Jostling for a place in our hearts and on our television sets this Ramadan, game- and talk shows may not have managed to elbow out the seasonal favorites of mouselsalat and fawazir, but at least they offer some reprieve from the drama, song and dance. Among those on offer this month;

Silver-haired heartthrob Hussein Fahmy will make his debut as a TV host with El-Nass we Ana (The People and I), airing on state-owned terrestrial TV. The show was conceived by writer Hazem El-Hadidy and director Mohammed Murad. Fahmy had previously refused several program offers from Arab channels, but signed on with this one after being convinced by A-list director Sherif Arafa, who’s exec producing this outing.

Shot at the Nasr City Conference Hall, the daily show features Fahmy interviewing ordinary people, who talk about their lives, dreams, problems and feelings. Fahmy says he was eager to do a show that involved people of different social and age groups. El-Nass we Ana deals with everything from human drama to black comedy (watch for the episode featuring wives who beat their husbands and out-of-control school kids).

El-Demagh Feih Eih? (What’s in the Head?) is a light broadcast TV chat show hosted by comedian Talaat Zakareya. Actors and singers including Mohamed Heneidy, Dina and Nicole Saba are invited to talk about everything from life to love.

In addition to its regular presenters Tamer Amin, Mahmoud Saad and Mona El-Sharkawy, state television’s El-Beit Beitak is featuring new segments hosted by Razan Maghraby and Abbas Abul Hassan discussing marital relationships.

Monawashat (Maneuvers), presented by Mona El-Husseiny (of Hewar Sarih Geddan — Very Candid Conversation — fame) and directed by Haitham El-Bitar is the only new program on Dream 1, which is otherwise airing its regular programming throughout the Holy Month.

Khareg Netaq El-Khedma (Out of Service) can be seen every day after iftar on ART’s Aflam 2. The candid-camera-style program is co-hosted by Karim Kojak and comedian Haggag Abdel Azim. Each episode features a new guest star, an actor who once presented a TV program and who is made to save the day by hosting the episode instead of Kojak and Abdel Azim.

Sports lovers should flip to free-to-air channel Ein’s Kart Akhdar (Green Card) every Thursday at 1am to see veteran football star Hady Khashaba host the best players from the past decades.

Khawater Shab II (Reflections of a Youth II) is presented by Ahmed El-Shokiry, following the success of its first season last year. As the name implies, the MBC program will discusses issues of concern to youth growing up in the Arab world.

Daawa Ala Al-Sohour (Sohour Invitation), a 90-minute talk show presented by ART darling Poussy Shalaby, has the cast and crew of Ramadan serials as guest stars.

Sehraya (Soirée), presented by Safaa Abul-Seoud on ART, is continuing during Ramadan every Friday evening. New episodes — airing live from studios in Cairo, Dubai, Syria and Tunisia — feature Arab guest stars from all over the Middle East.

Following his success in last Ramadan’s spoof Tebq El-Asl (Spitting Image), TV presenter Khaled Habib has returned as a judge in El-Mahkama (The Court) on Channel 2 and NileSat. The daily show features a long list of guest stars, who are not only interviewed, but put on trial as well. Each episode takes a look at the gossip surrounding stars, their daily habits on and off the set (such as never saying ‘good morning’ to their hairdressers) or more serious accusations (including clashes erupting after box-office flops). Defendants found ‘guilty’ are asked to perform an outrageous task, such as selling fruit on the street or driving a taxi.

Speaking of which, MBC’s Cash Taxi has Saudi presenter Hesham Abdel Rahman going undercover as a taxi driver cruising for passengers. On the road, he asks questions, and if they answer them correctly, his unwitting contestants win from $10 to $500.

Horouf we Olouf (Letters and Thousands) has also returned to MBC with host Mohamed El-Shohary, but in a totally new format.

On Rotana Cinema, follow the new daily fawazir, Teatro, starring Ashraf Abdel Baky and Dina. The game: Abdel Baky and Dina perform a scene from a famous play; it’s up to viewers to guess what the play is.

The massively popular Starmaker is back for its fourth season after two years in the making (more than 19,000 contestants were whittled down to the lucky 12 you see thrashing it out for the title). Once again hosted by Amir Karara, the 15 back-to-back episodes are more hard-hitting and faster-paced, thanks to a new format.

Unlike the previous seasons, contestants croon popular songs and fight to stay on the show. Wannabes are eliminated over three phases of competition, culminating in a final countdown, in which they are asked to leave one at a time.

