Following the Texas shooting incident earlier this month, 'SNL' made a skit describing the fear of drawing Prophet Muhammad which turned out to be similar to the earlier skit on a Canadian TV show.
- May 12, 2015
AceShowbiz - The latest episode of "Saturday Night Live" showing Pictionary-like game was accused of plagiarizing a Canadian TV show. The "Picture Perfect" segment which asked contestants to draw Prophet Muhammad was similar to that of Canadian TV show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes".
Michael Donovan, DHX Media executive chairman, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement, "While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, DHX Media Ltd. takes infringement of its intellectual property very seriously." One of the writers from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", Mark Critch, took to Twitter to comment on the similarities, "This has happened a few times both ways but this is the closet I've ever seen." As of press time, NBC has not made any comment on the plagiarism accusation.
The segment in question starred Reese Witherspoon and Bobby Moynihan as the contestants in a Pictionary-like game. Moynihan was the one who had to draw based on the prompt while Witherspoon was the one who guessed what picture it was. Taran Killam, who acted as the host in that game, told them that they could win the $1 million prize if the answer was correct.
Moynihan looked puzzled as he had to draw Prophet Muhammad. He refused to draw the character and passed it to Kenan Thompson. Strangely, Thompson also refused to draw it which made Witherspoon manage to guess it correctly that it was Prophet Muhammad. This skit appears to be very similar to "Win Lose or Draw" skit on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" which aired in January. The contestants' facial expression and the amount of the prize are said too similar for coincidence.
Through the said skit, "SNL" attempted to address Texas shooting incident outside a Draw Muhammad event earlier this month while the skit of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" arrived after the Charlie Hebdo shooting. Both of the incidents were triggered by the drawing of Prophet Muhammad which is considered taboo in Islam.
