Round 3 Strangers: Little Mosque on the Prairie
Little Mosque on the Prairie
Vid Used
"King of Spain" by kuwdora (kuwdora @ gmail.com)
download: http://pixie.fanfib.org/vids/vids.html
Grokker Synopsis
"Muslims around the world are known for their sense of humor." -Amaar Rashid, episode 101 "Little Mosque"
Premise
Little Mosque on the Prairie is a breakout show that debuted on the CBC in 2007 about Muslims living in rural Canada. It quickly garnered international recognition as it began syndication in France, Switzerland and many Middle Eastern countries as it aired on Al Jazeera English. For three consecutive seasons, Little Mosque on the Prairie has disarmed stereotypes about Muslims through it's use of humor and exploration of the universal relationships of friends, family and community.
The show starts off with Yassir Hamoudi trying to find a new space for worship because the community had been gathering in Yassir's living room/garage. He eventually finds space--but much to the dismay of community members it's space inside the local Anglican Church. As with any sitcom, it is full of wacky stories and lampooned characters, occasionally featuring Canadian comedians as guest characters (Colin Mochrie of Whose Line is it Anyways? Samantha Bee of the Daily Show, Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall/Newsradio to name a few). There are stories deal with such issues as to how to celebrate Halloween in a Muslim-appropriate fashion, how a Muslim woman deals with her aquascize class taught by a man, what happens when the Archdeacon discovers there's a mosque inside the church, how to make Islam hip and cool to the children (Islam-a-palooza) and many wacky shenanigans that all of the characters get into at one point.
The vid King of Spain is Amaar-centric, but infused with enough of an ensemble angle that it warrants a brief (but optional) description of the many characters that appear. There are bonus quotes for most of the characters because as the grokker, I feel it my duty to point out how the vid and brief details fail magnify the wittiness of the show.
Characters
The spectrum of represented characters is vast, highlighting many different kinds of Muslims and cultural backgrounds. As such, the ensemble nature of the show gives viewers a delightful cross section of the Muslim community where everybody has their niche and unique point of view, from the converted housewife to the the ignorant country bumpkin and bigoted talk radio to Canadian teenager, and differing liberal and conservative voices.
Amaar Rashid is the imam (the spiritual leader akin to priests/rabbis) of Mercy Mosque. He is a Toronto-born lawyer and approaches Islam from a more liberal perspective and often times he is on the receiving end of unwanted critiques, insults and the butt of many jokes. ("You can't be the imam! You don't even have a beard!") His family is not religious and would prefer he returned to law and marry and give his non-religious parents grandchildren.
Local journalist: Are you from Saudi Arabia??
Amaar: No! I'm from Toronto!
Yassir Hamoudi is quite secular, often prodded to be more devout and mindful of his spiritual life by his pious daughter, Rayyan. He's a contractor by trade and a shrewd business man in his own mind, he was the one who found the space for the new mosque inside the Mercy Anglican Church...and it just so happened that he got free office space out of the deal. He's a card-carrying member of the Conservative Party of Canada, but that's merely for networking purposes. He's also Lebanese and a momma's boy.
Sarah Hamoudi is Yassir's wife and converted to Islam once they married. She works in the public relations office of the Mayor and often has to deal with the Mayor trying to scapegoat the Muslim community for political gain. Like Yassir, she's not as stringent on following Islam to the letter and only wears her hijab at the mosque.
Sara: What are we going to do on Sunday to hide all those head scarfs?
Yasir: Ohh. Easter bonnets?
Sara: It's not Easter.
Yasir: When is Easter?
Sara: April.
Yasir: That's when baby Jesus sees his own shadow, right?
Sara: Be quiet.
Rayyan Hamoudi is Yassir and Sarah's 25-year old daughter who calls herself a Muslim feminist. She wears her hijab, prays every single day and is often trying to bring the mosque into this century and will stand up for her values, no matter where they will take her--sometimes it's to jail, sometimes it's her foot in mouth.
Rayyan: (arguing with Amaar) Women spoke at the mosque in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and that was in the seventh century. They didn't even have toilets!
