Ramy - General Discussion

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Ramy Hassan is a first generation Egyptian-American who is on a spiritual journey in his politically-divided New Jersey neighborhood. RAMY will bring a new perspective to the screen as it explores the challenges of what it's like being caught between a Muslim community that thinks life is a moral test and a millennial generation that thinks life has no consequences.

I'm looking forward to this one. It's produced by acclaimed indie film studio, A24, and it's based on the real-life experiences of the comedian who stars in the show. All 10 episodes will be available on Hulu on April 19.

[EtheltoTillie]

Watching first episode now.  A bit cringey.

[sweetcookieface]

I’m eight episodes in. I thought the first couple of episodes were a bit heavy handed with more obvious jokes, but it gets much, much better. The tone actually reminds me quite a bit of Atlanta (I bet that’s what they were going for - even the episode descriptions are written in a style that’s very reminiscent of Atlanta).

[retrograde]

I watched the whole thing this weekend. Yeah I think the first couple of episodes were a bit overwritten (I have never seen this guy's standup, but some of the lines seemed like they were probably his material awkwardly refashioned into dialogue and it sounded really unnatural) but it got way better after that, and some of the episodes were amazing. Especially the one with the young Ramy and the one about his sister -- I loved that all of the characters on the show were three-dimensional and fleshed out. 

It also made me realize how shockingly few Muslim characters we see on screens even now. I really hope this is picked up for another season.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/21/2019 at 5:09 PM, retrograde said:

I watched the whole thing this weekend. Yeah I think the first couple of episodes were a bit overwritten (I have never seen this guy's standup, but some of the lines seemed like they were probably his material awkwardly refashioned into dialogue and it sounded really unnatural) but it got way better after that, and some of the episodes were amazing. Especially the one with the young Ramy and the one about his sister -- I loved that all of the characters on the show were three-dimensional and fleshed out. 

It also made me realize how shockingly few Muslim characters we see on screens even now. I really hope this is picked up for another season.

This makes me want to try a few more episodes. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ramy has been renewed for S2

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Golden Globe nomination!

Ramy Youssef: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Critics' Choice Award nomination!

Best Actor in a Comedy Series – Ramy Youssef

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Golden Globe Award!

Best performance by an actor in a television series — Comedy

Ramy Youssef, "Ramy"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ramy Youssef's acceptance speech:

 

[SoMuchTV]

I just watched this, after all the Golden Globes publicity.  A poster mentioned that it reminded them of Atlanta.  I haven't watched that, but thought it felt a little like Master of None meets Fleabag.  Also enjoyed how some of the episodes focused on other characters.

Not quite sure what to think of the ending

Spoiler

(with his "kissing cousin", in Egypt)

.  Was that supposed to be a cliffhanger?  An ending...?  I don't think it had been renewed when the last episode was made, but I could be mistaken.

[scrb]

Been watching an ep here and an ep there.

Definitely a Master of None vibe.  Like that each character gets dedicated episode.

The one with Dena was good, with the guy with the Arab fetish.

Maysa one also good, Marcia of Succession as the bored housewife and mother.

 

[scrb]

Just watched the first two eps.of season 2.

Wow really heavy.

Ramy himself feels lost but he was going to try to help and guide Dennis who clearly has PTSD and other issues?

 

Serious themes are good but so far not the snappy dialogue of the first season.  I would assume the other characters will each get a dedicated episode again.

 

Ramy admits he hooked up with his cousin in Egypt but would have been good to see the fallout from it, unless Ramy the writer just wanted to drop that story line and go on to something else.

[sweetcookieface]

I saw some mixed reviews for season 2, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. I binged the whole thing in two days.

As scrb noted, the first two episodes were heavy. And I’d say the overall tone of this season was a bit more contemplative, less laugh out loud funny. I think it worked though. Ramy’s crisis of faith really drives the season, and I thought there was a satisfying narrative arc. Mahershala Ali, as the Sufi sheikh who Ramy looks to for spiritual guidance, was a great addition.

Like last year, though, my favorite episodes focused on the secondary characters - his parents and (surprisingly)  Uncle Naseem. (I adore the actress who plays Ramy’s mom.) My least favorite was the episode that focused on Steve (actually, the same was true last year) - there was a very extended, and very cringey, sequence that I won’t spoil, but suffice to say I found myself looking away for stretches. I also thought Ep 4 - in which Ramy and the sheik’s daughter visit a wealthy Emirati to seek donations for the mosque - was weirdly surreal in the best possible way.

Some other random notes: I enjoyed the show’s exploration of anti-black prejudice among Arabs / the broader Muslim community. And I thought Boomer was incredibly sweet and expressive.

