The Muslim holy month of Ramadan wrapped up in September this year.  In TV terms, Ramadan is equivalent to the American sweeps months, when producers roll out their finest goods.

And often, their most raucous.

Saudi expert Robert Lacey, author of “Inside the Kingdom” explains it by comparing and contrasting it to Lent.

“Lent is a season of great austerity in the West for Christians.  Ramadan, paradoxically, is the opposite, because although you do fast in the day, at night you can do whatever you like and there’s a festive spirit.”

One of the most restrictive societies, Saudi Arabia, lets the satire rip.  The edgiest episode of one of the favorites called Tash Ma Tash, an MBC production, involved a woman taking on four husbands, while her long suffering original spouse wallowed in his dejection.  Usually, it’s the other way around.

Robert Lacey says, “One of the tensions in the Middle East and in Islamic culture is between men and women.  The fact that men can have four wives and women just have to put up with it.  Well, along comes this satirical show to say–a woman says–hey, I’d like four husbands, except I don’t like the first one because he’s not good in bed, and the next one can’t cook, and so all the stereotypes that men throw at women get thrown back at them.”

Saudi clerics were outraged–and called for the producers of the show to be tried but the government did not heed that call.

Governments in the Arab world, which censor news, tend to back some of this drama as it gives them a window into their people’s mindsets…the programs allow those people to blow off steam…and it’s only fiction.

Saudi media analyst Adel Alabdulkarim says, “It’s a good valve for frustration and social issues to just release all this and at the same time discuss it in a better way.”

Another show making waves is called Hawameer a Sahra, or Tycoons of the desert, produced by Rotana.  News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, has a stake in Rotana.   Producers call the show Saudi’s version of dynasty.  They say it’s about the rich and famous, the unscrupulous, the double standards…in a veiled society a look at what happens behind closed doors.

The exotic trips, the women, the parties.

Analysts say these programs don’t only show how Arab society can laugh at itself, but it demonstrates something deeper, a genuine sign of change.  And while the holy month is over, these shows will no doubt be the talk of the street until the next Ramadan.