Fusion’s F-Comedy Plans Two New Web Series, Including One From The “Jon Stewart Of Egypt”

TV channel Fusion is best known for catering to a target audience of Millennial viewers, and with its upcoming programming, it hopes to introduce those viewers to an Arab entertainer they might enjoy. Fusion-owned digital platform F-Comedy will host The Democracy Handbook, which will star Egyptian comedian and commentator Bassem Youssef.

Youssef, who hosted a satirical program called Al-Bernameg between 2011 and 2014, has been referred to as the “Jon Stewart of Egypt.” When the Arab Spring caused unrest within his home nation, Youssef became an international name, and with his new series, he bring his act to America. The Democracy Handbook, which will air on both F-Comedy and Fusion’s terrestrial TV channel, will follow Youssef as he traverses the United States and learns about the positives and negatives of our political system.

The release of The Democracy Handbook is timed to coincide with Fusion’s political coverage leading up to the 2016 presidential election. “I am extremely honored to partner with Fusion, one of the biggest digital platforms in the world, on this interesting and inspiring project,” said Youssef in a press release. “Discussing, exposing and satirizing the political scene here in the States is something I am very excited about and hopefully I will be able to get Fusion in trouble along the way! Between issues like guns, white supremacist militias and Donald Trump, I am certain we won’t be lacking in any material.”

Beyond The Democracy Handbook, Youssef is also overseeing another upcoming F-Comedy project, Internet History. In that series, creators like Michelle Glavan and Sasquatch Sketch Comedy will explore famous moments throughout history by using social media as a framing devices. In other words, it sounds like these classic CollegeHumor posts, but as a web series.

Beyond its collaborations with Youssef, F-Comedy also announced a partnership with Upright Citizens Brigade called UCB-IRL. The six-part series “will involve social experiments that explore the complexity of modern life,” according to a press release.

Fusion launched F-Comedy in June 2015. One of the digital hub’s launch partners was YouTube Space LA, and several of the creators involved in the newly-announced content slate participated in workshops Fusion hosted at YouTube’s Playa Vista facility.

No exact release dates have been announced for any of the F-Comedy programs mentioned above.