Four DD comedy shows begin rerun on ZEE’s Smile TV

Nukkad, Wagle Ki Duniya, PA Saheb and Wilayatee Babu premiered on the channel in the fourth week of February

Smile TV, the 24-hour Hindi comedy channel from ZEE Telefilms Limited, has acquired the telecast rights of erstwhile Doordarshan sitcoms – Nukkad, Wagle Ki Duniya, PA Saheb and Wilayatee Babu.

The shows have begun their rerun on the channel at 7.30 pm on weekdays.

Nitin Vaidya, business head, Smile TV, justifies the acquisition of the shows by pointing to a recent dipstick conducted by the channel. The study indicated that viewers were keen to catch the sitcoms again.

“We targeted a cross-section of viewers and also did some focused group discussions and what emerged was that viewers were quite interested in watching these shows again,” he says.

Much of the programming time on Smile TV at the moment is devoted to reruns of erstwhile comedy shows on ZEE TV (such as Gud Gudi, Hello Friends and Alvida Darling). Channel executives hope to reduce their dependence on ZEE’s library of programmes, by launching new, original shows over the next few months.

On the cards is a change in the look and feel of the channel (around April-May), and new shows will also be launched alongside.

Currently, the 9.00 pm slot is crucial for Smile TV with original shows such as Kahani Mein Twist Hai – a spoof of Astitva – Ek Prem Kahani, the popular serial on ZEE TV – telecast on Mondays, Kyunki Ye Hai Hasya Kavi Sammelan telecast on Tuesdays and Yo Yo, a teen gameshow, telecast on Wednesdays.

Thursdays is when an erstwhile ZEE TV comedy show Gubbare is telecast at 9.00 pm and on Fridays, it is time for an original programme Teri Bhi Chup, Meri Bhi Chup in the same slot.

Comedy flicks rule the airwaves on weekday afternoon slots (1.00 pm from Monday-Friday) and weekend evenings (8.00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays). The channel intends sticking to these movie slots, despite an impending makeover.

Shows that will soon bow out, however, are Yo Yo and Kahani Mein Twist Hai, and it is not clear which will be the new programmes replacing these.

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