(2004-10-31) — Usama bin Laden, whose recent video tops the charts, has reportedly signed a deal with CBS television to star in 26 episodes of a sit-com tentatively titled “The Bin Ladens.”
A CBS programming executive said his network outbid all of the others for what could be “the hottest series since The Osbournes.”
“It’s an edgy, reality-TV, behind-the-scenes view of life with Usama,” said the CBS exec. “The camera loves Usama, and American TV audiences can’t get enough of his lectures. They want to know the man behind the intellect.”
The series will be shot in an undisclosed location in the Wazzupistan region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It will be bankrolled by CBS, subtitled by Al-Jazeera and broadcast on both sister networks.
“Most people only know Usama as a respected theologian and freedom fighter,” said the source. “Now you’re going to see him as a loving father, faithful husband to all of his wives and general man-about-cave.”