Саудиялық сатиралық комедия "Таш Ма Таш"

Saudi Arabian satirical comedy

Tash Ma Tash (طاش ما طاش) ("No Big Deal" in English) was a popular Saudi Arabian satirical comedy that ran for 19 seasons and is considered one of the most successful television works in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. The show followed a sketch comedy format. It aired on the Saudi State owned television channel Saudi 1 for 13 seasons but in 2005 it was bought by MBC. New episodes ran exclusively during Ramadan right after sunset. The United States Library of Congress requested some parts of the work to be placed in the library’s archive. The idea of the series started through the artists Abdullah Al Sadhan and Nasser Al Qasabi, and directed by Amer Al Hamoud. After the first two seasons, the trio separated to be the duo Abdullah Al Sadhan and Nasser Al Qasabi, in cooperation with the director Abdul Khaleq AlGhanem.

The show consists of episodic comedy sketches that present social commentary on the Saudi society. Every episode has a new story and characters, though popular characters tend to re appear in new storylines. Most episodes poke fun at the flaws of Saudi society while others show a tendency for dark comedy and melodrama. The show was one of the pioneers of self criticism in the Saudi media, with the episodes often dealing with sensitive topics such as social aspects, culture, terrorism, marital relations, and religion. The show satirizes regional social, cultural, and legal state found within Saudi Arabia. The two stars of the show even received death threats from terrorists after the show aired an episode which attacked terrorism. Actors constantly receive death threats. It rose in times when the Newspapers and TV production were dominated by the liberal party, while the educational systems were dominated by the religious party. The nature of the clash has often been explored in the Tash Ma Tash program.