Comedy Central is feeling particularly politically timely today with the launch of its latest digital series, Mideast Minute created by and starring Pardis Parker as anchor Jamsheed Al-Jamsheedi. The series both satirizes U.S. propaganda and tries to convince Middle Easterners that everything is okay in the Middle East, which, in the light of the Orwellian emergence of “alternative facts,” feels like a good way to laugh to keep from screaming.
Mideast Minute is the first satirical news show distributed by Comedy Central on the network’s digital platform, but I doubt it will be the network’s last. The series is based on a previous iteration that Parker created as a web series back in 2007. The first three episodes are available now to watch now on Comedy Central’s YouTube Channel, each one focusing on topics that range from convincing viewers that immigrating to the United States is overrated to attempting to paint Jared Kushner as qualified to participate in Middle Eastern peace talks to finding the bright side to forsaking a half trillion dollar oil industry. The humor may be dry, but the timing is impeccable. Should the show find an audience, there’s even precedent for Mideast Minute to be ordered to series, as Snapchat star James Davis discovered last August.
Also, be sure to read the ticker running along the bottom third for even more shade!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l08oL6OQHM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB-LKmzHhDI