Network: CBC Television Network
Broadcast Run: 2007 to 2012
Broadcast Medium: Television
Debuted January 9, 2007.
This half-hour comedy became one of CBC’s biggest hits in its history. It was a very contemporary comedy reflecting the Canadian cultural landscape in a new way. The show was the story of a small Muslim community interacting with the people of a little prairie town, called Mercy.
The show was created by Zarqa Narwaz, who drew on her personal experiences living in Regina, Saskatchewan with her family. The CBC described it this way: “We are all surprisingly similar when it comes to family, love, the generation gaps and our attempts to balance our secular and religious lives, while trying to understand those of others in the community.”
It was a production of Westwind Pictures in association with CBC Television. After its first season, the Museum of Television and Radio in New York, honoured the producers with an award. A French language version was syndicated internationally.
After a summer hiatus, the series returned to CBC with new episodes on Wednesday October 3rd 2007 at 8pm. In May 2008, the CBC announced that 20 new episodes would be produced for the 2008-2009 season. In June 2008, Westwind announced that a deal had been reached with Twentieth Century-Fox Television in the U.S. for the creation of an American version of the series.
The series returned for the 2008-09 season, and was renewed by the CBC for 2009-2010, beginning on Monday January 3rd 2010 at 8:30 pm. The fifth season ran for 13 weeks, January-March 2011, and on February 11th it was announced that Little Mosque would be back for a sixth season in 2011-2012. At the CBC Upfront on June 8th, it was announced that the 2011-2012 season would be the last for Little Mosque.
Cast:
Zaib Shaikh as Amaar Rashid
Carlo Rota as Yasir Hamoudi
Sheila McCarthy as Sarah
Sitara Hewitt as Rayyan Hamoudi
Manoj Sood as Baber Siddiqui
Arlene Duncan as Fatima Dinssa
Derek McGrath as Reverend Duncan Magee
Debra McGrath as Mayor Ann Popowitz
Neil Crone as Fred Tupper
Brandon Firla as Rev. Thorne
Aliza Vellani as Layla Siddiqui
Stephen Lobo as Junaid Jaffer (J.J.)
Boyd Banks as Joe Peterson
Director: Michael Kennedy
Producers: Susan Flanders-Alexander and Michael Snook
Executive Producers: Mary Darling and Clark Donnelly
Creator: Zarqa Narwaz
Written by Pip Wedge – June, 2011