ARABIC TV SHOWS TRANSFORM FOR BETTER VIEWING
▶ This Ramadan, productions focus on tighter storylines with fewer episodes, writes Razmig Bedirian
This time last year, the Arab television industry was preparing to brave a storm that, in the end, would prove to be more transformative than devastating. There was no way of knowing, at the time, the reinvigorating impact the pandemic would have on Arabic television, pushing it to be more agile and to do away with worn-out 30-episode-long formats.
When the pandemic took hold last year and countries began to enforce restrictions on movement that brought productions to a screeching halt, many of the region’s top film and TV companies felt an encroaching sense of doom. Ramadan was a mere two months away.
They were still in the middle of filming shows that were due for release in the holy month – the most important time of the year for Arab television. There was a very real risk they wouldn’t be able to make delivery dates. This was most sharply seen in pan-Arab productions filmed in Lebanon, one of the first countries in the region to impose stay-at-home measures.
Several of the most anticipated releases of Ramadan, including Al-Saher and Al Nahat, with strong casts and promising plots, ended up seeming rushed. Both shows were initially set to be 30 episodes long, but were released with half as many. Both concluded without a satisfying ending. It was a disappointment, but better things would come.
As productions in Lebanon faltered, many leading figures of its entertainment industry began protesting the measures that were keeping them from resuming work.
Lebanese singer Cyrine Abdelnour took to Twitter last month saying that if production teams followed all the necessary safety procedures they should be allowed to return to work, albeit under the supervision of a specialised medical team.
Lebanese actress Maguy Bou Ghosn voiced a similar sentiment, tweeting that the livelihood of “thousands of families depended on this industry”, using an Arabic hashtag that translates to “we must keep filming”.
In Egypt, the voice of disapproval came from those who believed the entertainment industry in the country was being reckless with its push to continue production, most notably when Egyptian lawyer Mohammed Ibrahim criticised Ashraf Zaki, head of the country’s Actors Syndicate.
The criticism, however, fell on deaf ears and, apart from a short-lived interruption, the Egyptian TV industry continued as it had before the pandemic. A few shows, such as Khayt
Harir and Al-Qahera-Kabul, pulled out of production, but most continued and managed to release full 30-episode-long series. These included Adel Imam’s Valentino, Yusra’s
Kheyanet Ahd and Mohamed
Ramadan’s Al-Prince.
In the Gulf, a majority of shows had already completed their production phase by the time movement restrictions came into effect, such as MBC Shahid’s Heya Wa Banatoha.
However, a number were affected, such as Nasser Al Qasabi’s Exit 7, which stopped short at 20 episodes. MBC also chose to usurp the traditional series format with the region’s first soap opera, Al-Mirath, which managed to keep production going through the pandemic and has had more than 280 episodes broadcast.
Throughout the pandemic, more shows that embrace the shorter format, and that have a planned outcome rather than being reactionary, have begun to emerge from across the Arab world. These include Al-Ameed (12 episodes), El Diva (eight episodes), DNA (10 episodes), Netflix Original series Paranormal (six episodes) and the Abu Dhabi-filmed The
Platform (10 episodes). Some of these shows cut back as a way of catering to the streaming public, but several did so as a direct response to the limitations brought on by the pandemic.
For better or for worse, as productions continued throughout the region, it marked the rise of a new type of series. More attention was being paid to character development, and the length of a series became dictated by its story. There was no need to stretch a plot line simply to reach the 30-episode mark.
This Ramadan, we know what shows to expect in the coming weeks, and many have adopted a more succinct format. There is the MBC Shahid production Covid-25, a 15-episode-long Egyptian horror series that imagines a coronavirus worstcase scenario; Bain Al Sama Wl Ard, another 15-episode series based on Naguib Mahfouz’s Between Heaven and Earth; and the comedy Ahsan Aab by Ali Rabee, also with 15 episodes.
This by no means signals the end of the 30-episode format as a whole. We still expect to see several strong shows adopting the traditional formula, including Mohamed Ramadan’s eagerly awaited Mousa, set in 1950s Egypt. But the new approach has two main advantages: the prioritisation of story over length and more variety on Arabic television.
It’s a slim silver lining to the pandemic’s effect on the entertainment industry.