Baber Siddiqui is the bumbling, divorced economics professor and the most conservative character of the show. He butts heads with everybody over every single thing, particularly with his teenage daughter Layla (whom he loves very much). He will howl about infidels, barbarians, but really, he's just a loudmouth with lots of soft spots on the inside. He once claimed he was on the no-fly list just so could avoid boarding a plane because he was afraid of flying. He's also an immigrant from Pakistan.
Baber: Desperate housewives? Why should they be desperate when they're only performing their natural womanly duties?
Baber: The crescent of the new moon must be observed with the eye just as the prophet did.
Rayyan: Well, I don't think the prophet had a telescope from Costco
Layla Siddiqui is Baber's daughter and is a pretty good illustration of what it's like to be a teenager straddling two identities--one as a young Muslim woman and that of a Canadian teenager who loves music, boys and dying her hair colors that would would make her father send her to a boarding school.
(Layla walks in, modeling clothing)
Layla: So?
Baber: Stop for Allah. I can see your belly button. You look like a Protestant.
Layla: Don't you mean prostitute?
Baber: No, I mean Protestant
Fatima Dinssa is another conservative character. She's from Nigeria, is widowed and owns a restaurant (Fatima's) that all the characters frequent for her delicious food. Her snark owns all as she shuts down Baber and Fred Tupper's brand of foolishness. Her son is named Jamal and in one episode, Fatima finally becomes a citizen.
Reverend Duncan Magee is the priest of the Anglican church, Amaar's best friend and occasional cohort. He's quite liberal and earns the community's ire when he agreed to perform a gay marriage.
Mayor Ann Popowicz is the Mayor of Mercy and will scratch the Muslim community's back when they scratch hers by voting for her. She does as little work as possible while always on the search for more power.
Mayor: The mayor should not have to use a public bathroom. It diminishes her...mayorishness.
Sarah: Are we talking about you in the third person from now on?
Fred Tupper is a local talk radio host who will trash Muslims for anything and everything imaginable but on occasion he will come to their side and defend them. If anything, he's an equal-opportunity hater but he also has a blossoming crush on Fatima.
Fred: Here's a question for ya: What about somebody from Mecca, huh? When they croak, which way do they face?
Yasir: Downtown
Joe Peterson is the local, lovable country bumpkin.
Junaid Jaffer is JJ, a close friend of the Hamoudi family and Rayyan's eventual fiancee.
Stranger Synopses
Stranger 1
All I knew about this fandom was:
I'd heard the name once or twice, but that's it. It gave me strange ideas about an AU version of Laura Ingalls Wilder set in a world where America had been settled by Muslims.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
OK, so, there's this guy, and he used to be... well, I assume not actually the King of Spain, but at least he used to live someplace where people presumably took him seriously and even regarded him as a respectable religious figure of some sort. But, alas, he got kicked out of his homeland over what was probably some very, very silly misunderstanding and now he has emigrated to Sitcom Land, where he has found new employment in the field of Cheerful Comic Haplessness, which is a major growth industry in that country. I can't quite tell whether he genuinely likes his new job, or whether he just keeps smiling all the time because they'll arrest you and throw you out of Sitcom Land if you don't. But even if Sitcom Land still has unfair standards for citizenship, at least it seems to be growing increasingly multicultural, so that's something.
Stranger 2
All I knew about this fandom was:
It's a Canadian comedy about Muslims. Who live on a prairie. I don't know where the prairie is in Canada, though.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Amaar Rashid is a hustler. He's got a couple of dudes he cuts in on his hustle from time to time, but mostly, he is on TV trying to convince people that they want what he's selling. Amaar has two problems: One, because he runs a mosque, all of his schemes have to involve legit goods and services, which means he's stuck selling things like the ugly silk screen hats his boy Jamar made, or the mugs that one tv station wanted him to sell. His other problem is that, again, because he runs a mosque, all sorts of people bring him their problems and expect him to sort things out. And running the mosque does not really pay him enough to support the luxurious lifestyle (sweet suits, fancy art, etc.) to which he wishes to become accustomed.
