It’s no secret we’re living in an age of decision paralysis when it comes to our viewing schedules. Streaming platforms have morphed into endless production lines, force-feeding us “must-see TV” by the bucket load.
In the last month, much of the focus has centred on HBO’s big-money Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, and Amazon Prime’s “most expensive TV series ever made”, Lord of the Rings spin-off, The Rings of Power.
But between all the hype around hobbits and dragons, it’s possible you may have missed one of the best shows of the year in Mo – a new Netflix original series from comedian Mohammed “Mo” Amer.
In this new eight-part series, Amer plays Mo Najjar: a fictionalised version of himself, who spends his days doing odd jobs (read: selling counterfeit Yeezys out of his car boot, DJ-ing in a depressing strip club) while navigating the complex asylum and citizenship process in the United States.
For the uninitiated, Amer, a Palestinian-American comedian, has been a staple of the US stand-up scene for more than a decade. In that time, he’s opened for comedy royalty such as Dave Chappelle and delivered two successful Netflix stand-up specials, The Vagabond and Mohammed in Texas. But it was his role as Ramy Youssef’s cousin in the Golden Globe-winning 2019 comedy Ramy (available on Stan*) that helped establish Amer as The Next Big Thing™.
Read the article by Thomas Mitchell in The Sydney Morning Herald.