With New Plots and Sterilized Sets, Ramadan TV Adapts to Virus

(Bloomberg) --

The coronavirus will be making an appearance on some television series over the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, bringing a taste of lockdown life to the family dramas and comedies watched by millions across the Middle East.

Food and TV consumption soars once the fast ends at sunset during Ramadan, which starts next week. Some shows on the main pan-Arab entertainment network MBC have been given a last-minute tweak to include corona-related material “reflecting on people’s mood and modified lifestyles vis-a-vis social distancing and home confinement,” said Mazen Hayek, a spokesman for the Dubai-based broadcaster.

Those programs will portray the implications of the virus on married life as well as relationships between family members and friends, he said.

The lockdown in the Gulf affected filming: the network needed permission from authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to finish production on some programs and to allow Saudis involved to fly to the U.A.E. They were given the green light after sets and studios were sterilized and staff tested negative for the virus, Hayek said.

While most Ramadan programming is filmed well in advance, some series in Kuwait and Lebanon have been delayed or may be canceled due to virus-related restrictions. In Tunisia, the government last week allowed production companies to resume filming of some Ramadan specials after suspending them in March. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs said the programming was needed to entertain families and encourage them to stay at home by preserving the familiar “Ramadan atmosphere”.

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