Luckily for him, he lives with his parents. Unluckily for him, his parents are trying to marry him off to a nice Muslim girl. But not just any Muslim, she should be Indian or Pakistani. Amar, during his free wheeling lifestyle, has gotten to know many nice Muslim girls who are white or African or black Canadian, and he believes in keeping his options open. (He has given some thought to acceding to his parents' arranged marriage plans and taking a second wife, but when his diary entry about that leaked, the newspaper ran it as a big SCANDAL, so he totally won't do that. Besides, it would cost money he could have spent on nice suits.) He has been trying to convince his parents that he should marry his cousin Jamila. He saw her without a headscarf one time in the kitchen in the middle of the night, and she has really nice hair.
Amaar's chief nemesis is Father Duncan. This is the one area of Amaar's life that is going totally awesome, because Father Duncan is a doddering old fool. There are more Muslim converts because of Father Duncan than because of Amaar's hustling on local cable access. (And there are lots of cable access converts, because Amaar is really quite attractive, and the ladies like him.)
Stranger 3
All I knew about this fandom was:
Have never heard of this one.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Well, this one seems relatively straightforward. Our strangely happy cleric, Doofy Grin, apparently runs a mosque somewhere in Middle America (I presume, from the title). He is a delightful and charming and naturally outgoing man despite some fairly impressive clumsiness, and soon becomes a community stalwart and media figure of multiculturalism and interfaith dialog, which incidentally drives the chicks crazy. He makes friends with an unbalanced priest and other verifiably wacky people. Hijinks ensue.
Go Doofy Grin!
Stranger 4
All I knew about this fandom was:
It was Canadian. Yay, Canada! It was about a little mosque. On the Prairie. In Canada. And was not written by Laura Ingalls-Wilder.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Little Mosque on the Prairie is a present day tale about a happy, happy man who runs a mosque, I'm assuming on the prairie, though I wouldn't know a prairie if it hit me in the face (not that that's something prairies are prone to do). And it is also about food. Lots and lots of food. There is nothing that can wipe the smile off this Happy Guy's face. If ever he is feeling slightly down, there appear a bevy of Bollywood Babes who like to dance around him and look colourful. Sometimes there are rose petals. This does not appear out of the ordinary judging by the reactions of everyone else in the vicinity. But he's living in Canada, so, you know, shit happens.
He is perhaps less confident with the practical things in life, say, like welding or not breaking stuff or, you know, opening doors, but that doesn't matter! Because there are lots of smily, quirky people to smile at him and make him feel better about his inability to complete simple tasks. (Except for his mother who is Disapproving, though that could just be a byproduct of random all-singing all-dancing women appearing in her house at unspecified intervals. Especially if there's food involved. Think of the carpets!) There is the Painting Vicar, the Beardy Handyman, the Ditzy Blonde, the Serious Blonde, the Chirpy Young Girl, and a gazillion others, many with beards and/or hijabs in pretty colours. They all like food a lot. Even when Happy Guy is pelted by sign-wielding maniacs (polite, Canadian maniacs), it appears to be with foodstuffs. In fact, our Happy Guy is shocked into crisis by a random brunette eating his yoghurt. Trauma!
Happy Guy appears to be troubled by only two things. A) the mosque has leakage and other maintenance issues (sinking wheelchairs, Batman!) and, as previously discussed, he is not so good with the practical fixing and B) himself. Do not be throwing darts at a picture of your own face, Happy Guy, it will not make you happy like the dancing girls will. Perhaps you should drink less Coke and eat less cake and then you would not be hopped up on caffeine and sugar and so less prone to over-excitement. Shhh, sleep now.
Also there is curling. Because this is a Canadian show. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Stranger 5
All I knew about this fandom was:
Absolutely nothing. The title seems to indicate that it deals with Muslims in middle America, and I was under the impression it might've been an reality show. Because there is apparently a "fandom" attached that does stuff like make vids, I am now assuming that it is plotted and scripted like every other decent piece of television.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
A dude in a suit who sometimes dances, and sometimes blows things up. I think we'll call him Jimmy. Jimmy likes to play dominoes with his grandpappy Joe. All the ladies like Jimmy, and his momma don't like that because she doesn't think any of them are good enough for him. Joe doesn't win all the time, though, and sometimes he starts food fights when he gets bored and thinks people need to lighten up. (And also his picture in the high school yearbook makes him look like Jeff Goldblum, and now I can't unsee him as mini!Chaos Theory guy. Should we change his name to Jeff?)
