TV pranks are bottom of the barrel of laughs now
After a decade of terrorising celebrities so well, how can it be kept fresh? Let them escape a burning building? Check. Simulate an attack by a wild bear in a freezing forest in Russia? No problem.
These are the kind of perennial questions Ramez Galal faces with each season of his popular Ramadan series.
As one of the Arab world’s most notorious television pranksters, Galal is renowned for pushing boundaries when it comes to fraying the nerves of unsuspecting guests with brilliantly executed and, at times, cruel setups.
While the series is a ratings juggernaut for broadcaster MBC, it arguably reached its peak in 2020 with Ramez
Majnoun Rasmi.
But the show brought to mind one pressing question: who thought strapping celebrities into a gyrating chair and flailing them around the set, before introducing them to a fake snake and dunking them in a pool of crabs, was funny? An Egyptian hospital even went as far as sending a public notice advising the young and vulnerable to avoid the show hours after the season premiere.
While the effect of the backlash at the time is unclear, follow-up seasons relatively dialled down the shock factor in favour of more adrenalin-fuelled pranks.
Judging by the first two episodes of the latest season, titled Ramez Gab Min El Akher, and airing nightly on MBC streaming platform Shahid,
Galal may have exhausted the format. The setup is convoluted and the thrill factor is no longer there.
Shot in Riyadh, each episode has a pair of high-profile guests – mostly Egyptian actors and athletes – arriving at a television studio to appear in what they think is Galal’s new talk show.
Things go almost immediately awry, however, when their changing rooms unsuspectingly lead to an obstacle course through a trapdoor.
Under the instructions of Galal, who is hovering above on a platform, the duo must get through challenges that include escaping a growling dog and jumping into a range of ponds.
Judging by the first two episodes, it is not so much the shock reactions of the celebrities involved that is this season’s calling card.
Instead, it is the banter between them as they negotiate the obstacles presented.
Bassem Samra and Ahmed El Sakka have the kind of winning chemistry perfect for a buddy-cop film. Mai Omar and Naglaa Badr are also good value with the latter’s dry wit gelling with Omar’s increasing aggravation.
Let’s hope future guests have the same appeal, because the action itself is derivative with no big surprises to be found.
However, the series is already doing its job by trending on X in Egypt each evening. This will probably ensure the programme will continue to become a mainstay of Ramadan television for years to come, for better or worse.