The set for the fourth season is 50 percent larger than before. Judges include calligrapher and songwriter Antar Helal, composer Hassan Abul Seoud and Dr. Jehan El-Nasser. Each episode features a special guest judge, with Jad Choueiri, Hegazy Met’aal, Iwan, Khaled Selim, Mohammed El-Helw, Razan Maghraby and Samo Zein having lined up to do the honors.

Hussein Fahmy hosting El-Nass we Ana

Alam Simsim (World of Sesame), the edutainment program aimed at preparing two-to-six-year-old children for school, is back on national TV with the lovable Khokha, Nimnim and Filfil. Like its namesake Sesame Street, Alam Simsim has become an icon for Egyptian children and parents alike. The co-production between Alkarma Edutainment and Sesame Workshop is funded by USAID under a bilateral agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Education.

The main educational goals include girl’s education, empowerment and equality, as well as literacy, national pride, environmental awareness, health and hygiene. So far, 230 half-hour episodes have been produced, and the show picked up the Silver Prize at the World Media Festival in Hamburg in May 2003. Alam Simsim is aired before iftar on both Channel 2 and NileSat. The new episodes feature visits to Luxor, Aswan and El-Wahat to teach young children about the history of Egypt.

Ama Yatasa’aloun (What They Ask About), the weekly Islamic Q&A program, airs daily during Ramadan on Dream 2.

Madfaa El-Iftar Edrab! (Iftar Canon Fire!) and Issha Ya Nayem (Wake Up) are showing daily on ART as 15-minute shows co-hosted by Ayman, Rania, Mary and Radwa, who take the camera to tour Cairo streets before iftar and sohour to document the highlights of the holy month.

Ramadan fi Misr (Ramadan in Egypt, on ART) is a panorama of cultural evenings with the great writers and politicians of Egypt, presented by Magda Maher and Iman Mokhtar. Akl Cima (Cinema Food) is a daily program on ART showing clips of the funniest scenes involving food in classic and recent Egyptian cinema.

Hussein Fahmy hosting El-Nass we Ana

Presented by Soheir Gouda, ART’s Lelta’am Asrar (Food Has its Secrets) is a daily guide to healthy Ramadan food. El-Marabish is a five-minute pantomime show by the famous Kuwaiti group of the same name, which has been touring the world for the past six years.

If nothing in last month’s et guide to Ramadan serials took your fancy, tune in to MBC for some Arab and Khaliji soaps. The popular Saudi serial Tash Ma Tash is back with Tash 14, starring Abdallah El-Sadhan and Nasser El-Kassaby, and the Kuwaiti serial Sahebat El-Emtiaz (Women of Distinction) stars Hoda El-Khatib and Ghanem El-Saleh.

Ghashamsham (Whatever That Means) is yet another comic TV serial by Syrian director Ayman Shykhany. Bab El-Hara (Alley Gate) is a Syrian serial by renowned director Bassam El-Malla, who teams up with stars Bassam Koussa and Abbas El-Noury in this historical drama unfolding in the 1920s.

Last but not least, Bassam Yakhor plays the legendary Islamic leader in the eponymous serial Khaled Ibn-Waleed.

AFTER THE SUCCESS of his show last year, renowned cartoonist Amr Fahmy decided to continue what is fast becoming a tradition among Ramadan TV staples. This year’s production, called Talaqat Saree’a (Fast Shots), is directed by Khaled Rizq and written by Mostafa Yassin, and airs daily on Channel One throughout the month of Ramadan.

The show features Fahmy drawing a number of controversial cartoons involving his guests to spark questions and drag them into hot dialogue. Big names from all walks of life will be making appearances, including writer Mostafa Bakry, Cinema Institute Head Mamdouh El-Leithy, actress Amira Fathy, journalist Adel Hammouda, SCA chief Zahi Hawass, former national football coach Hassan Shehata, screen star Khaled Abul Naga, comedian Hany Ramzy and Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali.

“I think the title of the program says it all. The questions come out like fast shots fired from a shotgun!” says Fahmy. “There are more big names that will make an appearance on the show, but I don’t want to reveal them all, as some have promised but have yet to confirm.”

Fahmy draws the nationally popular front-page cartoon for Al-Akhbar Al-Youm, as well as covers and inside work for Egypt Today and our sister publication Business Today Egypt’s infamous Rumor Demon. et