Oh, the hijinks that ensue! JimmyJeff gets to go curling with someone, which makes me suspect that this is actually taking place in Canada. The song lyrics make me think that Our Dear Boy has fallen from grace at some point, but is keeping a good sense of humor about it. Is our dear boy some kind of religious figure? Is this like Father Ted but with Muslims in Canada who reference Laura Ingalls Wilder? Who cares-- JimmyJeff is cute and smiling and having fun. I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.
Stranger 6
All I knew about this fandom was:
Nuthin'.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Giorgio Patel, a thirty-something schoolteacher from Tenerife, had intended to spend his summer vacationing in London, England. Unfortunately, a mix-up with his airline ticket sent him off to Canada, where he instead found himself in London, Ontario. During the bureaucratic nightmare that ensued, his passport and identification somehow went astray, effectively stranding him in the 'Land of the Great White "Eh?".' He soon found himself mistaken for the expected new principal of a parochial school (who had quietly backed out of the assignment once realizing his allergy to snow and ice) and, needing a paycheck, Giorgio took full advantage of the situation. There came a time when the paperwork was all sorted out, but by then Giorgio had fallen in love with the area. So he stayed, eventually became a Canadian citizen, and lived happily ever after.
Stranger 7
All I knew about this fandom was:
It's a show about Muslims in Canada, outside the big cities. I think it's a comedy / sit-com type thing.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
OK, this looks hilarious. So, there's this super-accident-prone guy who breaks things a lot! He is in charge of a mosque, and has... cultural difficulties with the locals? He looks good in a sharp suit, and apparently a lot of girls agree. However, he keeps offending people by accidentally smashing their treasured possessions, destroying electrical equipment and/or covering them in food-related substances. He also appears to be attempting to connect with the local vicar, an artistic type who is also down with the whole "spattering with brightly-coloured liquids" strategy.
I'm guessing from the song and a brief shot of a newspaper at the beginning that he's originally a city boy from Toronto, who has for some reason been exiled to a small prairie town, and is finding the culture shock all a bit much. He seems to be involved in television in some way, I'm guessing an outreach programme to educate the locals or something, but it does not always go well. In fact, sometimes it goes so badly that he gets actual protesters outside his mosque, and yet more showers with coloured stuff. In fact, perhaps this is just a local custom and people in Alberta are into that sort of thing? I don't know. However, the guy bonds with the locals through (inadvertently destructive) DIY and curling (because, after all, this is Canada, I think that's actually compulsory).
Stranger 8
All I knew about this fandom was:
less than nothing. I'm not even entirely sure what a mosque is, although I think it's possibly some kind of religious temple thing. Maybe? So I'm guessing perhaps it's about some Confronting Religious Issues, and it's set in a prairi, whatever that is.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Wacky Hijinx, but also a Serious Life Lesson! Mr Man, a crappy reporter from The Big City, goes to Friendly And Diverse Village to film something (a documentary? Expose? Who knows?). Things aren’t going well for him, however. He has to try out jobs, and dance, and be on tv and stuff, and he’s not very good at those things, and keeps getting laughed at. However, as he’s from The Big City, nobody cares that much, as he’s all Rich and Powerful and stuff. Also, the many daughters of the couple looking after him are all madly in love with him, except for the youngest/classiest/sassiest/sauciest/snarkiest, who can’t stand him. Eventually, he films his thing, but, sadly for him, in his absence, his company has realized just how shoddy he is, and also his filmed thing is really bad, so they fire him. He has no money and nowhere to go, so the couple decides to continue looking after him. Mr Man then has to get a job, and become a proper member of the Friendly And Diverse Village’s community. He starts a tv show dedicated to FADV, and becomes a good reporter, and good at dancing, etc etc. Also The Sassiest Daughter falls deeply in love with him, hurrah.
