TORONTO — “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a sitcom about a Muslim community in a small Canadian prairie town, will receive the Search for Common Ground Award, a prestigious humanitarian award whose previous winners include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Carter and Muhammad Ali.
Executive producer Mary Darling and creator Zarqa Nawaz will receive the statuette on behalf of the program at a ceremony Nov. 6 in New York.
“We wanted to create a show that would allow people to laugh while hopefully breaking down stereotypes,” Darling said. “We felt that comedy would be a great way to inspire people to dialogue together and to build understanding of each other no matter what their beliefs.”
In addition to bringing Canadian pubcaster CBC out of the homegrown ratings doldrums, “Little Mosque” has inked deals to air in France, French-speaking Africa, Israel, Turkey, Dubai, Gaza and the West Bank.
The comedy is also slated to receive the Canada Award, reflecting racial and cultural diversity, at the Gemini Awards honoring top TV in Canada, held Oct. 15-17 and 28.
