“Hurry Up, He’s Dead”

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

That’s the title of the funniest TV show on Iraq television, says the NY Times.  And it’s quite popular.

24show1xlarge1What’s it about?  Well, it’s kind of like The Daily Show, I guess.

The newscast opens with an explanation of the show’s underlying premise: it is the year 2017 and the main character, Saaed, is the last Iraqi alive. He is lying face down on a beach with a red suitcase next to him. When he comes to, he is quickly encircled by beautiful women.

Cut to a scene of Saaed clad in a black T-shirt imprinted with “2PAC,” showboating in front of a white stretch Humvee limousine with dancers cavorting all around.

The show’s raucous theme song, which has become a popular cellphone ring tone here and is sung by children in schoolyards, laments that it would be better to be a lowly cat on the street than an Iraqi: “No one asks the cat where you are from, which party you’re from, whether you are an Arab, a Kurd, a Sunni or a Shiite.”

He sings on, “I am the last Iraqi alive, but I still do not own a house,” a reference to the country’s acute housing shortage.

The show’s title appears initially as “The Government,” but the Arabic words split in half to reveal the actual name, another crack at the country’s plight.

When the broadcast begins, it takes place in the present. The show is meant to be a narration of how Saaed’s country fell apart and he ended up as the last survivor.

Apparently, Iraqi and U.S. authorities are not amused.