Little Mosque on the Prairie

Little Mosque on the Prairie
Little Mosque on the Prairie logo.
Created by	Zarqa Nawaz
Starring	Zaib Shaikh Carlo Rota Sheila McCarthy Sitara Hewitt Manoj Sood Arlene Duncan Debra McGrath Derek McGrath
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	3 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 mins. (approx)
Original release
Network	CBC Television
Release	January 9, 2007 – present

Little Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC Television. The series focuses on the Muslim population of the fictional rural prairie town of Mercy, Saskatchewan. The creator of the show is Zarqa Nawaz.

The title alludes to the classic American book and drama series, Little House on the Prairie. The two series are not related, aside from the use of a modified version of the title logo used for Little House.

The show premiered on Tuesday, January 9, 2007, at 8:30 p.m. It airs Wednesdays at 8:00 and repeats the following Monday at 9:00 (all times half an hour later in Newfoundland). The Monday, January 15 broadcast was a repeat of the pilot.

The cast includes Zaib Shaikh who plays an imam or prayer leader, Carlo Rota, Manoj Sood, Sheila McCarthy, Arlene Duncan, Derek McGrath, Debra McGrath, Sitara Hewitt and Neil Crone.

All eight episodes in the first season were directed by Michael Kennedy, Director.

Unusually for a Canadian television series, Little Mosque received extensive advance publicity in international media, with profiles appearing in The New York Times, the Washington Times and the Houston Chronicle, as well as on CNN and the BBC.

The series premiere drew an audience of 2.1 million — an exceptionally strong rating for domestic programming in the Canadian television market, and on par with Canadian ratings for popular American series. By comparison, Corner Gas, one of the highest-rated Canadian TV shows, attracts just under a million and a half viewers for a typical episode. The second episode, airing against the second night of the much-anticipated season premiere of American Idol in most markets, had 1.2 million viewers, a sharp drop but still a high rating for a Canadian sitcom.

See also

• List of Little Mosque on the Prairie episodes

References

• McFarquhar, Neil (2006-12-07). "Sitcom's Precarious Premise: Being Muslim Over Here". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "Glenn Beck (interview with series creator Zarqa Nawaz)". CNN. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "A whopping two million viewers tune in to 'Little Mosque'". The Globe and Mail. January 10 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Globe and Mail interview with series creator Ms. Zarqa Nawaz
• CBC's 'Little Mosque' viewership drops off from hyped debut, but still respectable, Canadian Press via CBC.ca, January 18, 2007

External links

• Official website
• NPR : CBC to Tell the Story of 'Little Mosque on the Prairie'
• BBC website: "Muslim sitcom debuts in Canada"
• Interview with creator Zarqa Nawaz (altmuslim.com)
• Share your Little Experiences ...