Daei Jan Napoleon

In 1976, director Nasser Taghvai turned the novel into a legendary mini TV series, compiling the story in 18 episodes. The series was a huge success both with the audience and the critics. It topped the ratings in every airing of its episodes and it was the most watched show when it aired on Friday nights. Many consider the series to be an ageless masterpiece and the father of modern television comedy in Iran. Many terms coined during the series' run have become part of Persian popular culture. The series was a huge success financially, the production cost has been estimated to be 50 million Rials (equivalent to U$770,000 in 1976) while the broadcaster paid about 200 million Rials, four times the production cost, to buy the rights for broadcasting the series. Due to its extreme popularity, reruns of the series were frequent in the National Iranian Radio and Television until the Islamic revolution of 1979. Although the series has been banned in Iran since the revolution it is still watched. The series has been released on DVD by Pars Video, Taraneh Records, and Chehreh Nama.