How 'Transplant' told a 'different' Muslim story on prime-time TV

how 'transplant' told a 'different' muslim story on prime-time tv

How ‘Transplant’ told a ‘different’ Muslim story on prime-time TV

On the surface, it may seem obvious why “Transplant” became one of Canada’s most successful TV dramas. The medical procedural embraced the basics of prime-time crowd-pleasers: good-looking doctors in life-or-death situations, smoky workplace romances, complex hospital jargon.

But show creator Joseph Kay ensured there was always more to the CTV series than proven formulas, says its star, Hamza Haq.

“It was a stroke of genius by Joseph: give people something palatable, like a medical procedural, which people will watch automatically, and then trick them into caring about something that wasn’t on their radar,” says Haq, who plays Syrian refugee and doctor Bashir (Bash) Hamed.

“Something that certain demographics have been waiting to see represented accurately.”

With the show ending Friday after four seasons, Haq says it’s been rewarding to be one of the few Muslim actors to lead a prime-time series on either side of the border — “Transplant” airs on NBC in the United States.

“To finally be able to tell a story about a Muslim character who is seen as a contributing member of society is counter to the narrative that’s been created for many years, especially in the United States. The fact that we got to tell this story out loud in the States, it’s so important because it not only validates people’s right to exist, it also makes people feel safe.”

Haq says Bash’s journey — from escaping a traumatic past to facing institutional roadblocks as he attempts to build a new future — is “a universal story” that many immigrants can relate to.

“Transplant” began with Bash and his little sister Amira, played by Sirena Gulamgaus, trying to start a new life in Canada while he embarks on a residency at Toronto’s fictional York Memorial Hospital. In the fourth and final season, Bash is nearing the end of his four-year residency but is unsure of what the future holds. Both he and his love interest Magalie (Mags) Leblanc, played by Laurence Leboeuf, have applied for a job at the hospital, but there’s only one spot.

Kay says the show’s writing team took some “ambitious swings” with the final stretch of episodes but feels they “pulled it off.”

“We feel like we’re leaving Bashir in a place where he’s going to be OK. We can feel him having prepared himself, grounded himself, settled himself so that the future isn’t unwritten.”

The Winnipeg-born Kay says he always planned a four-season story arc. The show was never meant to go on forever, he says while comparing Bash to the long-suffering protagonist at the heart of the ABC/CTV medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” set for a 20th season later this year.

“Bashir is not Meredith Grey,” says Kay.

“You cannot keep throwing the kitchen sink at him. It’s just not the way the show is built. It’s a show about a person starting over, and the intention had always been to be with him for a period of time where he is able to shed some of his past, the parts that are holding him down, and start to put down roots for the future.”

The Montreal-shot show debuted in 2020, and CTV says it’s been the most-watched new Canadian drama since 2015, dominating in the adult 25-52 and 18-49 demos. It’s also nabbed 15 Canadian Screen Awards, including two wins for best dramatic series and three best actor trophies for Haq.

Kay conceived the idea for the series just after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in 2016 and as thousands of Syrian refugees were resettling in Canada.

He was interested in medical dramas like “ER” and found himself doing deep dives into Reddit threads about the difficulties international medical graduates face to work in Canada. He says that organically led to the idea of an immigrant’s story, from an immigrant perspective.

“Generally, we try to approach everybody’s perspectives with empathy and care,” says Kay.

“Our hope is that it’s contributing to the public consciousness.”

Haq, who was born to Pakistani parents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and immigrated to Canada at age nine, said he was sold on the idea within five minutes of hearing it.

“I was like, ‘Yo, let me do it, please. I’m not Syrian. I get that,’” he says.

“Around 2017, it wasn’t a big deal that a white Canadian was casting a Pakistani guy to tell a Syrian refugee story. You look back at it now, the show would never get made.”

Ultimately, Haq hopes the show’s legacy is that it humanized Muslims in a way rarely seen on screen in North America.

“It’s a foolish hope for a medical procedural that’s made in Canada, but if we’re dreaming here out loud, then I would hope that it continues to offer a different perspective on a population that has been painted rather negatively in the media, especially in the U.S. I think we did a good job of doing that. And I hope that people walk away with that message.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2024.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press

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