Walt has just received word that TLC’s All-American Muslims was cancelled on Wednesday, after only one season on the air. Its viewers -- both of them -- have expressed extreme disappointment. Mr. and Mrs. Hussain Obama, of Washington, have written a letter of complaint to TLC, in which they suggest that the cancellation is racist and not in keeping with the spirit of the new USA.
The reality series, which followed a group of Muslim-Americans living in Michigan, was plagued with problems throughout its brief (but not brief enough) run. It only took advertisers Lowes and Kayak.com one show before they pulled out of their promotional contract. The alleged show also drew criticism from the Florida Family Association, which cited the show as "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."
Meanwhile, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's execrable Little Mosque on the Prairie, which inspired All-American Muslims, was found to have been cancelled last fall on grounds of irrelevance and irreconcilable inconceivability. The CBC found it unnecessary to make any announcement, since ratings indicated no-one was watching anyway.
Showing posts with label Little Mosque on the Prairie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Mosque on the Prairie. Show all posts
Friday, March 9, 2012
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Why Little Mosque keeps getting renewed
Walt's attention has been drawn to this picture, which may well explain why Little Mosque on the Prairie keeps getting renewed. (See previous post.)Shown at the "Innovators Ball" in May of last year are the diminutive (referring to his talent) Zaib Shaikh, "star" of Little Mosque. On his arm -- or is it the other way around? -- is Kristine Layfield. Ms Layfield is Head of Programming at CBC.
As the prophet said, one picture is worth a thousand words.
Note from Ed.: You have to admire Walt's restraint in not going for the cheap joke based on Kristine's surname.
CBC to be renamed TMN Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- known across Canada as "the Corp" [corpse, surely! Ed.] -- has released its fecal roster: "17 RETURNING SHOWS FOR THE 2011-12 SEASON" Even if you ignore the block capitals and the bad grammar, the announcement is not exactly BIG NEWS. It ranks right up there with "CBC INVESTIGATION CATCHES BEAR DEFECATING IN WOODS" and "CBC REVEALS POPE HAS CATHOLIC LEANINGS".
One of the "shows" which is being renewed for a 40th season [Is this right? Doesn't it just seem like 40? Ed.] is the truly execrable Little Mosque on the Prairie, which Walt has excorciated before as the paradigm of the Canadian failure at sitcoms.
The premise of Little Mosque is ludicrous, the writing lame and the acting cataleptic. Audience numbers are said to be lower than Bev Oda's IQ. Walt hears that sponsors are forced to buy it as part of packages with better-rated programmes. So why does it keep getting renewed?
The only reason I can think of is that to cancel it would be politically incorrect -- a slap in the face to muticulturalism, which in spite of its admitted failure in other countries is still the official policy of the government of Canada -- and therefore the CBC.
Those in the Toronto area who still listen to the radio are treated to CBC Toronto's no less PC Metro Morning, which will not rest until it has interviewed every single vizmin and LGBT spokesthingy in the Wormy Apple. Why? Because CBC must "sound like Toronto looks". No kidding. They use that as an advertising tag line.
Will the insanity never stop? Rumour has it that the Corpse's next announcement will be a change of name to The Multicultural Network Canada -- a "TMN" to compete with CNN and TSN. PBUT.
One of the "shows" which is being renewed for a 40th season [Is this right? Doesn't it just seem like 40? Ed.] is the truly execrable Little Mosque on the Prairie, which Walt has excorciated before as the paradigm of the Canadian failure at sitcoms.
The premise of Little Mosque is ludicrous, the writing lame and the acting cataleptic. Audience numbers are said to be lower than Bev Oda's IQ. Walt hears that sponsors are forced to buy it as part of packages with better-rated programmes. So why does it keep getting renewed?
The only reason I can think of is that to cancel it would be politically incorrect -- a slap in the face to muticulturalism, which in spite of its admitted failure in other countries is still the official policy of the government of Canada -- and therefore the CBC.
Those in the Toronto area who still listen to the radio are treated to CBC Toronto's no less PC Metro Morning, which will not rest until it has interviewed every single vizmin and LGBT spokesthingy in the Wormy Apple. Why? Because CBC must "sound like Toronto looks". No kidding. They use that as an advertising tag line.
Will the insanity never stop? Rumour has it that the Corpse's next announcement will be a change of name to The Multicultural Network Canada -- a "TMN" to compete with CNN and TSN. PBUT.
Friday, April 16, 2010
The CBC: It's NOT a Canadian thing
Faced with declining audiences and decreasing support from the public who pay its bills, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (aka the Canadian Broadcorping Castration -- but that's an old blooper) has launched a series of TV sports to show how Canadian it is.
Why this should be necessary, apart from the reasons cited above, is unclear. You'd think the name would say it all, as would the fact that the CBC was created by act of Parliament in the 1930s to provide a broadcasting service that would reach and serve all of Canada. Perhaps the problem is that the CBC needs to be reminded of its mandate.
