Canada's "Little Mosque on the Prairie"

Cast members with director. Photo: AP

Rondi Adamson at the Brussel's Journal Blog informs us about a new Canadian TV show:

Little Mosque on the Prairie

Canadians are not known for the quality of the television they produce. Yet a Canadian sitcom set to debut on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the CBC) next week is getting slightly more publicity than Gulf Wars I and II combined. And not just in Canada. CNN and The New York Times – among others – have given airtime and column space to “Little Mosque on the Prairie.” The title is a play on the 1970s family show, Little House on the Prairie, based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. But the “prairie” in question here is a fictional town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The series is said to focus on Canadian Muslims interacting with their non-Muslim neighbours, and all the hilarity that will naturally ensue.

While I object strongly that my taxes are used to pay for the CBC, I don’t object to the idea of this show itself. And if hilarity actually does ensue, I’ll be happy. But I’m dubious. The show’s creator, Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian Muslim filmmaker who wears a traditional hijab, has noted “that while the classic sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons dealt with bigotry and racism for the first time on American television, their success was based on the hilarious delivery of those issues, not on preaching to viewers.”

First of all, I would be willing to argue that All in the Family was indeed preachy, but that aside, Canada’s public broadcaster has had little success where sitcoms are concerned, and regularly scores low ratings against American shows that most Canadians would prefer to watch. The CBC is, however, long on preachy.

One must also take into account the CBC’s propensity for anti-American and anti-Israeli bias in its news coverage, and for increasing dhimmitude in the years since 9/11. [...]

I think Canada likes to pride itself as the most politically correct multicultural nation. It will be interesting to see what they manage to turn out. Like Adamson, I don't have high hopes that it would even be funny; probably just preachy and boring, but until several episodes have been broadcast, we can only speculate.


Little Mosque on the Prairie creator
and producer Zarqa Nawaz.
(Sophie Giraud/CBC)

I wonder if Zarqa Nawaz wants to see Sharia law officially supported in Canada? If the answer is yes, then is this just a way of trying to soften up the Canadian public to accept that? No one has asked her any questions like that in any interviews I've read, so we can only wonder.

For her part, Nawaz maintains the show isn't political, it's a comedy, and it's about making people laugh. She denies that CBC hired any outside consultants to ensure the show would not offend Muslims. She says she's taken care of that herself, by bouncing jokes off her friends, and that there will be nothing to offend Muslims. She talks about wanting her own children to see characters like themselves on Canadian TV, etc.

The show premieres next Tuesday and then will air on Monday nights and be repeated on Wednesday nights. I'd say "wait and see", except most of us in the US won't see it (except perhaps those near the border within broadcast range of CBC?). We'll have to wait and see what the Canadian audiences have to say about it.

UPDATE 01/10/07:
Clips from the show and more here: Little Mosque: Opinions?


Related Links:


Camels on hand to celebrate premiere of "Little Mosque on the Prairie"

CBC's Little Mosque to break new ground

Canadian comedy hits close to home

The Background of Multiculturalism