Aliens in America: Muslim approved!
By fred | September 5, 2007
(PreAir) Amongst the new shows to come on The CW this fall is Aliens in America, a pretty good sitcom about a somewhat looser kid (yet again) whose mom gets him a friend, a foreigner friend. He was supposed to be the usual blond good looking kind, but it turns out he’s not, he’s a Muslim from Pakistan instead.
And the show will screen Thursday at the Islamic Center of Southern California, followed by panel discussions featuring the show’s exec producers, Moses Port and David Guarascio.
Producer CBS Paramount Network Television says the screenings and discussions are designed to raise awareness of the show, which despite its provocative premise is actually a sweet half-hour. Just like them, you should check it out!
“We just want as many people to hear about the show as possible, and we think (the screenings) make complete sense” said Guarascio, noting that he and Port have been talking to the Islamic Center about Aliens in America since the show was in the script stage. Early reaction has been positive.
Makes sense. I only got to see the original pilot of the show, the one that does not feature Gilmore Girl’s very own Luke as the father, but the show was pretty good, and funny too. And it doesn’t make fun of Muslim at all, but more the way some Americans might see Muslim people, all the misconceptions they might have. Which isn’t only funny, but hopefully can help some realizing their mistakes.
And of course, it’s freaking funny. If the show can keep up and try to be provocative at times even, it could be great. I don’t mean it has to go the Sarah Silverman way, because it simply couldn’t (luckily for us she’s got her very own sitcom as well, so we’re all good), but not fall into a “happy family” thing.
Besides, unlike many shows (*cough*24*cough*) being a Muslim doesn’t make the character a terrorist – even though some other characters might think so, at first, but then again – funny. “They were excited to have a show that was a comedy and where the Muslim character wasn’t a terrorist” Guarascio confirmed.
After watching the pilot, I had mixed feeling though. For two reasons mainly :
(a) most of the funny parts had been revealed on the many clips available on the CW website, so all that was left was pretty much the boring glue between funny scenes. Kinda ruined it a little for me.
(b) stop with the voice over already!! How many shows do use this? Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it serves the shows, sometimes it doesn’t, and it gives me a headache even. Guess where this one falls?
Hopefully this was only for the pilot, a one-time thing to better introduced the show and its characters. Or else, or else what?, exactly!
(c) the father. I wonder how things will now look with Scott Patterson, but pretty much everything related to the father, in the pilot I saw, felt flat. And out of it, it was like the character didn’t rely belong in this family. And the jokes & situations, not in this show. Actor switch, and a bit of rewrite I hope, too.
But in the end, it seems like a pretty nice sitcom, funny and a little provocative on occasion, which I like very much. Can’t wait for the next season of The Sarah Silverman Program. Wait, what was that?
But Aliens in America isn’t a politically minded show, nor does it intend to be. Still, of course they’ll joke around it from time to time, as explained by Guarascio : “We’re not going out of our way to do it, but we’ll naturally have some stories that touch upon (issues)“.
The show looks like a promising little thing, which might be worth to look at. So remember to tune in on Monday, October 1st at 8.30pm on The CW.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Aliens In America, The Sarah Silverman Program
