Little Mosque on the Prairie producer WestWind Pictures has sold the U.S. format rights to the popular CBC comedy to 20th Century Fox Television.

Mary Darling, executive producer of Little Mosque, said the Hollywood studio emerged top-of-the-heap after WestWind and CAA fielded interest for format rights and the original series from a host of U.S. networks and cable channels.

‘[20th Century Fox] got the creative vision of the show, that it has to be funny while it treads sensitively on certain Muslim issues,’ she said, while participating at the Banff World Television Festival in a panel on selling Canadian series to the Americans.

Darling added that a deal with a U.S. network was nearly in the bag just before the Hollywood writers strike, and that negotiations took a pause during the dispute.

Besides price, Darling said it was crucial that the comedy about fish-out-of-water Muslims in a Prairie town gain wide exposure among Americans, given current tensions over Islam and the Middle East.

‘Comedy is a great way to bridge cultures and bring peoples’ guards down,’ she told Playback Daily.

Darling added that WestWind will supply 20th Century Fox development executives with a production bible and Canadian creative input to help develop and produce the Americanized Little Mosque series.

The U.S. version could land with the Fox network, or just as easily with another U.S. network, as 20th Century Fox Television supplies series to all U.S. networks.

WestWind executives will also meet with the studio in the next couple of weeks to consult on a writing team for the U.S. series, and how to tailor Little Mosque for the American market.

For example, the U.S. Muslim community has far more African-American converts to Islam than Canada, and their experience will likely be worked into the comedy south of the border.

There’s no word yet on where the U.S. version will be set, but Darling expects it will be in the U.S. Midwest or elsewhere on the prairies.

Despite the 20th Century Fox deal, WestWind can still sell the original Canadian series to a U.S. broadcaster.