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Show to mine laughs from Muslims on the Prairies

Last Updated: Thursday, March 16, 2006 | 12:10 PM ET

CBC News

Zarqa Nawaz is a Regina Muslim renowned for saying that she "wants to put the 'fun' back into fundamentalism."

She'll bring her unique brand of humour to the pilot of a new show that will feature a fictional Muslim family living in a small town in Saskatchewan.

CBC-TV has ordered a pilot of the show from Regina's Westwind Pictures.

Nawaz, a former CBC radio and television producer, began making films in 1995. Her BBQ Muslims, a five-minute comedy about two brothers who are suspected of being terrorists after their barbecue blows up, was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1996.

Nawaz has continued to write humorously about the Muslim experience in Canada. The show would be based on her writing.

The pilot will go to air next winter. Its working title, Little Mosque on the Prairie, has yet to be approved.

Any decision on a series will depend on how the show is received.

This story is now closed to commenting.

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