Mix of old comedy shows, other classics keeping viewers glued to TV amid coronavirus crisis

A dose of humour is the need of the hour and what could be better than comedy shows mixed with nostalgia.

Bringing back old memories and tickling the funny bone are old comedy shows like Shrimaan Shrimati and Dekh Bhai Dekh on Doordarshan, which the channel has brought back as part of its return to classics.

“When we heard that DD is bringing back Ramayan and Mahabharat, we also offered Shrimaan Shrimati. It was an iconic show. It was almost three decades ago when Shrimaan Shrimati came in 1995 on DD metro. Since then we have believed in comedy. Also, when we brought SAB TV to break the clutter, it was India’s first humour channel. For us, investing in comedy has reaped us good returns,” said Kailash and Ravi Adhikari, the next generation of Adhikari Brothers.

Adhikari Brothers is a media and entertainment company, which has produced iconic shows like Commander and crime show Surag, among others. Both Gautam and Markand Adhikari, who started Adhikari Brothers in 1985, have to their names shows that changed the landscape of Indian television.

In fact, Gautam Adhikari has a Limca Book record for directing the maximum number of television serial episodes individually.

The Adhikari Brothers who have been credited for putting a smile on the face of the Indian audience are doing so again with the return of Shrimaan Shrimati.

Going by the latest BARC data, the show’s comeback has already garnered strong response from the viewers. In week 13 (week starting March 28), the show saw 0.8 million impressions which was 2.7 times more than week 12 (week starting March 21) during which the show recorded 0.3 million impressions.

Another classic comedy Dekh Bhai Dekh is also seeing a good run on TV. The show which saw 0.03 million impressions during its come back week (week 12), witnessed an eight times growth in week 13 with 0.24 million impressions.

“Comedy shows are ageless and they have a repeat value because humour has a repeat value to it. Our first generation believed in comedy and we also want to believe in the genre in the days ahead,” Kailash said.

Along with comedy, classics as a whole are driving viewership on TV.

“The classics are bringing back childhood memories for many. Classics whenever you play them will evoke a certain kind of emotion among the audiences and viewers will latch on to it. Running repeat of current daily shows versus running repeat of classics, the latter will hold greater patronage among the viewers. Pure home entertainment that DD once used to give is back and people are lapping it up,” Ravi said.

Due to the halt in production of shows in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, TV channels are unable to come up with new content. But, rerunning of classics are saving the day. These old shows have also made Doordarshan the most watched channel across India in week 13.