TrueJoshNight
Truly Dreadful Film
Borserie
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Lucia Ayala
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
tabaniacrockett
I really wanted to like a show featuring ethnic characters. But for the most part the characters themselves are as typical as it gets: The dizzy mom. The crotchety neighbor, who thinks he's the most knowledgeable & reasonable person on earth. The bigot with a heart. The dad who always manages to step in in. And so on...The situations are fairly contrived, really like any sitcom. But it was mindless so I watched a couple seasons on Hulu. Finally they added a new character and story line that was a deal- breaker for me. Conniving, holier-than-thou (literally), hateful.When this new character was added I forced myself to finish one episode. I started another but couldn't last 5 minutes. At this point, for me, the show went from mindless, harmless fluff to unwatchable.
Sarah Simmons
I enjoyed the first three seasons, and put up with the corny lines and plots because I like the chemistry of the actors playing characters with stories you want to see unfold (like Aamar and Rayyan). The actors are good contrary to what people are saying here. However, by the fourth season I got sick of the poor writing and the stinky directing. I am sick of the melodrama and the prejudice agenda as well which oozes everywhere. This show is about as anti-Christian as it gets. Every Christian character is either a right wing bigot or a left wing idiot. No joke. I enjoyed watching the discussion of cultural differences, but Muslims are not always right and Christians are not always nut jobs. For example the show is accepting about showing a Christian leaving their faith to become Muslim, but just the opposite reception happens when the shoe is on the other foot. This is tolerance? They screwed up a loving 30+ year marriage of two committed people because an actor had to leave. Death would have been truer to the characters from a writer's perspective because in the real world people with moral values (whether Christian or Muslim) do not just end a long-lasting loving marriage because of a few challenges. Not worth watching 6 seasons!
Opening Shares
I make my mix CDs starting with a song or two in the approximate middle between totally rocking out and mellow and work my way to completely mellow and then put in the most balls out song that seems to fit that everyone hasn't already heard a hundred times. "Little Mosque on the Prairie" bounces between stuffy and risqué amplifying the effect of the latter with great impact. Sure, there is a lot of throw back (old) humor and it's campy without trying which makes it seem lacking in nuance, but it is definitely funny at points. It gets a little slap-sticky instead of edgy in the cultural divide department. But it sort of works
spinnercricket
"Little Mosque on the Prairie" was a great idea with a solid cast and some interesting story lines. The characters were well defined if some of the ones on the outer edge were cliché'd, if only to make the points the producer intended. When this show jumped the shark they went all in. The removal of one Rev., who largely worked with the mosque they hosted, for another that was less Mosque friendly signaled the change. Rev. Thorne was less a different point of view than a nemesis on which to place plots to eliminate the mosque from the church grounds. Aside from changing the tone of the show, the story lines became less and less believable. A Imam from the middle BOXING? That being said, we came to really appreciate the human nature in some of the characters. Most notably Yasir Hamoudi (played by Carlo Rota of "24" fame) was well drawn and interesting. He battled his need to be successful in business with his desire to keep his family happy and live within the tenets of his faith. Yasir's character kept the show rolling with humor. Baber Saddiqui (played by Manaj Sood) also provided an opportunity for the writers to show different sides of the same faith coin. More certain of the doctrine of his faith, he struggled often as a Professor in a university setting and as a loving single father of a modern daughter. Rayyan Hamoudi (portrayed by Sitara Hewitt) provided a literate, strong and competent character who could be a role model in any society. She was the faith driver in her family and made choices that showed her understanding of that faith. She was a remarkably different character from Baber, yet they agreed on so many things. Fred Tupper and several other characters provided contrast to Rev. Magee. Would that this show was willing to take a few more risks as the seasons went on. The first episode dealt with many of the stereotypes and provided edgy humor. Yasir's character disappeared during the fourth season and left a hole that could not be filled dealing the last blow. From there the scripts became safer and safer and the ratings continued to drop. I will miss this show more for what it could have been and for the people it tried to represent than for the potential it, ultimately, didn't reach.
