The Kumars at No. 42
| The Kumars at No. 42 | |
|---|---|
| File:Kumarsat42 3.jpg An episode of The Kumars at No. 42 showing Donny Osmond as a guest | |
| Created by | Hat Trick Productions |
| Starring | Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, Indira Joshi and Vincent Ebrahim |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Anil Gupta |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | November 12 2001 – August 18 2006 |
The Kumars at No. 42 is a UK television talk show. The show stars a fictional Indian family, including Madhuri and Ashwin Kumar, their thirtysomething son Sanjeev, and Sushila, Sanjeev's grandmother (normally referred to as Ummi). The family live in Wembley, London, England. The show's central premise is that Sanjeev's parents have supported his dream of being a TV presenter by having a TV studio built on what used to be their back garden. Running jokes include Sanjeev's apparent social ineptitude and Ashwin's obsession with financial matters and tendency to tell long stories with no real point. It is also a regular conceit that the guests' appearance fees are paid in chutney.
The show has an improvisational feel, though in reality much of the regular cast's performance is scripted. In the early episodes, only Meera Syal (Sushila) improvised to any great extent, though as the cast have become accustomed to their characters, the improvised content has increased.
The show's UK debut was on 12 November 2001 on BBC Two. It was produced by Hat Trick Productions and Pariah Television. Seven series of the programme have aired on BBC Two, with the seventh shown in 2006.
In August of the following year, NBC entered a deal to buy the format but later dropped out. It was then bought by Fox TV, who had planned to air the show in the US under the title The Ortegas with a Latino family, rather than an Asian one, but was dropped. No episodes of The Ortegas have aired in the US as of Summer 2005. The Australian version, Greeks on the Roof, debuted in 2003 but was soon taken off the air because of very low ratings.
The Kumars at Number 42 is also shown in Asia (including India and Malaysia) on the Star World satellite TV channel and on SABC in South Africa, where former President Nelson Mandela appeared as a guest on the show. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation screens it in Australia and, due to its previous timeslot being right before hugely successful Australian comedy Kath & Kim, has made the programme hugely successful in Australia, and it is also very popular in New Zealand, where it is screened by Television New Zealand. It is currently broadcast in the United States on BBC America. It was shown in Sweden, as Curry Curry talkshow, by SVT2 in 2004, and in the Netherlands on the public broadcasting foundation NPS (Nederland 3).
ARY Digital has produced a Pakistani Version of the show called Ghaffar at Dhoraji featuring a Gujrati family living in Karachi. Sony Television has produced an Indian version of the show called Batliwalla House No. 43 featuring a Parsee family living in Mumbai. According to Bhaskar, "No. 42" is a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference.
In Canada, the above program can be viewed on BBC Canada, a digital cable channel, weeknights at 9:00 North American Eastern Time.[1]