Must-see 2008 television

It is important to note that television plays an important part of our mundane lives. Well, your lives. I personally hate television and the crappy, brain bashing shows. Don't get me started on commercials and advertising or other forms of brainwash.
But Lebanese television stations are finally highering their standards kicking off the new year with must-see shows. Here are a few shows that will be premiering in 2008, and you don't want to miss them. They promise to be so interesting and mind numbing, that even I will sink into that couch and watch them. The Other Side has exclusive sneak peeks to share with you.


Project Runway

Ever since the Al-Manar television took the initiative to target a wider sphere of foreign and non-arab speaking audiences, the station noticeably undertook several steps to introduce English programs to its broadcast. Project Runway, the sensational addition to Al-Manar’s line-up, is expected to take audiences by storm. The famous hit television reality show, which was well received by audiences around the world, has a little new twist. Audiences will get to witness the contestants compete for the best Chador and Shar’ii swimwear designs, presenting them to a board of judges and Islamic fashion experts. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, self-proclaimed Mahdi and Iranian President, will have a special guest appearance as a judge on the team.


Qoraytem Palace

Did you ever wonder what was happening behind the checkpoints, barb-wires, fences, high-tech alarm systems, and doors of Qoraytem Palace? This season, Future Television is taking reality TV to the next level. Get to experience the drama, the hardships and the fabulous life of the Hariri dynasty. Sit back and enjoy as the crew cameras follow Saad Hariri and his family going on with their life behind the walls of Qoraytem Palace. Future Television are even launching a twenty-four hour channel, so that Saad Hariri can be watched as he eats, sleeps, visits the bathroom, walks around aimlessly, poses for the paparazzi in his garden, and thinks (we think this last one is a hoax though, just to attract audiences).


The Motorcycle Diaries with Walid Jumblatt

The Discovery Channel in collaboration with Walid Jumblatt are giving you the show of the season. In an attempt to reminisce his fabulous youth, Walid Jumblatt will take us on a journey of a lifetime. With his helmet, leather jacket, and of course his good old friend Harley Davidson, Jumblatt will be riding around and looking for adventures in the mountains and valleys, cities and villages of Lebanon. Whether running away from the Syrian border, or being chased by an old woman who mistakenly thinks he’s “that bad guy from the Batman movie”, each episode promises to be filled with thrilling fun and escapades.


Intervention: Michel Aoun

A touching and heart-wrenching exposé, this season Otv lets you inside a family intervention you have never witnessed before. The ten episode mini-series/documentary follows Michel Aoun’s wife and kids, and even officials in his FPM, as they try to convince the basket-case, delusional egomaniac to admit himself into the infamous mental asylum Dair el-Salib (yet again). But as the drama unfolds, the audience will find that it would take a lot more than just convincing words to get him in there (and hopefully never out again). A show that will leave you crying and laughing at the same time: crying because you just feel sad for his sorry existence and his frightening delusions of grandeur, and laughing as he lashes off at the interveners (just as he lashes off at the press, but this time with a dirtier mouth and a couple of punches and black eyes), and as they try to tie him up with a jawbreaker in his mouth and shove him in the trunk of their car. Rare moments of Aoun in a straightjacket jerking about and cursing, as well as bitch-slapping Samir Geagea who points and laughs at him in the background are only a small part of what the show promises to be.


Meet the Geagea’s

Taking a break from the political ballyhoo in Lebanon, Samir and Sitrida Geagea decide to focus a bit more on their personal life, and decide to share it with the audiences of E! Entertainment channel. Get an inside look of what being married to an ex-serial murderer turned good (or so they say) is like, and get the rare chance to learn extraordinary lessons of life, love and marriage. With never before scenes of Samir fondling his wife and asking her who her daddy is, the show is speculated to stir up controversy and is expected to draw low ratings.


The Perfect President

The political vacuum shall be filled, promises the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC). After the huge success of reality television shows like Star Academy (1 through 349, LBC promises to launch its 350th Star Academy season next Fall) and the Perfect Bride (where desperate young men try to find their ‘perfect bride’, if they can get through the mother in law) LBC announced a reality television show that will hit the ratings jackpot: The Perfect President. Twenty candidates, including political figures and Lebanese celebrities/escorts will be living with each other for the next five months as the Lebanese viewers vote off a person from the Presidential Palace each week. The last to stay will become Lebanon’s next president!
Some political analysts are already worried about the constitutional legitimacy of the show, but they are rest assured by the non existence of the so-called constitution.