Today is a special day because we’re giving the floor to the underdogs of Egyptian comedy TV. These characters, the housekeepers and house sitters, are known to be part of most Egyptian households, and let us tell you, whenever they appear in a scene, there will be tears in the eyes, stomach pain, and laughter.
Knowing that two such characters are dominating the Ramadan comedy hit Ashgal Shaqa, we knew we had to talk about our many other favorites who stole shows in the most hilarious way:
Um Sabrine (Ashghal Shaqa)
Oh, Um Sabrine, what can we say about you? Well, she’s your basic always-on-the-phone chatterbox housekeeper, talking on and on with her daughter, who’s having marital problems. If there’s Um Sabrine, you be sure that there will also be her phone; it’s literally lodged onto her headscarf.
The thing is, the only trouble came once Um Sabrine arrived. With the phone lodged onto her scarf, she barely hears anything Yasmine or her husband forensic pathologist Hamdy (Hesham Maged) are saying.
What happens? From exploding a microwave because of putting metal in it to destroying forensic evidence, only trouble follows with Um Sabrine.
Kareema (Saabe’ Gaar)
You’ll notice a hilarious pattern with these characters because, just as with Um Sabrine, when Kareema, the flamboyant and loud house sitter, gets hired by Mohamed Farag’s character to take care of his recently widowed dad, only troubles follow.
After just one day with his dad, the old man ends up in the hospital because Kareema is too scared to give him his medicine. She’s the ‘avoid and ignore’ at all costs type because Farag’s dad is kind of scary; let’s just leave it at that.
Zomba (Fe Betna Robot)
If you know the actress Shayma, you know she’s a hilarious, loud, bombacious, in-your-face chatterbox. That’s why we all needed a minute to get used to her role as a robot housekeeper called Zomba.
As usual, she’s absolutely hilarious, with her constant poker face, monotonous speech, and taking everything super literally. We can say that she got herself in some interesting moments.
Fatma (Ashghal Shaqa)
And we’re back to Ashgal Shaqa. Um Sabrine is out, and now they have a new maid, Fatma. She’s a whole other ball game, as her cooking skills are sublime.
After Yasmine’s doctor told her that she needed to eat more so that her twins received good nutrients, Fatma became a literal portable fridge.
Whether they were shopping for furniture or at a family gathering, you’d find Fatma giving out every kind of sandwich to Yasmine, including her crazy creation, a bowl of rice with molokhia sandwich. Let’s say that things backfired after that.
Now that you’ve met the housekeeping ladies, we have some final words about them. We can’t really call them underdogs; when you come to think of it, these characters are the beating heart of most Egyptian family comedy shows. Tell us in the comments if you have any other favorites.