The Hulu reality series Muslim Matchmaker was set to debut last August, and we were looking forward to it, given how much we liked Smriti Mundhra’s previous series, Indian Matchmaking and Jewish Matchmaking. We wondered why Hulu ended up pulling the show at the last second, but six months later, we now get it; why not premiere the series a few days before Valentine’s Day?
Opening Shot: Two women wearing hijabs sit in a cafe. One jovially complains to the other that her friend ordered raw fish when she can’t have any, due to being pregnant. Then the two of them look around to see who might be single.
The Gist: Hoda Abrahim and Yasmin Elhady aren’t scoping out singles for fun; it’s their business. They are professional matchmakers whose business is to connect Muslim men and women who are looking for the right person to marry. In the eight-episode first season of Muslim Matchmaker, Hoda and Yasmin (mostly Yasmin, as Hoda is pregnant) travels the country to meet with new clients and set them up on dates.
Because they connect clients that might live in different states, they advise their clients to take things slowly: Go on three dates with each other in the first three months, then go in-depth with 300 questions. Their clients definitely range in level of observance, and they definitely consider that when they match people up.
In the first episode we meet three clients. In her home base of Houston, Hoda meets with Mariam. She’s definitely particular, but she’s also a successful software engineer who is proud of the life she’s made for herself, and wants to make sure the person she marries has the same energy. She takes the unusual step of having the man Hoda matches her up with, Omar, meet her at an appliance store; she’s looking for a washer and dryer for her new house and thinks that how he shops goes a long way towards if they’ll get along.
In Atlanta, Yasmin meets with Fulani, a creative type who is close to his family. And in New York, Yasmin talks to Noureen, who is definitely one more liberal than many of her clients, though she wants a match who will be ok with how she’s reconnecting with her faith. She also wants someone with “main character energy,” something that’s hard for her to define but she knows it when she sees it.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In spirit and format, Muslim Matchmaker is like the Netflix series Indian Matchmaking and Jewish Matchmaking.
Our Take: It’s not a coincidence that Muslim Matchmaker is so close to the other two shows we mentioned above, because Smriti Mundhra is an executive producer; she produced the other two series as well. Like the first two series, Muslim Matchmaker takes its time to explain to audiences some of the terms used when matching up Muslims with each other, as well as explain just what factors go into the idea of marriage in that community. What’s important for the clients Hoda and Yasmin talk to may not be the same as the matchmakers in the other two shows have to work with.
The main difference between this show and the previous two shows is that we’re seeing a pair of matchmakers instead of just one. For Hoda, this is her only business; she’s big on using social media to build her database of singles and meticulously keeps track of them. She even thinks it’s a good idea to chaperone the first date. For Yasmin, matchmaking seems to be one of a bunch of different gigs she has (she lists herself as a “Comedian” on Instagram), and she talks from much more world-weary perspective than Hoda does (she’s been divorced twice).
Whether or not they were friends and associates before this show isn’t really all that significant; they work well together on this show, and we see that they’re not only both down-to-earth and funny, but they are also not trying to impose too many rules on their clients. So far, the clients all seem to be open despite having lists of requirements, and some are even a little quirky, as we see in the second episode when Fulani goes on a date and starts reciting animal facts.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Hoda and Mariam sit at the appliance store when Hoda sees Mariam’s date waling through the door.
Sleeper Star: Let’s give Omar lots of credit for not thinking that meeting a woman at an appliance store for a first date is a red flag.
Most Pilot-y Line: The opening scene, where Hoda and Yasmin go up to some random woman in a cafe and asks whether she’s Muslim and single, seemed to be as real as a $3 bill. Fortunately, the rest of the first episode felt a lot more natural than that.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Muslim Matchmaker works because the matchmakers themselves are funny, down-to-earth, and are gentle with their guidance. The rest is more or less a standard dating show, showing chemistry or awkward silences, which is always fun to watch.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
