Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef criticized Arab media in an interview with Ali Olayyani, on the Rotana Khaliji Channel Saturday evening, saying it was stuck in the 1960's and 70's.
TV programs, he said, have degraded into a "desk, a camera and a man who preaches to people," he added.
Youssef, who hosted the once popular TV program "El Bernameg", modeled after Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show", is now a Havard fellow after leaving to the United States when his show was terminated. Once Youssef began to criticize the new regime, he began to receive threats and feared for his safety.
On his show last year, Youssef criticized the army when they had proclaimed to have invented a device to cure hepatitis C and HIV, threatening to hold authorities responsible for their claims.
Youssef said he would return to Egypt soon, though staying in the US is safer at the moment.
The return of "El Bernameg" in the current circumstances would be difficult, he said. He could return on TV with another program away from politics, but his audience would not accept that. "Any other program I would do would be compared to 'El Bernameg'," he said.
Youssef refused the idea of presenting "El Bernameg" on TV from abroad. "I was accused of receiving foreign funds for the program when it was presented inside Egypt. So what would they say if I presented the program from abroad?"
Since the show was terminated, many have used the success as a platform for new projects. "Part of 'El Bernameg' team is now working with the 'Abla Fahita' program, and another part is working with programs like Khaled Mansour and Shadi Alfons'."
The idea of "El Bernameg" dates back to 2008 and belongs to Engineer Tarek al-Qazaz who directed the show. "We started on the internet, and we never expected the show to be displayed on TV in 2011."
Youssef said the show allows him to use sarcasm as a first step toward confronting extremist ideas. "'El Bernameg' was not created by the regime, as they say, but was the creation of young creative minds," he added.
The Egyptian statirist also commented on the controversy surrouding football player Abu Treika and the regime's accusation that he had links with the Muslim Brotherhood. Youssef expressed admiration for Abu Treika. "Egyptians have never seen a player like Abu Treika and I do not care about his political inclination," he added.
Youssef talked about his childhood and his family, saying he has a lot of happy memories of his childhood with his father and his mother, explaining that his father was always encouraging him to go on with 'El Bernameg show', despite disagreeing with him on some political views.
"My upbringing was traditional, and our family was a typical, picture-perfect family like the ones you read about," he said. "My father was a diplomatic personality and my mother was a strong woman."
"But they passed away suddenly. Despite the heartbreak, I thank God they left without disease or suffering."
He pointed out that the only media personnel who attended the funeral of his father was host Mahmoud Saad. He added his mother's funeral turned into a circus when crowds of photojournalists insisted on taking pictures during his difficult moment.
Youssef said he joined the Faculty of Medicine to complete the image of the "typical family." "I was planning to work in the field of medicine, but I changed my mind after the revolution to present 'El Bernameg'," he added.
