Free Republic

TORONTO — The bearded imam in traditional robe is railing against pop-culture idols, warning Muslims to protect themselves from the evil influences of prime time. “‘American Idol,’ ‘Canadian Idol,’ I say all idols should be smashed,” Baber tells a small congregation sitting on the floor of a makeshift mosque. “‘Desperate Housewives’? Why should they be desperate when they’re only performing their natural womanly duties?” Rayyan, a gorgeous young woman in a headscarf, looks bemused then whispers to her mother “Hey, did you tape last night’s episode?” The scene is from the first episode of the CBC comedy “Little Mosque on...

CBC Plans Muslim Comedy The Canadian Broadcasting Company has commissioned eight episodes of “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a television comedy about a fictional Muslim family struggling to find its place in Canada’s Western prairies after 9/11, Agence France-Presse reported. Jeff Keay, a CBC spokesman, said: “The producers recognize that this is a potentially sensitive topic. But the show is a comedy. We hope people will laugh.” A parody of “Little House on the Prairie,” which ran on NBC from 1974 to 1983 and dealt with the life and adventures of a family in the 19th-century American West, “Little Mosque...

I'm with a group of surprised camels, a 300lb chicken shwarma and a bemused comedy writer in a wintry, wet Toronto square. We're here for the launch of CBC's new sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, which depicts a Muslim community trying to assimilate in a small prairie town. It has little in common with the sugary, 1970s American pioneer family drama Little House On The Prairie, jokingly appropriated in the show's title. By contrast, Little Mosque addresses head-on post- 9/11 fears and prejudices. It's generating lots of publicity in Canada, with or without the camels, largely for breaking new...