The Kumars At No. 42
- TV chat show / sitcom
- BBC One / BBC Two
- 2001 - 2006
- 53 episodes (7 series)
Comedy chat show set in the living room of host Sanjeev Kumar, surrounded by his quirky and typically British-Asian family. Stars Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, Indira Joshi and Vincent Ebrahim.
Streaming rank this week: 7,210
The Kumars At No. 42 trivia
The "No. 42" of the title is a reference to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which Sanjeev Bhaskar is a particular fan of.
Source: The Big Read, Book Champions, Episode 3 (Broadcast 8th November 2003 on BBC Two)
In 2003, The Kumars teamed up with Gareth Gates to record that year's official Comic Relief charity single, Spirit in the Sky. The song was at number 1 for three weeks and sold more than 550,000 copies.
As a format the series sold to Australia (as Greeks on the Roof), France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Russia. On the Fox channel in America it was called The Ortegas, in Pakistan Ghaffar at Dh ora and in India it was named Batliwala House No 43.
The original British episodes have been sold all over the world including Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, India, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the US.
The Australian version, Greeks On The Roof, was transmitted directly against the original The Kumars at No. 42 in Australia.
In 2009, The Daily Telegraph named The Kumars at No. 42 as one of the "100 TV Shows That Defined The Decade".
The interview with Johnny Vaughn was voted the Best TV Entertainment Moment of 2003.