Hayda 7aki Rips off Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

It's no secret late night talk shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are perhaps the two shows that have influenced my thinking and method of tackling things when writing most growing up. So, I was devastated when Jon stopped hosting TDS and Colbert moved on to CBS.

But, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, have not only continued in this beautiful form of satirical news, but have taken it even further. I mean, just watch an episode of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, and tell me you didn't learn something new, were left speechless at the end or outraged of something that the traditional news completely missed or just brushed over casually.

Sunday nights (or rather Monday mornings in Lebanon) are sacred to me, and no matter where I am, I will try to stream Last Week Tonight. In short, it's hands-down the show I look forward to the most for the past year.

In Lebanon, we have Hayda 7akeh, which I feel was a failed attempt to bank on the short-lived, but ground-breaking success of "Egyptian Jon Stewart" Bassem Youssef. Bassem is a hero and was the voice of the hope we all felt when Egypt's young men and women toppled Mubarak's regime. Sadly, with a repressive Islamist regime first, then an updated version of Mubarak, Sisi, coming into power, making shows like Al Barnameg became impossible, sadly.

Here's the clip:

Adel Karam is a hilarious, and I remember how excited we'd get to see SL Chi movies for fundraisers at my old Catholic school. That's why Hayda 7akeh was so disappointing for me.

Other than the fact of regularly using content without crediting the creators as their own, the show's jokes are notoriously one-dimensional and bank on tired joke formulas in Lebanese society that sadly are just racist, sectarian, sexist and intolerant.

Now, I'm not a big fan of political correctness, and encourage un-PC jokes if they have a deeper meaning or allude to a more serious problem, but the jokes here are often something like: "Bangladeshi! Hahahaha! Bangladeshi!" as if the nationality of a portion of abused domestic workers in Lebanon is enough to get a laugh out of the studio audience. Or just toilet humor, or jokes at the expense of the fact women's rights in Lebanon is deplorable (which is amazing stuff for making jokes, just ones that address the absurd macho mentality of most people, not the fact a woman can get killed by her husband with no consequences). Or many other distasteful moments: like making fun of a senior citizen doing his brevet exams or a shameful pro-gun stance with Fares Karam.

In spirit with the show's utter disregard for intellectual property, they ripped off HBO's new ad for the new season of Last Week Tonight, and that was just too much. Too much because of how stupid the show considers its viewers... I saw the HBO ad on my HBOGo account, but I never put on MTV (the FOX News style of reporting makes my blood pressure spike), so I would never see the ad for the new Hayda 7akeh show (I didn't even know it was still running). But, come on, did they really expect no one else in this country to realise they ripped this off, while the original is still running? Inno, at least do like many of the ad agencies in Lebanon and recycle an ad people might have already forgotten.

That ChiNN Tho...

On that note, all is not lost. One show that has been blowing me away for several seasons is Chi N N (which is more of a satire news show than a late night talk show, I know). These guys' contribution to the social and political awareness of a lot of Lebanese youth, is priceless. Their witty, multidimensional, sometimes subtle, other times refreshingly blunt commentary on everything from free speech and political gridlock, to gender equality issues, human rights abuse and the weed issues in Lebanon, are bold, ballsy and have had an effect on Lebanese pop culture like no other show. Who hasn't attempted to mimic Abbas' Baalbeck accent on at least a couple of occasions? Or said "Foofy ya foofy" like Abou Talal? Who can deny the show's role in making taboo subjects, commonplace?

What's also nice about them, is it's not just a plug for marketing companies to fill with guests that seem completely out of context (mostly arabic singers with their albums just released), they also take stances with the people, like their unrelenting support and coverage of the garbage-sparked uprising in Beirut (instead of trying to bash and defame it with lies and fake news).

So, thanks for making a worthy Lebanese version of a satirical news/talk show guys, we love you!