 

 

 

[Lemons]

On 5/31/2020 at 10:03 PM, sweetcookieface said:

I saw some mixed reviews for season 2, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. I binged the whole thing in two days.

As scrb noted, the first two episodes were heavy. And I’d say the overall tone of this season was a bit more contemplative, less laugh out loud funny. I think it worked though. Ramy’s crisis of faith really drives the season, and I thought there was a satisfying narrative arc. Mahershala Ali, as the Sufi sheikh who Ramy looks to for spiritual guidance, was a great addition.

Like last year, though, my favorite episodes focused on the secondary characters - his parents and (surprisingly)  Uncle Naseem. (I adore the actress who plays Ramy’s mom.) My least favorite was the episode that focused on Steve (actually, the same was true last year) - there was a very extended, and very cringey, sequence that I won’t spoil, but suffice to say I found myself looking away for stretches. I also thought Ep 4 - in which Ramy and the sheik’s daughter visit a wealthy Emirati to seek donations for the mosque - was weirdly surreal in the best possible way.

Some other random notes: I enjoyed the show’s exploration of anti-black prejudice among Arabs / the broader Muslim community. And I thought Boomer was incredibly sweet and expressive.

 

 

 

The dog was my favorite!  This season was kind of sad.   The theme through the whole thing seemed to be their lives stifled by the rigid rules of their religion. Uncle Naseem not able to be himself because being gay is against the religion.  The doctor not able to enjoy his first love, poker.  Ramy’s whole life always seems to be one big crisis based on his religion.   All good people who would be a lot happier if they didn’t feel like they had to worry about random rules put out hundreds of years ago.   I hope some find peace In season 3

[scrb]

Maysa’s episode was funny, the way she was motivated to finally get citizenship.

Dena’s episode was serious too, especially the way it ended.

 

[Lemons]

15 hours ago, scrb said:

Maysa’s episode was funny, the way she was motivated to finally get citizenship.

Dena’s episode was serious too, especially the way it ended.

 

That was funny her rant about Trump and finally getting to vote against him. Her motivation to finally become a citizen 

[scrb]

Looked like Zainab was going to smother him with the pillow when Ramey told her that he had sex with his hot cousin before their wedding night and that he wanted to take Amani as his second wife.

 

Now is Ramy acting up because he’s a POS or Ramy the writer/performer wrote his character this way for comic effect?

BTW, how do the Egyptian cousins speak perfect English?

Naseem episode was well written and acted.  I don’t recall if that character got an episode last year?

The things he say, again I thought it was for comic effect, because he says outrageous shit.

But it turns out to be a front because he’s a self-loathing gay man who can’t come out or live the way he wants.   Though why not?  Doesn’t seem to have family outside of Maysa and her family.

[Quickbeam]

Just finishing up the first season. Some powerful insights about the status of women (in any culture). Hiam Abbass as Ramy’s mother is fantastic. She’s the show for me.

[greekmom]

I guess I blitz thru all 2 seasons.  I couldn't believe Naseem was gay. Super shocked.

Ramy is very self destructive.  Why would he fuck up his relationship with Zainab??  

[possibilities]

I loved the second season. I can't remember if I liked season 1 this much or not.

I started off somewhat sympathetic to Ramy and his confusion and immaturity, but finally I lost sympathy and I just find him exasperating and annoying. WHY IS HE LIKE THAT?? He can be so sensible sometimes, and then he's just a total fuck up. I don't get it. What is his actual motivation or deep-down problem? With the other characters, you can kind of see why they are the way they are, but I really don't get where Ramy's bullshit comes from.

I love Steve. I mean, we would never get along in real life, but I like the character because he's a total slap in the face to disability tropes, and we need more representation that breaks those molds. Also, there is some reality to at least some of his bullshit, and I like that the guys don't treat him like he's "special"-- he's one of them because he's like them. I really like that. It's actually one of the things that makes me like Ramy sometimes, because he deals with Steve with total equanimity, not squeamish, not pitying, no BS. They're buds, that's it, matter of fact.

I personally would probably like to marry Zainab. So, let's make that happen.

I don't think the religion is what is causing problems for any of the characters. Ramy is fucked up with or without Islam. I actually think religion has helped him. None of his dysfunctions strike me as coming out of religion.

Ditto for Naseem. One of the things I like about the show is that it shows that Muslims are not all the same. You can be Muslim and be very religious, not religious at all, or different kinds of religious. The Sufi center has a different flavor that the mosque Ramy started at. This is like my experience of Judaism, where there are different ways that people practice-- we call them "wings" for some reason (the Reform wing, the Conservative wing, the Reconstructionist wing, etc). Christianity has the same thing and calls it "denominations". But in the USA, non-Muslims tend to imagine Muslims are a monolith. Anyway, Naseem might be hung up on homophobia because he was taught it's wrong, but did we actually see that? Even if so, lots of religious people get past that, and he's not the only gay Muslim in the world. He has to be willing to look into that, and decide that being obnoxious is not approved behavior either.

