Aliens in America: Guess who’s coming to TV?  A Muslim-themed sitcom

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The TV show “Dateline NBC” recently taped a segment for an upcoming show on anti-Muslim sentiment in America, in which they attempted to film fans at a NASCAR event in southern Virginia harassing Muslim men in (stereo)typical garb as they walked through the stands. “It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC’s stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news,” protested NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. “We are confident our fans won’t take the bait.” And in the end, NASCAR was right, and the TV crews went home empty-handed. Is this anecdotal evidence that while American opinions of Islam and Muslims are at an all-time low, the time is right for TV shows to show the reality of Muslims as an integral part of American society? Aside from community programming such as Bridges TV, the Muslim cable channel that has now reached one million US households, there has not been a recurring Muslim character in a non-dramatic setting such as a sitcom. (There have been, however, plenty of shows that feature Muslim terrorists, such as Showtime’s Sleeper Cell and countless other “ripped from the headlines” TV dramas.) One such attempt, however, has just been greenlighted. “Aliens in America” (let’s hope that is a working title) is a new “oddball buddy comedy” featuring a teenage Pakistani Muslim exchange student – complete with “a kufi on his head and a shalwar kameez over his body” – that comes to live in an Altoona, Wisconsin home with his awkward, nerdy American counterpart. (Hilarity, inshallah, will ensue.) Produced by the very same NBC that makes “Dateline”, the new show is being written by Moses Port and David Guarascio, creators of “Just Shoot Me” and “Mad About You”. Already being called “potentially controversial” by some (not sure yet which side will consider it more so), casting and filming begin in June, and the new network The CW plans to schedule it as a mid-season show alongside Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris” (“Everybody Hates Muslims?”). So by the end of the year, we’ll find out whether American TV viewers will be laughing at Muslims, or laughing with them.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.