on
the Prairie will address such diverse issues as Muslim burial
grounds (which I have already seen), Burkas/Veils, “No
Fly” lists and competing Imams, along with some more
Muslim “dating” rituals. Some special guests will
appear on the program this season including Samantha Bee,
correspondent for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (who hosted
General Musharraf during his book launch here in the US).
This
is a series which is best described by its Press Kit: “The
sitcom reveals that, although different, we are all surprisingly
similar when it comes to family, love, the generation gap
and attempts to balance our secular and religious lives.”
One can only try to add something to that. Muslims in the
West live in dual worlds. The “adjustments” that
we make are often seriously comical. But while we are making
our sacrifices, so are our new friends, co-workers and society
in general here. Take the example of our Eid holiday festivities.
The major problem one can encounter is explaining to our boss
or co-workers that we may or my not be taking time off from
work tomorrow depending on the sighting of the moon. One could
elaborate, but that could too easily be a huge hint for a
future Little Mosque episode!
(The second season of “Little Mosque on the Prairie”
premiered on October3, 2007 on CBC Television)
Photos courtesy of: Little Mosque Productions/WestWind Pictures
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