Shouf Shouf, the Dutch comedy series, is based on the movie by the same name. Sometimes the movie is known as Hush Hush Baby which, I must admit, is a bit of an arbitrary title. But then, I've only watched the series and have no clue what the movie is all about. Well, it's supposed to the same concept, carried through into a series and, if the series is anything to go by, it's main source of inspiration must be just as funny.

What's Shouf Shouf, the series, all about? The story revolves around four friends, Ap, Rachid, Mussi and Robbie, and their strange mishaps. Specifically, the gist of the plot is how Morrocon-born Ap settles into his new home in the Netherlands. As you can imagine there are many cross cultural references as well as funny little insights about Netherlands itself. As for other continuing themes, in almost every episode these guys run into weirdest situations. And of course, as is the case with most comedy sitcoms, you find that each situation is created/worsened by silly judgments by the main characters.

Consider these situations. If your friend really wanted a live chicken, he would have specified it on the grocery list. And even in that situation, a flustered looking chicken wouldn't have been so bad if your friend didn't need it for his cooking class ... which incidentally has already started. And while we are on the topic of inappropriate moves, walking into a social event wearing paintball gear is a really really bad decision!

So why would you watch these series? If you like learning about different cultures or, coming from a diverse background, you see the funny side of adapting, this will definitely tickle your funny bone. At the same time, I also think that the series might just appeal to a wider audience as it also makes good social commentary about prejudices and bias against different cultures. None of this is done in a preachy manner; most of the situations are tongue-in-cheek and some are just laugh out loud funny. As an example, I refer to the instance where one of the guys dashed off to grab some petrol for his scooter. Unfortunately, there had been a spate of arsonist activities in the area. And the police were on the lookout for suspicious characters, which happened to include young men running off with petrol containers. Perhaps the worse bit of was the frisk and search of his persons. It wasn't the act per say; rather it was the untimely discovery of his tape recorder. Did I mention that it had his latest rap song/singing effort on it? And that it was something along the lines of "burning down the house"?