Here are three examples the CBC's new ads cite to prove "it's a Canadian thing". (That's the strap line. Geddit?)
Why this should be necessary, apart from the reasons cited above, is unclear. You'd think the name would say it all, as would the fact that the CBC was created by act of Parliament in the 1930s to provide a broadcasting service that would reach and serve all of Canada. Perhaps the problem is that the CBC needs to be reminded of its mandate.
Here are three examples the CBC's new ads cite to prove "it's a Canadian thing". (That's the strap line. Geddit?)
- You can hear play-by-play of NHL games in Punjabi! The Sikh gentlemen calling the games are shown with great beads of sweat under their turbans from thinking up the Punjabi equivalents of "puck", "high-sticking" and "Leafs lose again".
- The CBC broadcasts Little Mosque on the Prairie, the very Canadian story of the funny things that happen in a Muslim community in the hinterlands of Saskatchewan. Little Mosque, they claim, is being aired (if not watched) in dozens of countries...excluding Canada.
- In June the CBC-TV will be showing, live from South Africa, the World Cup, the global championship of "the beautiful game" which has such a wide following in Yellowknife, Medicine Hat and Dildo, Newfoundland. (American readers can look that up on Google.) This presumably makes up for not broadcasting the Winter Olympics which were held in Vancouver.
The problem -- and the truth -- is that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is not a Canadian thing. It's a Toronto thing! It's run by a gang of very liberal, very PC elites whose view of Canada is about as far as they can see from the top of the CN Tower (just across the street from CBC HQ).
This subset of the chattering classes is even more out of touch with the thinking and interests of typical Canadians [is there such a thing? ed.] than their political masters in Ottawa. Outside of Surrey BC and Mississauga ON, Corner Gas (not a CBC sitcom) is infinitely more relevant...and more funny...than Little Mosque could ever be. As for Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi, words fail me.
I'm not arguing for the sale of the CBC to private enterprise, as has been suggested more than once. Nor do I advocate cutting off its public funding. I just wish the Corp's marketing and PR people would get real, and stop trying to convince us that multiculturalism is the Canadian norm.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A seriously dangerous belief system
Human rights and anti-racism cops alert! Don't you want to bring charges under s. 13 of the Canada Human Rights Act against Madam Justice Lynn Ratushny of the Ontario Superior Court? She's calling Islam -- or at least the Muslim attitude towards women -- a "seriously dangerous belief system".
This according to a column by Margaret Wente in today's Globe and Mail. Ms Wente reports on the sentencing in Ottawa on Tuesday of Yusuf Al Mezel, a devout Muslim. Mr Al Mezel will now be Her Britannic Majesty's guest for a year. The charge? Threatening his daughter with violence.
The daughter's crime? Eman Al Mezel decided, at the age of 23, that she'd had enough of living under her father's thumb. She had lived at home, where her father wanted to keep her. So they fought bitterly when Eman started doing volunteer work at a local community centre.
Her father pushed her into a flight of stairs. He threatened to break her legs and kill her, and then smashed her computer. When she learned he had arranged for her to marry a Syrian man, she moved out. To the horror of her family, she abandoned the hijab and her Muslim beliefs, and moved in with a male friend and his family.
You can imagine the father's reaction. If you can't read the full account in Ms Wente's column. Suffice it to say the judge felt the father's harrassment and repeated threats were sufficiently threatening to warrant a conviction. Judge Ratushny called Al Mezel's behaviour "a crime of honour, committed in the name of a seriously dangerous belief system."
So you see, life in Muslim families is not always as portrayed in Little Mosque on the Prairie. Nor are crimes of honour confined to Pakistan and Afghanistan...or Toronto. The Muslims bring their "seriously dangerous belief system" with them when they immigrate.
In the name of multiculturalism and diversity, successive misguided Canadian governments have encouraged Muslims, Hindus and other aliens to hang onto their "cultural values", rather than adopt the values of the Canadian majority.
What is wrong with us?! Is it shameful, as the CBC liberal intelligentsia would have us think, to at least suggest that new Canadians adopt at least some of our values? Like allowing children to dress as they please and marry whom they choose, just to mention one.
In Walt's humble opinion "When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Canada, do as the Canadians do" should be stamped in 24-point type on every immigrant visa!
This according to a column by Margaret Wente in today's Globe and Mail. Ms Wente reports on the sentencing in Ottawa on Tuesday of Yusuf Al Mezel, a devout Muslim. Mr Al Mezel will now be Her Britannic Majesty's guest for a year. The charge? Threatening his daughter with violence.
The daughter's crime? Eman Al Mezel decided, at the age of 23, that she'd had enough of living under her father's thumb. She had lived at home, where her father wanted to keep her. So they fought bitterly when Eman started doing volunteer work at a local community centre.