Vid Used
"King of Spain" by kuwdora (kuwdora @ gmail.com)
download: http://pixie.fanfib.org/vids/vids.html
Grokker Synopsis
"Muslims around the world are known for their sense of humor." -Amaar Rashid, episode 101 "Little Mosque"
Premise
Little Mosque on the Prairie is a breakout show that debuted on the CBC in 2007 about Muslims living in rural Canada. It quickly garnered international recognition as it began syndication in France, Switzerland and many Middle Eastern countries as it aired on Al Jazeera English. For three consecutive seasons, Little Mosque on the Prairie has disarmed stereotypes about Muslims through it's use of humor and exploration of the universal relationships of friends, family and community.
The show starts off with Yassir Hamoudi trying to find a new space for worship because the community had been gathering in Yassir's living room/garage. He eventually finds space--but much to the dismay of community members it's space inside the local Anglican Church. As with any sitcom, it is full of wacky stories and lampooned characters, occasionally featuring Canadian comedians as guest characters (Colin Mochrie of Whose Line is it Anyways? Samantha Bee of the Daily Show, Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall/Newsradio to name a few). There are stories deal with such issues as to how to celebrate Halloween in a Muslim-appropriate fashion, how a Muslim woman deals with her aquascize class taught by a man, what happens when the Archdeacon discovers there's a mosque inside the church, how to make Islam hip and cool to the children (Islam-a-palooza) and many wacky shenanigans that all of the characters get into at one point.
The vid King of Spain is Amaar-centric, but infused with enough of an ensemble angle that it warrants a brief (but optional) description of the many characters that appear. There are bonus quotes for most of the characters because as the grokker, I feel it my duty to point out how the vid and brief details fail magnify the wittiness of the show.
Characters
The spectrum of represented characters is vast, highlighting many different kinds of Muslims and cultural backgrounds. As such, the ensemble nature of the show gives viewers a delightful cross section of the Muslim community where everybody has their niche and unique point of view, from the converted housewife to the the ignorant country bumpkin and bigoted talk radio to Canadian teenager, and differing liberal and conservative voices.
Amaar Rashid is the imam (the spiritual leader akin to priests/rabbis) of Mercy Mosque. He is a Toronto-born lawyer and approaches Islam from a more liberal perspective and often times he is on the receiving end of unwanted critiques, insults and the butt of many jokes. ("You can't be the imam! You don't even have a beard!") His family is not religious and would prefer he returned to law and marry and give his non-religious parents grandchildren.
Local journalist: Are you from Saudi Arabia??
Amaar: No! I'm from Toronto!
Yassir Hamoudi is quite secular, often prodded to be more devout and mindful of his spiritual life by his pious daughter, Rayyan. He's a contractor by trade and a shrewd business man in his own mind, he was the one who found the space for the new mosque inside the Mercy Anglican Church...and it just so happened that he got free office space out of the deal. He's a card-carrying member of the Conservative Party of Canada, but that's merely for networking purposes. He's also Lebanese and a momma's boy.
Sarah Hamoudi is Yassir's wife and converted to Islam once they married. She works in the public relations office of the Mayor and often has to deal with the Mayor trying to scapegoat the Muslim community for political gain. Like Yassir, she's not as stringent on following Islam to the letter and only wears her hijab at the mosque.
Sara: What are we going to do on Sunday to hide all those head scarfs?
Yasir: Ohh. Easter bonnets?
Sara: It's not Easter.
Yasir: When is Easter?
Sara: April.
Yasir: That's when baby Jesus sees his own shadow, right?
Sara: Be quiet.
Rayyan Hamoudi is Yassir and Sarah's 25-year old daughter who calls herself a Muslim feminist. She wears her hijab, prays every single day and is often trying to bring the mosque into this century and will stand up for her values, no matter where they will take her--sometimes it's to jail, sometimes it's her foot in mouth.
Rayyan: (arguing with Amaar) Women spoke at the mosque in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and that was in the seventh century. They didn't even have toilets!
