Aliens in America: Guess who’s coming to TV?  A Muslim-themed sitcom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Will a new Muslim-themed TV sitcom - the first of its kind in America - result in viewers laughing at Muslims or laughing with them?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/04\/guess_whos_coming_to_tv_a_muslim_themed_sitcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aliens in America: Guess who’s coming to TV?  A Muslim-themed sitcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will a new Muslim-themed TV sitcom - the first of its kind in America - result in viewers laughing at Muslims or laughing with them?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/04\/guess_whos_coming_to_tv_a_muslim_themed_sitcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-04-05T16:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/tv_studio.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/04\/guess_whos_coming_to_tv_a_muslim_themed_sitcom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/04\/guess_whos_coming_to_tv_a_muslim_themed_sitcom\/\",\"name\":\"Aliens in America: Guess who’s coming to TV?  A Muslim-themed sitcom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-04-05T16:53:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-04-05T16:53:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"Will a new Muslim-themed TV sitcom - 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Insert funny accent here<\/div>\n

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The TV show \u201cDateline NBC\u201d 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. \u201cIt is outrageous that a news organization of NBC\u2019s stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news,\u201d protested<\/a> NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. \u201cWe are confident our fans won\u2019t take the bait.\u201d And in the end, NASCAR was right<\/a>, 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<\/a>, the Muslim cable channel that has now reached one million<\/a> US households, there has not been<\/a> a recurring Muslim character in a non-dramatic setting such as a sitcom. (There have been, however, plenty of shows<\/a> that feature Muslim terrorists, such as Showtime\u2019s Sleeper Cell<\/a> and countless other \u201cripped from the headlines\u201d TV dramas.) One such attempt, however, has just been greenlighted. \u201c Aliens in America<\/a>\u201d (let\u2019s hope that is a working title) is a new \u201c oddball buddy comedy<\/a>\u201d featuring a teenage Pakistani Muslim exchange student \u2013 complete with<\/a> \u201ca kufi on his head and a shalwar kameez over his body\u201d \u2013 that comes to live in an Altoona, Wisconsin home with his awkward, nerdy American counterpart. (Hilarity, inshallah<\/i>, will ensue.) Produced<\/a> by the very same NBC that makes \u201cDateline\u201d, the new show is being written<\/a> by Moses Port and David Guarascio, creators of \u201cJust Shoot Me\u201d and \u201cMad About You\u201d. Already being called<\/a> \u201cpotentially controversial\u201d by some (not sure yet which side will consider it more so), casting and filming begin in June, and the new network The CW<\/a> plans to schedule it<\/a> as a mid-season show alongside Chris Rock\u2019s \u201cEverybody Hates Chris\u201d (\u201cEverybody Hates Muslims?\u201d). So by the end of the year, we\u2019ll find out whether American TV viewers will be laughing at Muslims, or laughing with them.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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