Of affairs past

As I never tire of saying, I belong to the TV generation. The TV was my centre of gravity, its centripetal force always sucking me back and suckling my focus. As I heard someone say, if there was a fire, I would first go looking for the TV. If you've seen Raghu "Romeo" protect his set from the rains, you'll know what I mean.

However, some TV serials are best left locked in the nostalgia chest. Releasing them into the open can lead to immense dismay. Especially, when old DD favourites are making their way back. We get teary-eyed at the thought of them, but sometimes when we watch them, the nose crinkles automatically.

Happily, this fate escapes Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi: playing on Star Plus these days, the sitcom that probably was the first to introduce canned laughter to our screens still retains its charm. This Kundan Shah and co. series had some excellent actors like Shafi Inamdar, Swaroop Sampat, Rakesh Bedi, and Vijay Kashyap, not to forget the clever hook of Satish Shah playing a new role in every episode. I don't know how the old Karamchand would have stood up to post-modern scrutiny, but the new visitations of the carrot-chomping sleuth are quite ghastly.

The early days of Star Plus showed us a lot of classic sitcom fare from the US and Britain. The Yes Minister series is airing on The History channel these days, while The Wonder Years and Doogie Howser M.D. appear on Zee Cafe.

While on the subject, read George's evocative post on catching reruns of The Wonder Years on telly.

A list of DD serials from the 80s (link via Salil)