I think this show is hilarious, I really hope people give it a chance. The thing is even if you are not falling about laughing it's meant to be satire, and whilst the characters are in your face, the satire is often subtle.
What amazes me is the amount of people who are saying this is racist towards the Lebanese when it is clearly makes just as much fun of the Aussies of British background or WASP (for want of a better word). In fact I think its marginally more "racist" towards the Aussies as the rich Vaucluse neighbour is the only one on the show is truly evil.
But having said, even though I am a Brit background Aussie, I love the show, as it's equally opportunity because it makes fun of the British/Aussies and the Lebanese. Every single character is a caricature except for one of the Lebanese sons and the British/Aussie daughter of the neighbour. They are the two "normal" people who put up with all their crazy families/friends.
The thing is the show is taking the people within both cultures that are a little crazy, annoying or lovingly eccentric.
These stereotypes exist, the loud Lebanese, and the British/Aussie snob, and the "normal" people within both cultures who have to put up with them, but still love them!
For instance a line that made me laugh was when the WASP snob wife asked her WASP husband to hire a private detective to investigate the Habibs to see if they are drug dealers (which they aren't by the way), anyway WASP husband said "do you want me to get the PI who caught your father for insider trading, or the one you hired to see if I was having an affair even though you were the one having the affair!"
I thought that was very funny and pointed out that some of the posh white Aussies are just as criminal in their own white collar way as some of the Lebanese drug dealers.
I've seen quite a few reviews about how this show makes fun of the Lebanese, but none that mention how it makes just as much fun as we British/Aussie background people. But possibly they don't realise how much some of those things are "in" jokes to us British/Aussies, we are all having a good laugh because we know those kind of people, just like some of the "in" jokes about the Lebanese get lost on us. Little touches, like in the WASP house the wife has a huge painting of herself in a white suit like dress, and everything is white or beige in the house. I cracked up laughing the first time I saw it, because the painting shows just how full of herself she is. Then instantly they switch to the Habibs house, where they have a huge painting of the last supper, and I fell about laughing seeing that too, because that is also typical Lebanese Christians (at least the ones I have known), I'm waiting to see a shrine also!
And the Lebanese wife (she's one of the nice ones in the family) who tries to join the local Yacht club, and naively asks when do they sail, and the WASPs all look at her horrified! Because obviously none of the WASP snobs join the club to actually go sailing!
It's really a refreshing and funny show I hope people give it a go. Particularly so hard to get productions up anymore on Aussie TV that actually give actors jobs, all we have is all these horrible reality TV shows. And by the way for all those PC people keep in mind that this program is keeping a lot of Arabic people in work (not to mention a few Brit/Aussies), because apart from the actors I believe the makers are Lebanese too. (I might be wrong about that though)
