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But its also the first scripted series centered on Muslim-American life period.
So, you know, no pressure.
Around set, Middle-Eastern people populate all levels of production.
Theres no other way we could do it, Youssef says.
Hes got a boyish charm that projectsinnocent… but notthatinnocent.
He still lives at home with his parents.
The storys beating heart is that hes actually deeply religious, and driven by a desire to be good.
And this show is a wrestling match of wanting to be in both.
They land on a photo of a curly-haired man who had auditioned.
One wonders aloud if his appearance is too cliche.
The whole show is about not playing into stereotypes, Bedard points out.
They table the discussion.
Theyd be like, What about him?
And I have to be like, Well, no.
And theyre like, Yeah…?
They think Iranians are Arabs, I point out.
They think Iranians are Arabs!
And Im like, No.
If the role is specifically for an Arab, it has to be an Arab actor.
The progressive version isnt much better: good Muslims who are more symbols than they are people.
Youssef did make one exception.
I dont need an Arab to play Bin Laden.
I need an Arab to play my best friend.
Still, talking aboutRamyas a Muslim-American comedy can feel like a trap for the people behind the show.
It applies a lens thats so broad as to be meaningless.
Its partly whyRamyis named after its creator and notBad Muslims, a title that was floated at one point.
(File it under Lessons FromGirls.)
The pilot includes a date scene where a Muslim woman asks Ramy to choke her while she masturbates.
Good representation is probably last on the list of things its concerned with.
And at its core,Ramyis a show about faith.
His tormented relationship with sex is where some of the shows most pointed cultural commentary comes in.
When a very sensitive question is being asked that a community would prefer wasnt asked.
The era were in right now, Youssef continues, is lets get nuanced,finally.
TV is a graveyard of unmade shows by Muslims and Middle Easterners.
When, exactly, did it decide to get nuanced?
We actually need to talk about it, Youssef says.
But thats how America is.
Its like, you have to see bodies to do something, unfortunately.
This is happening as a ban on so many countries is happening in the world.
A lot is happening to that community while were pitching the show.
I think the networks realized it.
Youssef first had the seed of an idea forRamyduring the Obama era.
During breaks, he would go to his trailer on the Paramount lot to pray.
It made him wonder: What other Muslims have prayed on this lot?
There probably arent many, but I havent heard about that.
Carmichael was crucial to getting that story made.
He and Youssef first met at a house party in Los Angeles, six years ago.
He talked about God for like an hour, Youssef recalls.
Carmichael is Christian, but they both felt the same way about their faith it was an instant connection.
If you notice, theres not a lot of that in Los Angeles, Carmichael laughs.
Soon after the party, they met up again for a walk and talked about God some more.
That conscious desire to do good, the guilt.
What could that palette look like in a real character?
But you’re free to immediately see why someone might want to take a chance on him.
The camera cuts to Colbert, who looks surprised and delighted to hear those words broadcast to CBS viewers.
HBO passed, but greenlit his comedy special, out this summer.
I was like, Whoa.
Cant wait to watch season two!
Then season two came out.
I watched all the episodes.
I was like, Wait… were they just talking about the bacon one?
Because none of this feels like anything were doing.
They ended up with offers from FX, Hulu, and Amazon.
Money-wise, it went down between FX and Hulu, Youssef continues.
With Hulu, there was an opportunity to go in and help define their new direction for comedy.
And I knew they were going to take risks.
Indeed, Hulu has reinvented its comedy programming to critical success, starting with the debuts ofPEN15andShrillearlier this year.
She also saw its potential to be revolutionary.
I was shocked that there had not already been a scripted series done about Muslim-Americans.
And the story were telling, because its a human story, is timeless.
But I also think its timely, and I want people to talk about it.
Youssefs sense of urgency is understandable.
Theres nothing particularly relevant to our current moment aboutRamy.
The difference is that Islamophobic language has finally been deemed unacceptable in progressive circles.
What do those pitch meetings look like?
Youssef mulls the question for a moment, as if debating how political to be.
Hows he going to make it work?!
You try and talk about the hot-button issues, to focus on them centrally.
