New audience for old telly shows

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Rahul Mishra, manager in a software company has never followed English serial Homeland a political thriller which is very popular in US. As this 33-year-old professional gets limited time to watch television, like many of us, his first encounter with the show was just by a chance.

 Rahul had no idea the show had won accolades all over and is also the winner of two Golden Globe Awards in drama category. 

But from the day he started following the series, he could barely resist from missing out on even a single episode. App­arently, he started following the serial from season three onwards which made him curious about the other two seasons and he was in no mood to put an end to his addiction. 

“At that time Internet was the only option to watch the episodes of earlier seasons,” says Rahul. “I used to remain awake till late night just to complete the series,” he tells happily.

On the other hand, Amit Ganotra, a 28-year-old software engineer is well acqua­inted with all the English shows telecast on channels like Star World, FX, Big CBS Prime Channel and Zee Cafe. He downloads these shows from the website and watches it over the weekends. 

Undoubtedly, youngsters, these days are getting attracted towards some of the popular English shows. They have been following their episodes with the dedication of an ardent lover.

 Considering this fact, many entertainment channels are focussing on runs of these popular shows. In the last few months, a new trend has emerged--channels are featuring some of the popular shows like House, Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, to woo the urban adult audience. 

From drama to comedy, thriller and fantasy, every show has got its own set of audience. Even the crime shows are so popular that there are special channels like Fox Crime and Fox Fx, which all through the day telecast some of the very popular shows like Criminal Minds, CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), Bones, The Listener, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Body of Proof. Likewise, in serious drama category Star World is showcasing series like House, Homeland, Boston Legal, and Once Upon a Time.  

“Television viewing has become fun in last few months with the telecast of all these shows,” says Shraddha Thakur, a 23-year-old HR manager. “You don’t have to download these seasons from the Internet anymore. I record these serials and watch it consecutively whenever I am free,” she says.  

On the other hand, the concept of adapting English shows is also popular in the country like Comedy Nights with Kapil which ‘unofficially’ is the adaptation of The Kumars at No. 42, a British show. 

The latest and the most popular was the Indian remake of the US thriller series 24 which was introduced to Indian audience by actor Anil Kapoor who played the lead role in the serial. 

There are a couple of reality shows like Jhalak Dikhla Jaa which is the Indian version of Dancing with the Stars, India's Got Talent, Big Boss, Fear Factor and The Bachelorette India.