Little Mosque on the Prairie (2007–2012)

A satirical look at a Muslim community living in Canada.

Creator:

Zarqa Nawaz

Stars:

Zaib Shaikh, Sitara Hewitt, Debra McGrath

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Zaib Shaikh	...	Amaar Rashid (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Sitara Hewitt	...	Rayyan Hamoudi (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Debra McGrath	...	Mayor Ann Popowicz (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Manoj Sood	...	Baber Siddiqui (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Neil Crone	...	Fred Tupper (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Arlene Duncan	...	Fatima Dinssa (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Sheila McCarthy	...	Sarah Hamoudi (91 episodes, 2007-2012)
Carlo Rota	...	Yasir Hamoudi (69 episodes, 2007-2011)
Derek McGrath	...	Reverend Duncan Magee (52 episodes, 2007-2011)
Sean Hunter	...	Mercy Resident (50 episodes, 2007-2010)
Brandon Firla	...	Reverend William Thorne (43 episodes, 2009-2012)

Storyline

The location is Mercy Saskatchewan, a small town in the Canadian prairies. A small but devout community of Muslims has settled there, headed by community leader Yasir Hamoudi, a local building contractor. He is married to Sarah, a Caucasian ex-Christian who has converted to Islam for her husband. Their adult daughter, Rayyan, is a feminist Muslim doctor. The religious leader of the Muslim community - the Imam - is Amaar Rashid, a young, Canadian-born ex-lawyer from Toronto, who came to Mercy to replace Baber Siddiqui, who was deemed too extreme by many in the Mercy Muslim community. The local diner is run by Fatima Dinssa, a Nigerian Muslim who is strict about her religion but more liberal in her cultural values. The Muslims in Mercy are co-existing with their Christian neighbors, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes not. Reverend Duncan Magee welcomes his Muslim neighbors, especially if they enhance the social and economic fabric of the community and his parish. Likewise, Mayor Ann ...

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Plot Keywords:

muslim | small town | canada | mixed marriage | cultural misunderstanding | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

CBC [ca]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 2007 (Canada)

Also Known As:

La mezquita de la pradera

Filming Locations:

Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Little Mosque Productions, Westwind Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the series finale aired in April 2012 the CBC negotiated distribution deals in 92 foreign countries including Israel. Ironically, at that time, it did not air on any television outlet within the United States; Canada's next door neighbor. It has now been made available streaming over the Internet, for American customers, on the Hulu network.

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Connections

Referenced in Battle of the Blades: Episode #1.12 (2009)

User Reviews

Great premise with nothing to back it up

I was really hoping that this would be a funny show, given all the hype and the clever preview clips. And talk about hype, I even heard an interview with the show's creator on the BBC World Today - a show that is broadcast all over the world.

Unfortunately, this show doesn't even come close to delivering. All of the jokes are obvious - the kind that sound kind of funny the first time you hear them but after that seem lame - and they are not given any new treatment or twist. All of the characters are one-dimensional. The acting is - well - mediocre (I'm being nice). It's the classic CBC recipe - one that always fails.

If you're Muslim I think you would have to be stupid to believe any of the white characters, and if you're white you'd probably be offended a little by the fact that almost all of the white characters are portrayed as either bigoted, ignorant, or both. Not that making fun of white people is a problem - most of the better comedies are rooted in that. It's only a problem when it isn't funny - as in this show.

Canada is bursting with funny people - so many that we export them to Hollywood on a regular basis. So how come the producers of this show couldn't find any?