- From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail: Little Mosque is gloriously Canadian
- From the Guardian (PEI): Islander directs Little Mosque amid huge international attention
- From Bill Brioux of the Toronto Sun: Flat as the prairie: New CBC comedy Little Mosque is an OK idea, but the jokes are lame
- From the National Post: Allah be praised! Little Mosque on the Prairie shows promise by sticking to sitcom fundamentals
- Also from the National Post: ‘We’re not looking for a purely Muslim viewership’
- From the Gateway (University of Alberta student paper): There’s salat to like about new sitcom
I just saw the premiere… It’s too tame. Controversial my ass, it was so politically correct it’s sickening. I counted a total of 6 ‘intolerant’ non-muslim characters (two cops, a radio host, a townie and a reporter) who were all based in hyperbole; pure charactures of stupid bigots.
Meanwhile, the ‘radical’ muslim character was charmingly naive and prone to campy little conspiracy theories. I imagine that the writers won’t delve into that (or any other muslim) character’s views on the existance of Israel.
What a farce. Half the non-muslim characters are reactionary, intolerant bigots, while the token ‘radical’ muslims’ worst statement is that “rye bread is a plot to get muslims to drink alcohol”.
I won’t bother to watch this puke again. Besides, it’s just a formulaic sitcom, only it was about as funny as a child with lukemia.
I agree it’s tame, even more so than Corner Gas. My favourite comedies have more edge.
I saw just as many jabs at Muslims as the non-Muslims. 1st seasons tend to be weak. I hope that add more depth as time goes on. I’ll keep watching.
Well I must say I was also disappointed, I had high hopes for this show but it was a let down. There is so much humor in growing up in Canada as a Muslim and as a minority from a very different culture…this humor wasn’t exactly tapped. I agree…lets get Russell Peters involved somehow…im sure hes got a few good punchlines.
Oh and M.B. why you gotta bring Israel into this?? can we ever take a break from fighting over politics??? Atleast this show was a good idea in theory….humor and laughter are important tools in understanding one another. I hope this show gets better with time.
It’s obviously not going to be a physical comedy, so the dialogue needs a lot more spicing up. Corner Gas succeeds without being offensive because they use a lot of wordplay and site gags. There is also the chemistry between Oscar and Emma and Brett Wanda and Lacey (who I find the most annoying of the bunch, btw). The characters are very quirky and well defined. LMOTP needs more of that kind of dialogue and character development if it is going to succeed.
In reading the comments in the blogosphere, there is a lot of hatred and paranoia about Muslims, which this show has brought to the surface. They seem to be the gays of the 21st Century. Will and Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy changed feelings about them because they were good shows that happen to feature gay characters. It potentially can happen here as well but being Muslim and having a culture clash isn’t going to make a so-so show good by itself.