Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past

Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past
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The iconic comedy show’s stars Nasser Al-Qasabi and Abdullah Al-Sadhan. (GEA Supplied)
Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past
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During the launch of the strategy of GEA, Turki Al Al-Sheikh, chairman of the GEA announced the return of the duo in a special big work that will bring them together, as the two stars are among the most prominent actors in the history of Saudi drama. (GEA Supplied)
Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past
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Tash Ma Tash return to its Saudi fans with a new season after 11 years of the 18th and final season. (GEA Supplied)
Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past
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A Vintage GMC car from the 80s was among the very unique highlights in the first episode of the new Tash Matash season which focuses on capturing the beauty and simplicity of the previous seasons. (GEA Supplied)
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Updated 24 March 2023

Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past

Saudi show ‘Tash Ma Tash’ returns, giving viewers a blast from the past
  • The show starred Saudi duo Nasser Al-Qasabi and Abdullah Al-Sadhan as well as 109 other actors and actresses
  • After the show’s terrific run, Al-Qasabi and Al-Sadhan went their separate ways and pursued their artistic careers, appearing in many series, plays, and TV shows over the years

JEDDAH: The holy month of Ramadan always sees many new television shows highlighting the work of talented local and Arab actors, but none has proven more iconic and beloved in Saudi Arabia than the hit comedy series “Tash Ma Tash,” which returns this year after a 12-year hiatus.
The show starred Saudi duo Nasser Al-Qasabi and Abdullah Al-Sadhan as well as 109 other actors and actresses from the Kingdom, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Lebanon, and ran over 18 seasons from 1993 until 2011.
It was a staple in every Saudi household during Ramadan, and gained popularity worldwide with its insight into issues facing society.
After the show’s terrific run, Al-Qasabi and Al-Sadhan went their separate ways and pursued their artistic careers, appearing in many series, plays, and TV shows over the years.
In November 2022, Turki Al Al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, announced via his official Twitter account that “‘Tash Ma Tash’ will return with its duet” and that “preparations are underway for the series, which will be displayed in the next Ramadan season.”
The surprising announcement was warmly welcomed by fans, with the tweet being shared over 4,000 times.
As March 23 marked the first day of Ramadan 2023, the awaited first episode of “Tash Ma Tash Season 19, Tash: The Return” was premiered on the MBC channel, bringing all the memories back for Saudi and international viewers.
Produced by the GEA and MBC Studios, the new season is directed by the Bahraini actor Mohamed Al-Qaffas. The new season was presented in memory of Abdul Khaleq Al-Ghanim, who directed 13 previous seasons and who died aged 63 in 2021.
“Tash: The Return” offers 20 separate and connected episodes with new controversial, bold, positive, and exciting topics revolving around issues related to Saudi society, with the participation of Yousef Al-Jarrah, Bashir Al-Ghunaim, Habib Al-Habib, Elham Ali, Rimas Mansour, and Abdulelah Al-Sinani.
Featuring the same theme song with a few changes in sound effects, the first episode was entitled “The Thunderbolt,” where a typical Saudi family in Riyadh prepares for a desert picnic — known in Saudi Arabia as a kashtah — in their vintage blue GMC car.
The family consisted of the two main stars playing brothers Abu Hazar and Abu Nizar — well-known characters from the previous seasons — as the heads of two families living in one home.
After they settled in a good spot in the middle of the Riyadh desert, the weather turned into a thunderstorm, and the family ran to the blue GMC to hide, but they were all struck by a thunderbolt while inside the car, which put the characters into an eight year coma.
The family woke in present day Riyadh. They were surprised by the changes taking place in the Kingdom, including women driving and broader female empowerment.
The events of the first episode shed light on the transformation of all government services in the Kingdom from paper to digital, how Saudi women now assume senior leadership positions, and other recent decisions such as allowing Saudi women to travel alone and enjoy a new level of freedom.
They also compared the price of petrol, the ever-growing crowds in Riyadh, and the Riyadh Boulevard area, which they described as a “European country” when they toured it.
The family began to adapt to the developments, as they expressed their gratitude to everyone who reshaped the Kingdom into what it is now.
Al-Qasabi discussed the new season in an interview on MBC, and said that the thing that occupied his mind most during the preparation was “how to bring ‘Tash Ma Tash’ back with its personality and simple ideas that the audience used to see during the past years.”
The first episode garnered positive responses, interaction, and praise on social media.
MBC 1 tweeted a group of photos from the first episode, and it received over 13,000 views in the first two hours.
Muna Bugari, a 54-year-old housewife and huge fan of the show, said: “I could not believe my eyes, the theme song took me back to great memories, the episode was truly a blast from the past.”
Al-Sinani, who also appeared in 12 previous seasons of the show, previously told Arab News that “Tash Ma Tash” included many Saudi artists looking to build their profiles in the Arab world.
The unprecedented success of the series, and its longevity, certainly boosted the careers of many. “No other series has been as successful,” he said.
Al-Sinani added that the government’s introduction of Vision 2030 has changed the face of art in the country, with a greater focus on education and training at colleges, and not a total reliance on innate talent.
For those who missed the first episode, Shahid, an Arabic video on demand service, is offering fans the chance to enjoy watching the show for free as it is listed among the platform’s Series For Free selections during the month of Ramadan.


Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers
Updated 59 min 31 sec ago

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers
  • Company said GPT technology will be integrated into Azure Government, which offers cloud solutions to government agencies

LONDON: Microsoft Corp. is bringing the powerful language-producing models from OpenAI to US federal agencies using its Azure cloud service, it said in a blog post on Wednesday.
The Redmond, Washington-based company has added support for large language models (LLMs) powering GPT-4 the latest and the most sophisticated of the LLMs from OpenAI, and GPT-3, to Azure Government.
Use of LLMs have boomed since the launch of ChatGPT from OpenAI, in which Microsoft holds a stake, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are racing to build features on top of them.
It is the first time Microsoft is bringing the GPT technology to Azure Government, which offers cloud solutions to US government agencies, and marks the first such effort by a major company to make the chatbot technology available to governments.
Microsoft generally offers it to Azure commercial cloud users through Azure OpenAI Services, which had 4,500 customers as of May.
Microsoft said government customers can adapt the language models for specific tasks including content generation, language-to-code translation and summarization.


Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp
Updated 08 June 2023

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp
  • New feature users will allow users to follow content on their hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials

LONDON: Meta Platforms on Thursday introduced WhatsApp Channels, a feature that the social media giant said would help make the app a “private broadcast messaging product.”
Users in Colombia and Singapore will be the first to receive access to Channels. Over the coming months, Meta will expand the availability of the tool for users in more countries, it said.
The company said users will be able to follow content on their hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials and others.
Profile photos and contact information of the channel admin would not be visible to followers. Similarly, followers will not have their phone numbers revealed.
Global launch partners for the feature will include the World Health Organization, FC Barcelona and Manchester City.


Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios
Updated 08 June 2023

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios
  • Fox News accused Carlson of the violation in a letter to his legal team after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday
  • Carlson was taken off the air by Fox last April following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud

WASHINGTON: Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.

Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by Fox following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.
Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar sent a letter to Carlson’s legal team saying Carlson “is in breach” of his contract agreement after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday evening, according to Axios.
Carlson’s legal team could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters. His lawyer told Axios that any legal action by Fox would violate his First Amendment rights to free speech guaranteed by the US Constitution.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement cited by Axios.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter quoted by Axios refers to Carlson’s contract, and said its former prime time star was “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the Internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.’“


Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time
Updated 07 June 2023

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time
  • Executives from the company’s regional and global operations told business and marketing experts from the region about its latest consumer insights, products and solutions

DUBAI: Google announced new consumer insights, products and solutions on Wednesday in Riyadh, as the company’s flagship global advertising and commerce event, Google Marketing Live, took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

Executives from Google’s regional and global operations joined business and marketing experts from the region at the event to discuss the future of artificial intelligence in the business world.

“We’re excited to host Google Marketing Live in Riyadh for the first time,” said Anthony Nakache, the managing director of Google MENA.

“Google’s presence here today is a testament to our commitment to supporting businesses in the Kingdom and their digital growth.”

The company showcased its latest advertising products and new features on Google Search and Maps, along with a range of AI features and products that will be available in Saudi Arabia. It said the innovations include an enhanced experience on PerformanceMax, Automatically Created Assets, and Merchant Center Next.

PerformanceMax, which allows advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign, will now use generative media models and large language learning models to generate “professional grade creatives” across YouTube, Display and Search with minimal information, the company said.

Automatically Created Assets will enable advertisers to generate and adapt their adverts in real time, so that they are more relevant to customers, it added.

In addition, Google said, businesses of all sizes can now manage online and offline product and business information through Merchant Center Next, which includes a simplified process for onboarding and product upload and management, together with improved ad integration and comprehensive reporting.

“AI has long been the cornerstone of Google’s products and services and we’re excited to announce new AI-powered features, such as AI in PerformanceMax and Automatically Created Assets, for businesses in Saudi Arabia to help drive better performance and reach more customers,” said Nakache.

Google Marketing Live is an annual event during which the company showcases its latest advertising and product offerings.


Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps
Updated 07 June 2023

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps
  • The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call
  • The departure of 51-year-old Licht came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN”

LONDON: CNN chief Chris Licht on Wednesday announced that he would be leaving the network after a one-year tenure marked by serious programming missteps.
The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call, according to CNN Business.
The departure of 51-year-old Licht, CNN’s chairman and CEO, came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN,” highlighting the muddles and low ratings the company had experienced in the last year.
The most recent of his missteps, which attracted backlash, was the network’s town hall meeting with former US President Donald Trump, which the Financial Times described as “controversial.”
During the meeting, Trump’s supporters cheered as he insulted the event’s moderator Kaitlan Collins, who attempted to fact-check the ex-American leader. Although CNN journalists were angered, Licht said: “America was served very well by what we did.”
On Monday, Licht apologized to CNN employees, describing his experience as “tremendously humbling.”
But on Wednesday, Zaslav said: “For a number of reasons things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Licht will leave his role within 48 hours, Puck News reported on Wednesday.