The Kumars at No. 42
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The Kumars at No. 42 is a UK television talk show. The shows 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. Six series of the programme have aired on BBC Two, with the sixth 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 aired 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 digital cable channel 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).
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.
Boy George has appeared as a guest on an episode of the series, talking about various topics, including India, chickens, vegetarians, and jewelry. His look for the show was a rainbow-painted face and fingers, a black hat and chin, and a Taboo earring from his nose to his left ear. There's also a singing part, where the cast (not George) all sing part of Do They Know It's Christmas?. George breaks into "Bow Down Mister".
The Cast: There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time. The greatest gift they'll ever get is life.
George: Bow down mister, Hare Rama, Hare Krishna!
UK credits
Starring- Sanjeev Bhaskar as Sanjeev Kumar
- Meera Syal as Ammi Sushila
- Vincent Ebrahim as Ashwin Kumar
- Indira Joshi as Madhuri Kumar
- Richard Pinto
- Sharat Sardana
- Sanjeev Bhaskar
- Anil Gupta
- Richard Pinto
- Sharat Sardana
External links
The show is made by Hat Trick Productions.
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