LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIES

In a decidedly un-CBC-like promotional event for Little Mosque, a band of friendly camels was on hand Thursday, including one beast who happily shared a shawarma with one of the show's stars, Boyd Banks. Banks plays the resident redneck on the show who is ever suspicious of the goings-on in the mosque in the fictional town of Mercy.

"It's been a fun role to play, because let's face it, after Sept. 11, we all had racist thoughts," Banks says. "I know I had them, and I'm not proud of that. It would be nice, wouldn't it, if this show could end some of the prejudices that people have about Muslims."

All the international attention being paid to the show might suggest Little Mosque is dark, edgy and daring in its comedy. But in fact, there's no danger of a fatwa here: the show possesses a gentle humour, poking sweet fun not just at misconceptions about Muslims, but also at rural Canadians, that popular national whipping boy, the city of Toronto, and Muslims themselves.

"The enemy is in your kitchen .... wine gums, rye bread, licorice - Western traps designed to seduce Muslims to drink alcohol!" the Imam Baber, played by Manoj Sood, says to eye-rolling from some in his congregation. He's ousted during the first episode due to his overly conservative beliefs to make room for the progressive and handsome young Torontonian, Amaar, who complains bitterly about his inability to find a cappuccino in Mercy.

Amaar, played by Zaib Shaikh, has one of the funniest lines in the premiere episode, stating dryly and sardonically: "Muslims around the world are known for their sense of humour" as he's falsely accused of being a terrorist.

Future episodes promise more laughs, especially one in which two Muslim characters are shocked to learn that a man has replaced their female swimming instructor. The discovery forces the women to wear their full veils before submerging themselves in the pool.

"the world's biggest halal chicken shawarma" was being served to promote the show.

Little Mosque is the brainchild of Regina-based filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz, who is writing and producing the comedy. Nawaz -- whose company is called FUNdamentalist Films because she wants to put the "fun back into fundamentalism" -- pitched CBC on the show two years ago. She's working with WestWind Pictures, also of Regina.

A former CBC radio and television producer heavily into satire, Nawaz's films include BBQ Muslims (a five-minute comedy about two brothers who are suspected of being terrorists after their barbecue blows up, shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1996) and Real Terrorists Don't Belly Dance.

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