Her father pushed her into a flight of stairs. He threatened to break her legs and kill her, and then smashed her computer. When she learned he had arranged for her to marry a Syrian man, she moved out. To the horror of her family, she abandoned the hijab and her Muslim beliefs, and moved in with a male friend and his family.
You can imagine the father's reaction. If you can't read the full account in Ms Wente's column. Suffice it to say the judge felt the father's harrassment and repeated threats were sufficiently threatening to warrant a conviction. Judge Ratushny called Al Mezel's behaviour "a crime of honour, committed in the name of a seriously dangerous belief system."
So you see, life in Muslim families is not always as portrayed in Little Mosque on the Prairie. Nor are crimes of honour confined to Pakistan and Afghanistan...or Toronto. The Muslims bring their "seriously dangerous belief system" with them when they immigrate.
In the name of multiculturalism and diversity, successive misguided Canadian governments have encouraged Muslims, Hindus and other aliens to hang onto their "cultural values", rather than adopt the values of the Canadian majority.
What is wrong with us?! Is it shameful, as the CBC liberal intelligentsia would have us think, to at least suggest that new Canadians adopt at least some of our values? Like allowing children to dress as they please and marry whom they choose, just to mention one.
In Walt's humble opinion "When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Canada, do as the Canadians do" should be stamped in 24-point type on every immigrant visa!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Little Mosque on the Prairie: an apology
Some time ago I poked fun at CBC-TV's Little Mosque on the Prairie. I have suggested, and I stand by this, that it portrays a situation and characters so absurdly unreal that they are not only unfunny but just plain stupid.
I was wrong, however, to demand that it be removed from the airwaves. One can make a good argument that it's a horrible waste of taxpayers' money and a great example of the CBC's pandering to the vizmins. There's a lot of that going around.
But I will concede that Little Mosque is not a threat to Canadian culture or the Canadian way of life. It's not dangerous at all. Why? Because no-one's watching.
You doubt Walt? No-one...repeat, NO-ONE...watches Little Mosque on the Prairie. Do your own survey. Ask your friends, relatives, workmates, bowling team, whatever. You'll see.
I was wrong, however, to demand that it be removed from the airwaves. One can make a good argument that it's a horrible waste of taxpayers' money and a great example of the CBC's pandering to the vizmins. There's a lot of that going around.
But I will concede that Little Mosque is not a threat to Canadian culture or the Canadian way of life. It's not dangerous at all. Why? Because no-one's watching.
You doubt Walt? No-one...repeat, NO-ONE...watches Little Mosque on the Prairie. Do your own survey. Ask your friends, relatives, workmates, bowling team, whatever. You'll see.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Drinking beer, wearing pants -- flogging offences for Muslim women
On 20/8, Walt posted the story of a Muslim woman -- an Indonesian residing in Malaysia -- who was to be flogged for drinking beer in public. You'll be glad to know the punishment ordered by the Sharia court has been... wait for it... postponed until after Ramadan. Perhaps the whipper-snapper (is that what they call the person who does the flogging?) will be too weak from the daily fast to do a good job!
Meanwhile, in Sudan -- another country where Sharia law applies -- a judge convicted a female journalist for violating the public indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors. She was ordered to pay a fine of $200, but was spared the flogging penalty which might have been imposed.
Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested in a raid by the public order police in Sudan's capital city. Ten of the women were fined and flogged two days later. But Hussein and two others decided to go to trial. Outside the courthouse, before the trial got under way, police rounded up dozens of female demonstrators, many of them wearing trousers.
Walt can't understand why these women did not figure out the obvious and easy way to avoid the wrath of Sharia law! Why risk being flogged when all you have to do is take off your trousers?!
Question for the CBC: How come we never hear about stuff like this on "Little Mosque on the Prairie"?
Meanwhile, in Sudan -- another country where Sharia law applies -- a judge convicted a female journalist for violating the public indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors. She was ordered to pay a fine of $200, but was spared the flogging penalty which might have been imposed.
Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested in a raid by the public order police in Sudan's capital city. Ten of the women were fined and flogged two days later. But Hussein and two others decided to go to trial. Outside the courthouse, before the trial got under way, police rounded up dozens of female demonstrators, many of them wearing trousers.
Walt can't understand why these women did not figure out the obvious and easy way to avoid the wrath of Sharia law! Why risk being flogged when all you have to do is take off your trousers?!
Question for the CBC: How come we never hear about stuff like this on "Little Mosque on the Prairie"?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Osama bin Laden's whereabouts revealed
You read it here first! Walt can now reveal that Osama bin Laden is in hiding in Canada. His location is...wait for it... ... ...on the set with the cast of CBC's "Little Mosque on the Prairie"! Of course! The very place where no-one would ever look!
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