Source: IranTV.com
Tehran: The Iranian incarnation of the popular game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” has been pulled from television screens. Production of the show, known as Barande Bash, was temporarily stopped in April, but that suspension appears to have become permanent. Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi issued a fatwa that condemned game shows with cash prizes on offer, deeming participation in this type of program as a form of gambling.
Contestants on Barande Bash could collect as much as 1bn Iranian rials for answering every question successfully, while viewers at home could also engage through an app to compete for cash. Presented by popular actor Mohammad Reza Golzar, the show’s format and flashiness inevitably attracted lots of attention. However, the randomness of the questions and the emphasis on guesswork prompted Makarem-Shirazi to declare Barande Bash to be a game of chance, and therefore forbidden by Islamic law.
Makarem-Shirazi’s fatwa echoes sentiments shared by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has stressed the potential for this type of show to inhibit a culture of hard work. “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” is famous throughout the world for its very nature: that it can create a millionaire in the space of a few questions and a few hours. While viewers may remember the most successful contestants, there are inevitably far more losers than victors. That reinforces the notion that Barande Bash was akin to a lottery, in which players are the beneficiaries of luck rather than skill.
Source: Pixabay.
Just as lottery entrants are hoping the numbers fall their way, game show contestants are hoping the questions play to their areas of expertise. Given the firm stance against gambling in Islamic countries, it is perhaps surprising that Barande Bash lasted as many as 70 episodes. There are very few forms of land-based gaming available in the Arabian world, with offline gambling banned outright in Iran, while most gambling websites are blocked. The closure of Barande Bash surely sets a precedent in which all gameshows with cash incentives will similarly be banned in future.
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” was previously renowned as an extremely adaptable television show format, with the original British version providing the inspiration for new game shows across several continents. Australia, USA and Brazil are just three of the many countries that have embraced the format, while of course, India’s Kaun Banega Crorepati has been running successfully since the year 2000.
Other genres of the television program have generally attracted far more scrutiny when it comes to potential bans. Cartoons such as Family Guy and South Park have unsurprisingly been banned in many countries, including India and Iran, because of their lewd scenes and frequently offensive jokes. Meanwhile, episodes of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were banned in the US, their country of origin, for graphic depictions of violence.
The ban of Barande Bash marks a turning point in Iranian television. Almost all existing game show premises feature contestants’ chances of claiming cash prizes largely driven by luck. Television executives in Iran may have to rethink their past strategies when looking for something to fill the void left by Barande Bash.
