Thursday, May 11, 2006

Wiegel Watch: How do you say 'I'm gonna go jump in the f*cking ocean' in Arabic?

But the more pressing question is: How do you say "I'm gonna go jump in the f*cking ocean" in Arabic and take it seriously? If you're looking for something to articulate just how different our culture is from a good portion of the Middle East's, consider this, from PageSix in The New York Post:

Who knew they got Comedy Central in Iraq? The cable network's honchos were shocked when they got a request from Iraqi troops stationed in Baghdad for merchandise from the spoof cop show "Reno 911!" So Comedy Central sent over a load of stuff, and they're sponsoring a photo-essay contest that apparently involves placing the short-shorts worn by the Lt. Dangle character on old statues of Saddam Hussein. Even weirder: "The show is shown on an Arab station with Arabic subtitles," said network rep, "and the Iraqis think it is a serious police drama."
I am speechless. And completely captivated by how two peoples who share the same globe could love this wonderful show for completely inverted reasons. In other news: the movie version of Reno 911! is irrefutably in production with a 2006 release date, and the third season DVD comes out July 11. Iraqis: get your Kleenex ready.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Adore the show. Can't wait for the film. God bless Trudy.

However.

What's the success rate for TV to film projects? Any chance it won't bite? (I'll love it even if it does.)

J.J. said...

TV-to-film projects rarely get off the ground (see failed Sex & the City movie) but when they do, they stink (Dukes of Hazzard). Although I really can't think of any more examples. Think of the biggest TV shows of all time: Seinfeld, Cheers, Murphy Brown, M*A*S*H, I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Honeymooners, Mary Tyler Moore...none of them were show-to-film endeavors. So Reno 911 is in limited company, I guess. But I'm like you: I don't care about the viability of a Reno film. I will still love it. Now let's hope it gets distributed.

Beedow said...

Don't forget the blockbuster tv-to-film epic: JEOPARDY! Gosh, that was about as good as a movie could get back in the day.

Anonymous said...

You know, normally I would think the jump from TV to big screen would suck, specifically the re-inventions or remakes (big screen versions of retro TV shows:
Bewitched, Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky and Hutch, etc. But, there's the sub-genre of the same cast from the TV show transplanted to the big screen, like X-FILES, SERENITY (which I really liked), BATMAN THE MOVIE with Adam West, et al.). And in that case, I think your chances improve considerably.
So, I think this works in RENO: 911's favor.