And not only does it feel redundant, theres not a lot of story there.
Youssef recalls including in meetings a storyline about a character who gets radicalized.
In the pitch, theres this idea of, well, its a Muslim show.
Were going tohaveto do it, he says.
Its not even that they want or dont want it they just expect [it].
It just seems like a baseline thing that would happen.
But as they started developing the show, it increasingly seemed like a bad idea.
I was writing it, and I was just like, Man, this is bullshit.
I dont need to talk about this.
Not now, not in the first season.
[Hulu was] really supportive with watching the story evolve to what it did.
It brings to mind the story of Donald Glover famously Trojan HorsingAtlantainto FX.
In it, a 12-year-old Ramy has a dream where Osama Bin Laden appears in his kitchen.
But they are not for Egyptians.
Its a haunting idea that a young, terrified Ramy doesnt quite know what to do with.
(Emphasis on kind of.)
Like, what do I need to do?
Do I need to drink more water?
Thats so much how I look at my heart.
Ramy has a terrible day, and he ends up breaking his no-drugs rule.
Now I feel less like me.
Just think about how you want to clean those black spots.
When he finishes, he lays his head down to pray and lets out a sigh.
Its a fleeting moment of peace in a life filled with doubt.
It wouldnt matter what faith it was for the moment to feel true.
But the fact that Islam is the lens its filtered through does make it more profound.
Ramybegins with its protagonist announcing to his parents that hed like to settle down with a Muslim woman.
So I was thinking, he says.
Maybe its time that Allah wills it for me.
You know, like, to be with someone?
But in the writers room, the Muslim women were quick to clock that Ramy Hassan is a fuckboy.
Im like, Your character is.
And hes like, No, hes just trying to find love.
And Im like, Yeah, but hes a fuckboy!
But, specifically, Muslim fuckboy.
Shes open to doing other things, so she asks him to choke her while she masturbates instead.
There were some nerves about it, Carmichael recalls, of filming the scene.
We werent going to protect this character, Youssef says.
Initially, though, he was anxious about how Nour might come across on the page.
He sent the pilot script to women he knew for their input.
Just being like, yo tell me.
I dont want her to be crazy, he recalls.
(Ramys team of creators are all men.)
Bedard, who had previously run theTransparentroom, was brought on as showrunner and helped build the room.
I remember telling my dad, We hired the showrunner fromTransparent, Youssef recalls.
He was like, What does she know about Muslims?
My dad was like, Yeah.
That was kind of the vibe [onMad Men].
A lot of people felt that way.
I know I did.Transparentinstilled different values.
Jills room is not like that at all, its very nurturing, very safe.
I tried to reproduce that.
You dont feel shame.
It was an important tone to set onRamy, where conversations would go to vulnerable places.
But sex has always been a problem.
And thats because he feels like its a bodily urge.
Youssefs sex life is his own, unique, complicated experience.
It becomes a really big cloud over your growth and your personal experiences.
These are in-group dynamics that are hard to talk about in private, much less publicly.
Even among my friends I hadnt been that honest about some stuff.
We wanted to bring to light the fuckery of Muslim boys, she laughs.
Over the course of the episode, Dena decides shes going to lose her virginity.
For most of the series, sex scenes operate on the principle of less is more.
But with Dena, the camera lingers, subtly reminding us of her sexuality.
Because we dont talk about sex in our communities, we dont have sex with each other.
Ramyburrows deep into Youssefs psyche, but his self-interrogation begins in his standup.
A woman in an oversized coat and stylish tan hijab sat next to a woman with short cropped hair.
Middle Eastern bros were the core demographic.
Youssef was wearing a zip-up jacket and jeans; his baseball cap was pointing forward.
The focus of his new work was, largely, sex.
Reflecting back on his first season, I ask if there are ways in which he surprised himself.
Where hed thought he was more self-aware than he actually was.
Youssef is silent for a few seconds.
I personally am surprised by how sexually charged [the show is], he says.
I look back and Im like, Oh yeah, huh.
Its not like that was the plan.
Thats what came out.
But its the kind of conversation he always knew he wantedRamyto start.
The intention was there, embedded in the choking scene.
