This is the world of Little Mosque on the Prairie, a new comedy airing in January on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Even though it hasn't yet aired an episode, the show is creating such an advance buzz that the CBC pushed up its production to launch in the new year, instead of airing in the Fall as originally planned. The show will air for the first time in Canada on Tuesday.

The series' name was taken from the wholesome 1970s US series Little House on the Prairie, but unlike the show set among pioneers in the 1800s, the subject matter in this show comes solidly from the post-9/11 world.

'Little Mosque on the Prairie is a sitcom and not a political satire,' series creator Zarqa Nawaz said in the programme's release notes. 'I want people to find the hilarity in the show and recognize the similar issues that appear in all of our lives. I simply want people to laugh with Muslims like they would laugh at anyone else and feel comfortable doing so.'

The show, set in the fictional Canadian prairie town of Mercy, revolves around the lives of the town's small Muslim community and its members' relationships with each other and their non-Muslim neighbours. [Link]