 

 

[Blakeston]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:20 PM, scrb said:

BTW, how do the Egyptian cousins speak perfect English?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was wondering about this. I've known people from Egypt who speak perfect English, but they don't speak it with a dead-on American accent. That seemed very odd.

I just binge-watched the series, and I think it's incredible. I think it has a level of depth that I've only seen in a small handful of a sitcoms. And I think the writing is honest and fearless.

My only objection to it is that I feel like the characters often lose about 50 IQ points just to make a plotline work.

For example:

- Stevie tells Ramy that the girl they're visiting wants them to pick up booze, and Ramy does it without questioning it at all. Ramy has way too much life experience to not realize that screams "underage."

- Maysa sticking around and continuing the conversation with the non-binary character's boyfriend in the bar. I know she's unfiltered, but she would have to be brain-damaged to think that was a good idea. And there was absolutely nothing to be gained from engaging with that guy - she knew at that point that the complaint didn't come from Sophia.

- Right after taking Zainab's virginity, Ramy tells her that he wants his cousin to be his second wife. That was a level of extreme idiocy that doesn't match the character we've seen.

If those three scenes had been written a little differently, I could have believed them. Like maybe Stevie could have said, "This girl mentioned that she likes ____ brand of wine, so I'd like to give her some as a present. Can we pick some up?" Or the guy in the bar could have asked Sophia who Maysa was, and then called the police when he found out. Or Ramy could have simply told Zainab about Amani in a moment of guilt, without being stupid enough to casually bring up polygamy.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Golden Globe nomination!

BEST ACTOR TV SERIES – COMEDY - Ramy Youssef

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SAG Award nomination!

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series - Ramy Youssef

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Critics' Choice Award nominations!

BEST COMEDY SERIES

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES - Ramy Youssef

[aghst]

Didn't realize that Season 2 ended over 18 months ago!

Hulu announced renewal in July 2020.

Yet there doesn't seem to be any reports of them filming.

Hiam Abass is filming other projects, including some in Season 3 of Succession and other later projects.

Ramy himself is credited in IMDB as working on a couple of movies, one them voice work for an animated film.

Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, who are both credited as creators of the show along with Ramy Youssef, are credited with working on a screenplay.

 

I don't know if Ramy did a lot of standup before the show or before the pandemic?  Maybe he's trying to do some dates to generate income as well as other film projects.

 

 

[HerkyJerky]

Anybody watching S3?  I'm up to ep 5 and I'm dying of curiosity why Steve's girlfriend can't drive. 😃

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, HerkyJerky said:

Anybody watching S3?  I'm up to ep 5 and I'm dying of curiosity why Steve's girlfriend can't drive. 😃

Well thanks for posting that.  I had no idea the new season was up, and Hulu for some reason didn't point it out to me!

[aghst]

They dumped the whole season at once, while they usually release an episode a week for their other shows.

[HerkyJerky]

14 hours ago, HerkyJerky said:

I'm dying of curiosity why Steve's girlfriend can't drive. 😃

I watched all of S3 and they still didn't explain the "no driving" thing.  Is it from The Office?  Like Ramy, I've never seen it. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Ramy Youssef is a brave man for being willing to write and play Ramy Hassan as such a high order douche. He really is just the worst. I see so much complexity in all the other characters—even Mo!—but Ramy is just a selfish, stupid ass. 

[HerkyJerky]

Has anyone got to the poop episode?  That was HILARIOUS!😂

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

So, we all agree that Yuvall is dead and that Ramy has basically written his own death warrant for losing that watch, right?

[HerkyJerky]

1 hour ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Ramy has basically written his own death warrant for losing that watch, right?

He didn't lose it.  It was stolen from him.  Here's a quote from an article in Variety:

The theft is implied, but we never see it on-screen — but you’re not leaving that for interpretation? She definitely steals the watch from him while they visit Boomer’s grave?

100%. Without a doubt.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/ramy-youssef-season-3-bella-hadid-hulu-1235386393/

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

21 hours ago, HerkyJerky said:

He didn't lose it.  It was stolen from him.  Here's a quote from an article in Variety:

The theft is implied, but we never see it on-screen — but you’re not leaving that for interpretation? She definitely steals the watch from him while they visit Boomer’s grave?

