| Director: | Durul Taylan Yağmur Taylan |
| Starring: | Nehir Erdoğan Özgür Çevik Engin Akyürek Erdal Özyağcılar Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu Yılmaz Gruda Zeki Alasya İlker Aksum Binnur Kaya |
| Theme Music Composer: | Gökhan Kırdar |
| Country: | Turkey |
| Language: | Turkish Greek English |
| Num Episodes: | 106 |
| Producer: | Türker İnanoğlu |
| Runtime: | 60 min |
| Company: | Erler Film |
| Network: | Kanal D |
Yabancı Damat (literally: The Foreign Groom) is a Turkish television drama distributed by Erler Film with 106 episodes in total.[1] It deals with the relationship between a young Greek man Niko and a Turkish girl Nazlı, and the problems (and especially the prejudices) encountered in an intercultural marriage. Its comedic tone and play on historic Greco-Turkish antagonism made it a huge hit in both Turkey and Greece, as well as making stars out of the leading actors. The episodes are shot in Turkey and Greece. The music is Turkish and Greek.
The series ran from November 12, 2004, till June 15, 2007[2] on the Turkish channel Kanal D[3] Friday evenings at 20:00 hrs.
Nazlı is the daughter of a conservative Turkish father Kahraman, who is a famous baklava maker in Gaziantep. Her grandfather Memik Dede is a Greco-Turkish War veteran. Then there is Kadir (Engin Akyürek), son of Ökkeş, the business partner of Kahraman. Kadir is engaged to Nazli. He is kind-hearted and loves her very much. But Nazli falls in love with Niko. Niko, whose parents are immigrants from Istanbul, is the son of a wealthy Greek ship owner Stavro. Nazlı and Niko meet in Bodrum, fall in love at first sight and decide to marry. The comedy starts when Niko goes to Gaziantep to ask for her father's agreement to the marriage. Historical enmity between the two nations makes it very hard and both families oppose their marriage in the beginning. Finally, Nazlı and Niko form a family and settle in Istanbul. They meaningfully name their son Ege ("Aegean"), the sea between Turkey and Greece. The families visit each other several times for various reasons and get so closer. Niko's spinster aunt Katina gets married with a Turkish man, much exasperating her mother Efthalia. Even the initial hatred between the older members of the families, Memik Dede and Efthalia, turns to a romantic affair. As Nazli and Niko enjoy their time, Kadir and Niko's secretary Anna fall in love. Kadir and Anna get engaged, but circumstances make them to separate as Anna's modeling profession is not accepted by Kadir's family. Stella (another foreigner) is the next woman in Kadir's life. They are happily married and living peacefully, when again tragedy strikes. Stella unable of having kids leaves and asks for a peaceful divorce from Kadir as she wants him to live a complete life with family and children. Finally, Kadir is married to a Turkish girl Aysel. They have a daughter whom he names ‘Nazli’.
The cast of the series is mostly made of experienced Turkish actors and actresses.
The episodes are shot in Bodrum, Gaziantep, Istanbul in Turkey and on the Greek Islands of Symi, Santorini, Crete and in Athens.
The Greek channel Mega TV broadcast it from July 4, 2005. The first season was shown on daily basis at 23:00 hrs, the second season was shown every Monday at 21:00. The third season was split, half of the episodes where shown Saturdays of 2007 at 21:00 and the other half episodes are shown in 2008, every Saturday at 17:00. The series used to have great success, especially when the first season was shown. The ratings of the third season are very low, so the channel decided to move the series in the evening schedule. The Bulgarian channel bTV broadcasts it since August 29, 2009 daily at 17:00 hrs. with the title Brak s chujdenets (Marriage with a Foreigner). The series was also dubbed into Arabic with the title Al-Gharib ("الغريب", The Stranger) and aired in March 2009 on MBC+ Drama.
| Season | Running date & time | Season start | Season final | Running episode numbers | Episode interval | Season year | TV channel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Friday 20.00 | 12 November 2004 | 17 June 2005 | 29 | 1–29 | 2004–2005 | Kanal D | |
| Season 2 | Friday 20.00 | 16 September 2005 | 30 June 2006 | 40 | 30–69 | 2005–2006 | Kanal D | |
| Season 3 | Friday 20.00 | 15 September 2006 | 15 June 2007 (Final) | 37 | 70–106 | 2006–2007 | Kanal D |