For over a decade, Ramez Galal’s annual prank show – a Ramadan TV staple – moved unpredictably, much like the helpless gaggle of Arab celebrities finding themselves at its mercy.
At its best, it creates elaborate and bombastic set-ups that can leave the most ardent critics marvelling at its execution.
Who could forget the 2019 season of Ramez Behind the Scenes, where Egyptian actors Yasmine Sabri and Mohamed Tharwat were lured into what they believed was a cameo appearance in a Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie. With the Belgian star in on the prank – they briefly met him on set – they endured a hair-raising, fiery stunt sequence alongside a masked figure who they believed was the Muscles from Brussels, only to find out it was Galal himself.
Then there was 2021's Ramez Aqlahu Tar, in which actress Dina Elsherbiny arguably delivered her most expressive on-screen performance – as her furious real-life self. After being led to believe that an enclosed craft, suspended a few hundred metres in the air, was about to explode, she leapt for safety into a pool, only to emerge in a fit of rage.
Those high points were occasionally offset by missteps, when pranks veered from good-spirited fun into outright cruelty. The most glaring was 2020's Ramez Majnun Rasmi, in which guests were strapped into a gyrating chair before being submerged in a tank full of crabs – an ordeal severe enough to prompt a viewer advisory warning from Egyptian medical establishments.
Binding these ups and downs, however, is Galal. An irrepressible host who could charmingly defuse the most livid celebrities, from actor Mohamed Ramadan to Saudi footballer Ali Al Bulaihi. That disarming banter seems almost unnecessary in Ramez Elon Masr. It's not that the latest iteration of the show fails to put high-profile names through their paces – rather, the entire premise feels alarmingly average, signalling the ratings juggernaut is running out of steam.
Once again, we find ourselves in Riyadh’s leisure district, The Boulevard, where a space is transformed into a fake television studio for a talent quest. In each episode, a celebrity target is invited to the set as a judge, only for the experience to go disastrously wrong.
So far, so good – an enticing set-up promising plenty of mischief. The only problem is there’s no real escalation of tension. Instead, we spend nearly half of the 30-minute episode watching a parade of fake acts – from twirling planks of wood to manic dancing.
If this was meant to be a satirical jab at the abundance of talent shows today, I didn’t get it. The real action begins when the guest is strapped on to a stretcher for a supposed scientific experiment conducted by one of the contestants – only for the studio audience to disperse and the set to transform into an interrogation room.
It is then that Galal reveals himself from beneath an astronaut suit – launching into a recycled version of his antics from Ramez Majnun Rasmi, which remains a low point of the franchise. In that series, contestants were flung around the studio while strapped to a chair. This time, they’re jolted with low-current electric shocks while strapped to a bed.
The banality might have been forgivable if it had achieved its intended effect – the guests scared witless, followed by an attempt to assault Galal once freed, and concluding with a kiss and hug to signal all is forgiven.
Instead, they seemed too bored by the ordeal to muster a real reaction. Actor Ahmed El Awady simply shrugged and offered a half-hearted threat to Galal, while footballer Emam Ashour’s question – “how can you do this?” – felt more like disappointment than genuine anger. While Ramez Elon Masr, airing nightly during the holy month, is only six episodes in, the lack of variety and dynamism on offer is already making this season feel more gruelling to watch than entertaining.
Then again, perhaps the series is saving its best material for last. If not, it could be time to put the whole enterprise on ice – because nobody likes a joke that falls flat.
Ramez Elon Masr can be streamed on Shahid
