The show goes on

Right now, reruns are the flavour of the season; a rather forced scenario given the frequent strikes in the television industry. Anupama Mandloi, Senior Creative Director at Star Plus, is a little skeptical about how long reruns will engage the interest of viewers. “There is a limit to which the viewers will continue watching the same shows repeatedly. It is an unfortunate situation where we are forced to replay new and old re-runs since all productions are at standstill.”

But reruns are not a new phenomenon forced by the strike; some of the most popular ones —Friends, Seinfeld, Sex and the City— have been airing for ages. And recently, some shows like The Wonder Years, Beverly Hills 90210 and The X-Files have come back on air, running in Zee Café’s Old Skool slot. Neil Chakravarti, Business Head of Zee Café says that the slot was started because there was a yearning among viewers to revisit some old classics. “The audiences in the 25-34 age-group wanted to relive the memories whereas the younger, teenage viewers wished to get a glimpse of the classic shows that they keep reading about,” he explains, “So, it was two distinct set of viewers who were interested in watching the show —though for different reasons.”

However, the list of re-telecast shows includes some continuing franchises like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Chakravarti explains this by saying, “Viewer requests form the biggest reason for these shows.”

Reruns of Indian shows have not met with the same success. Some of the few rerun successes are Dekh Bhai Dekh, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Hum Log. Swabhimaan, one of the most popular soaps on Indian television till date is also very popular as a rerun. Rohit Roy, who played the iconic Rishabh Malhotra on the show says, “A show will run successfully in its rerun stage only if it connects with the audience,” he says. Tanaaz Irani, who played Babli on the same show, is of the opinion that the most important reason for the continuing success of old shows is that they remain fresh. “We really worked hard at getting the right shots,” she says, “Now TV shows are shot in a hurry and they’re canned in one take.”

How much does nostalgia account for the popularity of reruns? Mandloi is not sure that it is a deciding factor. “People are constantly on the lookout for some thing fresh, contemporary and top of mind. The only content that has nostalgia value is really reruns of movies and even there the more current the better,” she says. Chakravarti disagrees, “Nostalgia is one factor that we spotted early. It has worked positively for us and we are enthused to continue doing so as the viewers expect such initiatives from us now.”

One thing is certain, nostalgia or strike, the season of reruns will never end on Indian television and we’re mighty glad about that.

ENCORE PLEASE
Dekh Bhai Dekh
Sarabhai vs Sarabhai
Friends
Sex and the City
The Gilmore Girls Seinfeld