Baber Siddiqui is the bumbling, divorced economics professor and the most conservative character of the show. He butts heads with everybody over every single thing, particularly with his teenage daughter Layla (whom he loves very much). He will howl about infidels, barbarians, but really, he's just a loudmouth with lots of soft spots on the inside. He once claimed he was on the no-fly list just so could avoid boarding a plane because he was afraid of flying. He's also an immigrant from Pakistan.
Baber: Desperate housewives? Why should they be desperate when they're only performing their natural womanly duties?
Baber: The crescent of the new moon must be observed with the eye just as the prophet did.
Rayyan: Well, I don't think the prophet had a telescope from Costco
Layla Siddiqui is Baber's daughter and is a pretty good illustration of what it's like to be a teenager straddling two identities--one as a young Muslim woman and that of a Canadian teenager who loves music, boys and dying her hair colors that would would make her father send her to a boarding school.
(Layla walks in, modeling clothing)
Layla: So?
Baber: Stop for Allah. I can see your belly button. You look like a Protestant.
Layla: Don't you mean prostitute?
Baber: No, I mean Protestant
Fatima Dinssa is another conservative character. She's from Nigeria, is widowed and owns a restaurant (Fatima's) that all the characters frequent for her delicious food. Her snark owns all as she shuts down Baber and Fred Tupper's brand of foolishness. Her son is named Jamal and in one episode, Fatima finally becomes a citizen.
Reverend Duncan Magee is the priest of the Anglican church, Amaar's best friend and occasional cohort. He's quite liberal and earns the community's ire when he agreed to perform a gay marriage.
Mayor Ann Popowicz is the Mayor of Mercy and will scratch the Muslim community's back when they scratch hers by voting for her. She does as little work as possible while always on the search for more power.
Mayor: The mayor should not have to use a public bathroom. It diminishes her...mayorishness.
Sarah: Are we talking about you in the third person from now on?
Fred Tupper is a local talk radio host who will trash Muslims for anything and everything imaginable but on occasion he will come to their side and defend them. If anything, he's an equal-opportunity hater but he also has a blossoming crush on Fatima.
Fred: Here's a question for ya: What about somebody from Mecca, huh? When they croak, which way do they face?
Yasir: Downtown
Joe Peterson is the local, lovable country bumpkin.
Junaid Jaffer is JJ, a close friend of the Hamoudi family and Rayyan's eventual fiancee.
Stranger Synopses
Stranger 1
All I knew about this fandom was:
I'd heard the name once or twice, but that's it. It gave me strange ideas about an AU version of Laura Ingalls Wilder set in a world where America had been settled by Muslims.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
OK, so, there's this guy, and he used to be... well, I assume not actually the King of Spain, but at least he used to live someplace where people presumably took him seriously and even regarded him as a respectable religious figure of some sort. But, alas, he got kicked out of his homeland over what was probably some very, very silly misunderstanding and now he has emigrated to Sitcom Land, where he has found new employment in the field of Cheerful Comic Haplessness, which is a major growth industry in that country. I can't quite tell whether he genuinely likes his new job, or whether he just keeps smiling all the time because they'll arrest you and throw you out of Sitcom Land if you don't. But even if Sitcom Land still has unfair standards for citizenship, at least it seems to be growing increasingly multicultural, so that's something.
Stranger 2
All I knew about this fandom was:
It's a Canadian comedy about Muslims. Who live on a prairie. I don't know where the prairie is in Canada, though.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Amaar Rashid is a hustler. He's got a couple of dudes he cuts in on his hustle from time to time, but mostly, he is on TV trying to convince people that they want what he's selling. Amaar has two problems: One, because he runs a mosque, all of his schemes have to involve legit goods and services, which means he's stuck selling things like the ugly silk screen hats his boy Jamar made, or the mugs that one tv station wanted him to sell. His other problem is that, again, because he runs a mosque, all sorts of people bring him their problems and expect him to sort things out. And running the mosque does not really pay him enough to support the luxurious lifestyle (sweet suits, fancy art, etc.) to which he wishes to become accustomed.
