ABHA, 13 October 2006 — Aamer Al-Hamoud, whose “Tash Ma Tash” Saudi comedy program currently appears on the LBC channel, said he only wanted to prepare a Saudis-only team of actors on his show.
Al-Hamoud told Al-Watan daily in a story published yesterday that his aim isn’t to compete with “Tash 14,” the 14th season of “Tash.” The producer, who founded “Tash Ma Tash” (which translated roughly as “Slipped Away, or Not”), broke from MBC and took his show to LBC. He then sued the producers who stayed with MBC over the name of the program. Hence the long-running MBC show was renamed “Tash” (currently produced by Abdel Khaleq) while Al-Hamoud took his show to LBC under the original title.
“I do not want to compete with ‘Tash 14’ but only to give each their right,” he told the paper. “Some people never stop comparing the two shows. They’re (Tash 14) employing well known Saudi and Gulf actors while I mainly depend on new Saudi talents.”
Both programs air during Ramadan and are rebroadcast throughout the year in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. “Tash 14” has been prominent this year for breaking new ground in satire, with episodes that have lampooned the Saudi morality police.
