Previewing Ramy

In a measure of full discourse, I have to admit I much prefer comedies that are, you know, actually funny. I just want something with a high laugh per minute ratio. It seems like more and more shows that are listed as comedies are becoming increasingly less funny because, I don’t know, art, or something else pretentious. And some of these shows are fine, but if you do not have a high laugh ratio, just please stop marketing yourself as a comedy.

I had high hopes for Ramy from stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef and producer Jarod Carmichael, also a stand-up comedy who’s The Carmichael Show was a traditional multicam with a very high laugh per minute ratio, just something you do not see any more unless you are an old person watching CBS. Unfortunately is one of those shows listed as a comedy but is really a drama that has a few extra laughs than, say, This Is Us.

Youssef naturally stars as the titular character that is a Muslim man living in Jersey and just is torn between the two. He wants to be a good Muslim who follows the Koran, but does not want really follow all the tenets like washing his feet before praying. It also eats at him that he has never actually dated a Muslim but has dated plenty of Jews.

In a bit of Hulu synergy, of those Jewish women is the lead of PEN15. In one of the funnier moments of the first couple episodes, after they hook up he checks the condom for leaks, which is something I have never thought of before but may be doing in the future. In another PEN15 reference, we get a full episode of Ramy in middle school though this Ramy is played by an actual young actor, and being a young Muslim boy in the early 00’s, Ramy has a completely different middle school expierence than two nerdy girls.

The best part of the early episodes was Ramy’s foul mouth little sister who seems much more Jersey than Muslim. At least she was the best thing about the show until she gets her own and I learn that you can in fact have too much of a good thing. Same for the mother, who spends a whole episode trying to be a ride share driver but ends up not working as a standalone episode. Grant ed the best episode may be the one where Ramy drives his disabled co-worker to a girl he met online in hopes of getting laid.

The season ends with Ramy returning to his roots to visit his family in Egypt. But the actual final scene may be the weirdest ending to a show ever that is based in reality. I just sat there wondering, am I really seeing this? Although if ending there was an attempt to get people to watch a potential second season, I definitely want to see how they write themselves out of what happened.

All episodes of Ramy premiere tomorrow on Hulu.