Luckily for him, he lives with his parents. Unluckily for him, his parents are trying to marry him off to a nice Muslim girl. But not just any Muslim, she should be Indian or Pakistani. Amar, during his free wheeling lifestyle, has gotten to know many nice Muslim girls who are white or African or black Canadian, and he believes in keeping his options open. (He has given some thought to acceding to his parents' arranged marriage plans and taking a second wife, but when his diary entry about that leaked, the newspaper ran it as a big SCANDAL, so he totally won't do that. Besides, it would cost money he could have spent on nice suits.) He has been trying to convince his parents that he should marry his cousin Jamila. He saw her without a headscarf one time in the kitchen in the middle of the night, and she has really nice hair.
Amaar's chief nemesis is Father Duncan. This is the one area of Amaar's life that is going totally awesome, because Father Duncan is a doddering old fool. There are more Muslim converts because of Father Duncan than because of Amaar's hustling on local cable access. (And there are lots of cable access converts, because Amaar is really quite attractive, and the ladies like him.)
Stranger 3
All I knew about this fandom was:
Have never heard of this one.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Well, this one seems relatively straightforward. Our strangely happy cleric, Doofy Grin, apparently runs a mosque somewhere in Middle America (I presume, from the title). He is a delightful and charming and naturally outgoing man despite some fairly impressive clumsiness, and soon becomes a community stalwart and media figure of multiculturalism and interfaith dialog, which incidentally drives the chicks crazy. He makes friends with an unbalanced priest and other verifiably wacky people. Hijinks ensue.
Go Doofy Grin!
Stranger 4
All I knew about this fandom was:
It was Canadian. Yay, Canada! It was about a little mosque. On the Prairie. In Canada. And was not written by Laura Ingalls-Wilder.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Little Mosque on the Prairie is a present day tale about a happy, happy man who runs a mosque, I'm assuming on the prairie, though I wouldn't know a prairie if it hit me in the face (not that that's something prairies are prone to do). And it is also about food. Lots and lots of food. There is nothing that can wipe the smile off this Happy Guy's face. If ever he is feeling slightly down, there appear a bevy of Bollywood Babes who like to dance around him and look colourful. Sometimes there are rose petals. This does not appear out of the ordinary judging by the reactions of everyone else in the vicinity. But he's living in Canada, so, you know, shit happens.
He is perhaps less confident with the practical things in life, say, like welding or not breaking stuff or, you know, opening doors, but that doesn't matter! Because there are lots of smily, quirky people to smile at him and make him feel better about his inability to complete simple tasks. (Except for his mother who is Disapproving, though that could just be a byproduct of random all-singing all-dancing women appearing in her house at unspecified intervals. Especially if there's food involved. Think of the carpets!) There is the Painting Vicar, the Beardy Handyman, the Ditzy Blonde, the Serious Blonde, the Chirpy Young Girl, and a gazillion others, many with beards and/or hijabs in pretty colours. They all like food a lot. Even when Happy Guy is pelted by sign-wielding maniacs (polite, Canadian maniacs), it appears to be with foodstuffs. In fact, our Happy Guy is shocked into crisis by a random brunette eating his yoghurt. Trauma!
Happy Guy appears to be troubled by only two things. A) the mosque has leakage and other maintenance issues (sinking wheelchairs, Batman!) and, as previously discussed, he is not so good with the practical fixing and B) himself. Do not be throwing darts at a picture of your own face, Happy Guy, it will not make you happy like the dancing girls will. Perhaps you should drink less Coke and eat less cake and then you would not be hopped up on caffeine and sugar and so less prone to over-excitement. Shhh, sleep now.
Also there is curling. Because this is a Canadian show. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Stranger 5
All I knew about this fandom was:
Absolutely nothing. The title seems to indicate that it deals with Muslims in middle America, and I was under the impression it might've been an reality show. Because there is apparently a "fandom" attached that does stuff like make vids, I am now assuming that it is plotted and scripted like every other decent piece of television.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
A dude in a suit who sometimes dances, and sometimes blows things up. I think we'll call him Jimmy. Jimmy likes to play dominoes with his grandpappy Joe. All the ladies like Jimmy, and his momma don't like that because she doesn't think any of them are good enough for him. Joe doesn't win all the time, though, and sometimes he starts food fights when he gets bored and thinks people need to lighten up. (And also his picture in the high school yearbook makes him look like Jeff Goldblum, and now I can't unsee him as mini!Chaos Theory guy. Should we change his name to Jeff?)
