aasif mandvi

Aasif Mandvi really ran with what could have been just one segment on The Daily Show with correspondents Jordan Klepper and Samantha Bee and made it to something potentially groundbreaking.

A couple of months ago when Mandvi crowfunded the money to finish his spin on an classic multi cam sitcom depicting a Muslim American family in the suburbs facing all the problems that all the other American families have faced in similar suburbs over the years, we didn’t know that Halal in the Family could be this good.

Aasif does accomplish his goal of cutting down stereotypes long held by many Americans about Muslims through the lives of The Qu’osby Family (hopefully, we’ll think more positively about this family rather than the other one with the “C” instead of the “Qu”) as you can see when there is a whole “mistaken identity spy” mishap. 

While there is a veil of a classic style sitcom, Halal In The Family’s intention is to be as satirical as possible and, as such, they don’t run away from the jokes that cut deep. No matter if it’s mistaken perceptions of terrorists, misguided racial slurs, or downplaying ethnicity, the show stays where most multi cam sitcoms wouldn’t dare go. Perhaps, this is the secret to doing a multi cam sitcom in an age where people often question whether the format is played out or not.

Whether that proves to be the case or not, definitely give the four episodes of Halal In The Family on Funny or Die a watch now.