100%. Without a doubt.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/ramy-youssef-season-3-bella-hadid-hulu-1235386393/

A theft that happened because he announced that he had a multimillion dollar watch on him and was hanging around with “Olivia” instead of delivering it. I don’t think his mafia-type associates will appreciate the distinction. If anything, they’ll just kill them both 

[possibilities]

I watched the first 2 episodes today. In an interview on one of the late night shows recently, they talked about how/why the character is named after him, and how that plays in real life.

He should probably change his name now, and maybe have his face reconstructed. 

[phil pharm]

“Egyptian cigarettes” was used as a forum to use the Palestinian- israel conflict  , to very humouresly dramatize the fragility, but it was so exaggerated in its depiction of the “ mean” Israelis, and the “innocent, peace loving Palestinians.”. . The show was entertaining, but it was lacking  integrity. Your depictions of the hassles, on both sides, was very shallow. 
 

[possibilities]

Finished Season 3 today. Really liked the 2nd half even more than the first. I was starting to get to the point where it was just too exhausting to watch Ramy fuck up constantly, but now I hope there'll be another season.

I thought the "we want to get married" stuff with the sister came out of nowhere and was totally unearned, but the reaction of the parents was highly amusing.

[aemom]

I just finished Season 3 yesterday.  The last episode dragged a lot and was disappointing.  I really liked how some episodes focused entirely on the other characters.  The Arabic Shark Tank was hilarious - they even got Robert Herjavec for a cameo.

Steve is really pissed with Ramy, but no time was allocated for that at all.  Then the parents go to buy hot dogs and the guy handles them with his bare hands?!?!  Such a weird episode and the scene with Ramy on the shore praying dragged out way too long.

It was so obvious to me that she was going to steal the watch - even before she knocked him over.  Ramy is a really slow learner.  I wonder what's going to happen with him and his daughter now - or even how he gets out of this situation with the watch.

[aghst]

Been awhile since I've watched the first two seasons.  At first Ramy was sympathetic, didn't do things which would alienate people.

In season 2, he went off the rails, leading to his quick divorce.  He didn't seem like he set out to hurt people, like Zainab.

So he's full of regrets in season 3, trying to talk to her, even without knowing that he and Zainab has a daughter whom she kept from him.

But he didn't necessarily mind going into business against his uncle Naseem, who had brought him into the jewelry business, when he struck a deal with Israeli diamond brokers, who only wanted to go into business with Ramy, not Naseem.

Like his affair with the married woman in season 2, Ramy gets out of control, compromising principles to make money, such as cutting a deal with the hip-hop/IG sheik -- is that a real thing, a kind of social media and Muslim version of the televangelist or Arabic hip hop?

Some of his Muslim clients probably wouldn't buy from him if they knew he was sourcing diamonds from Israeli diamond brokers, even without going into the morally problematic provenance of diamonds.

He wants to pay Zainab's family so he could talk to her and he wants to help support his parents, who refuse and would rather work for Instacart than take a dime from Ramy.

Some of the situations and lines of dialogue would work well for the little hypocrisies which arise out of culture clashes that a comic doing observational humor might make.  I've never seen Youssef's standup so I don't know if he's explored these types of topics in his standup work.

In season 3, there's more depiction of what the other characters go through, every member of Ramy's family as well as the extended family of relatives and friends.

There's a lot of discontent in this social circle, people being confronted with big life choices, like his cousin possibly taking on a second wife or Dena looking at marriage and career decisions.  

Are there actual harems among Muslim-Ameircans in the US?

Do Muslims in America accuse people of raping them because of the shame (Dena's would be suitor) or the betrayal (Zainab accusing Ramy of misrepresenting who he was when they slept together, thus committing "emotional rape?"

Seems like the show has a pretty ambivalent depiction of Islam.  On the one hand, the characters seem to be devout, doing their prayers, always talking about their faith.  But on the other hand, you have this demonstration of very unhealthy attitudes, like being seduced by the devil or being "raped" into having sex.

They play it for comedy too, as Farouk and Maysa realize they unknowingly fed their children pork in the form of hot dogs, which they realize besides being religiously objectionable is just nasty.

Remains to be seen if Ramy will become better and worthy in Zainab's eyes to be in her daughter's life.  He's going to give up the jewelry business and seem to be feeling earnest about his faith at the end of the last episode of the season.

[aghst]

Has anyone watched Mo on Netflix?

Just found out about it, he's a minor character on Ramy but Youssef and Mo Amer created the show for him.

Has gotten rave reviews.

[aghst]

Ramy is coming back on TV, Ramy Youssef that is, not Ramy Hassan, the character he created for his Hulu show.

HBO comedy special which is part of a tour, called More Feelings.

I don't know if he's done with the show.  Otherwise, the next project he seems to be working on is an animated show about a Muslim-American family in the early 2000s, trying to "code-switch" in America.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18566094/?ref_=nm_flmg_unrel_2_act