Oh, the hijinks that ensue! JimmyJeff gets to go curling with someone, which makes me suspect that this is actually taking place in Canada. The song lyrics make me think that Our Dear Boy has fallen from grace at some point, but is keeping a good sense of humor about it. Is our dear boy some kind of religious figure? Is this like Father Ted but with Muslims in Canada who reference Laura Ingalls Wilder? Who cares-- JimmyJeff is cute and smiling and having fun. I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.
Stranger 6
All I knew about this fandom was:
Nuthin'.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Giorgio Patel, a thirty-something schoolteacher from Tenerife, had intended to spend his summer vacationing in London, England. Unfortunately, a mix-up with his airline ticket sent him off to Canada, where he instead found himself in London, Ontario. During the bureaucratic nightmare that ensued, his passport and identification somehow went astray, effectively stranding him in the 'Land of the Great White "Eh?".' He soon found himself mistaken for the expected new principal of a parochial school (who had quietly backed out of the assignment once realizing his allergy to snow and ice) and, needing a paycheck, Giorgio took full advantage of the situation. There came a time when the paperwork was all sorted out, but by then Giorgio had fallen in love with the area. So he stayed, eventually became a Canadian citizen, and lived happily ever after.
Stranger 7
All I knew about this fandom was:
It's a show about Muslims in Canada, outside the big cities. I think it's a comedy / sit-com type thing.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
OK, this looks hilarious. So, there's this super-accident-prone guy who breaks things a lot! He is in charge of a mosque, and has... cultural difficulties with the locals? He looks good in a sharp suit, and apparently a lot of girls agree. However, he keeps offending people by accidentally smashing their treasured possessions, destroying electrical equipment and/or covering them in food-related substances. He also appears to be attempting to connect with the local vicar, an artistic type who is also down with the whole "spattering with brightly-coloured liquids" strategy.
I'm guessing from the song and a brief shot of a newspaper at the beginning that he's originally a city boy from Toronto, who has for some reason been exiled to a small prairie town, and is finding the culture shock all a bit much. He seems to be involved in television in some way, I'm guessing an outreach programme to educate the locals or something, but it does not always go well. In fact, sometimes it goes so badly that he gets actual protesters outside his mosque, and yet more showers with coloured stuff. In fact, perhaps this is just a local custom and people in Alberta are into that sort of thing? I don't know. However, the guy bonds with the locals through (inadvertently destructive) DIY and curling (because, after all, this is Canada, I think that's actually compulsory).
Stranger 8
All I knew about this fandom was:
less than nothing. I'm not even entirely sure what a mosque is, although I think it's possibly some kind of religious temple thing. Maybe? So I'm guessing perhaps it's about some Confronting Religious Issues, and it's set in a prairi, whatever that is.
Here's what this fandom is really about:
Wacky Hijinx, but also a Serious Life Lesson! Mr Man, a crappy reporter from The Big City, goes to Friendly And Diverse Village to film something (a documentary? Expose? Who knows?). Things aren’t going well for him, however. He has to try out jobs, and dance, and be on tv and stuff, and he’s not very good at those things, and keeps getting laughed at. However, as he’s from The Big City, nobody cares that much, as he’s all Rich and Powerful and stuff. Also, the many daughters of the couple looking after him are all madly in love with him, except for the youngest/classiest/sassiest/sauciest/snarkiest, who can’t stand him. Eventually, he films his thing, but, sadly for him, in his absence, his company has realized just how shoddy he is, and also his filmed thing is really bad, so they fire him. He has no money and nowhere to go, so the couple decides to continue looking after him. Mr Man then has to get a job, and become a proper member of the Friendly And Diverse Village’s community. He starts a tv show dedicated to FADV, and becomes a good reporter, and good at dancing, etc etc. Also The Sassiest Daughter falls deeply in love with him, hurrah.