MUMBAI: Remembering pre-cable days down the memory lane, Indian citizens can extract pleasure by reliving the most popular and viewed iconic sitcoms that ruled the Indian television before the cable days. Not that shows like those don't exist any longer, but nostalgia hits hard on recalling about old Hindi sitcom memories. 

Let's take a note of these iconic sitcoms that ruled the Indian Television Industry from the 80s to 2010s:

1.Tu-Tu Main Main

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This Indian television sitcom which originally aired on DD Metro (1994-1996) and later,  it moved to Star Plus, thus, becoming the first show to launch in STAR Plus in October 1996.   

It was directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar and it's story revolved around the arguments and the love-hate relationship between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. 

The main cast of this show comprised of Reema Lagoo (as 'Devaki Verma'), Supriya Pilgaonkar (as 'Radha Shalu Verma'), Mahesh Thakur (as 'Ravi Jaanu Verma'/ 'Sooraj'), Kuldeep Pawar (as 'Gopal Verma'), Ali Asgar (as 'Karan Verma'), Sucheta Khanna (as 'Madhu Verma'), Swapnil Joshi (as 'Arjun Verma') and Anirudh Agarwal (as 'Dracula Navela').

2. Shrimaan-Shrimati

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This is an Indian Hindi-language sitcom that aired on Doordarshan from 1994 to 1999.

The show was created by Ashok Patole, directed by Rajan Waghdhare and co-produced by Gautam Adhikari and Markand Adhikari (who were popularly referred to as the 'Adhikari brothers').  

It starred Jatin Kanakia, Rakesh Bedi, Reema Lagoo and Archana Puran Singh. 

A reboot of the OG series titled Shrimaan Shrimati Phir Se premiered on SAB TV on 13 March 2018. 

On popular demand amid the Covid-19 lockdown, Doordarshan re-telecasted the OG series from 7.00 pm on DD National and also on DD Bharti at 9:00-10:00 pm, showcasing back to back 2 episodes everyday since April 2020.

3. Khichdi

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This is an Indian television comedy series that was created by Hats Off Productions and UTV Software Communications. 

The first season debuted on STAR Plus in 10 September 2002. Khichdi is one of the earliest shows on Indian television to adopt the western model of  seasonal appearances. 

The second season was called Instant Khichdi, which made its debut in STAR One and aired from 1 July 2005 to 7 August 2005.

The third installment in the Khichdi franchise - Khichdi Returns, premiered on 14 April 2018 and ended on 17 June 2018 as it did not receive expected ratings.

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A film was made named Khichdi: The Movie, which was based on the previous two TV series - Khichdi and Instant Khichdi. This became the first film in the history of Hindi cinema to be based on a television series.

Starring the family cast of Anang Desai, Rajeev Mehta, Supriya Pathak, Vandana Pathak, Jamnadas Majethia, Richa Bhadra, Yash Mittal, Dina Pathak (Lily Patel), the story's plot revolved around the crazy family of the Parekhs, who lived in an old mansion in Mumbai and solved typical everyday situations and problems in an atypical fashion, owing to their peculiarities.

4. Zabaan Sambhal Ke

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This Indian Hindi sitcom was directed by Rajiv Mehra, which was originally the Indian version of the 1977 British sitcom Mind Your Language. It was aired on DD Metro's 'prime-time' in 1993 and ran for two seasons, first in 1993-1994 (with 54 episodes) on DD Metro Channel and later, in 1997-1998 (with another 52 episodes) on Home TV. 

The show featured actors like Pankaj Kapur, Viju Khote, Shubha Khote and Tom Alter. It was later rerun on SAB TV and on Bindass channels as well.

The plot focused on Mohan Bharti (Pankaj Kapur), who is an engineer yet is forced to teach Hindi in a language school, while his students are people from all corners of the country as well as the world. Along with them is the obnoxious Miss Lata Dixit (played by Shubha Khote), the principal of the National Institute of Language.

It's 2018 remake Zaban Sambhal Ke is a Hindi web series sitcom, which is created by Rajiv Mehra for Ekta Kapoor's video on OTT platform ALTBalaji. The series stars Sumeet Raghvan as the protagonist, who is the head master of Hindi speaking institute. 

5. Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai

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This famous Indian sitcom aired on STAR One from 8 November 2004 to 11 September 2006 and then on Hotstar from 15 May 2017 to 17 July 2017 for two seasons. The series was produced by Hats Off Productions, created by Jamnadas Majethia and Aatish Kapadia and directed by Deven Bhojani. 

Starring an ensemble cast including Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Ganguly and Rajesh Kumar, it revolves around a quintessential upper-class family living in South Mumbai. 

Regarded as being ahead of its generation in terms of its concept and writing and having average viewership ratings at the time of its initial release, over the years it has become a cult classic and is widely regarded as being one of the greatest Indian comedy shows of all time.

6. Office-Office

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This Indian Hindi-language television sitcom premiered on SAB TV on 3rd September 2001. It was written by Ashwani Dhir and directed by Rajiv Mehra.
 
The show was a satirical take on the prevalent corruption in India and has showcased 2 season.

The series stars Bollywood film actor Pankaj Kapur in the role of 'Mussadilal'.

7. Dekh Bhai Dekh

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This Indian Hindi sitcom premiered on DD National on 6 May 1993. It was created, developed, edited, directed by Anand Mahendroo and produced by Jaya Bachchan under the banner of Saraswati Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd (now merged with Amitabh Bachchan Corporation).

The story revolves around three generations of the Diwan family, who live as an extended family in an ancestral bungalow in the suburbs of Mumbai. The show takes the family through relationship troubles, business problems, irksome parents, and in-laws. 

It starred Shekhar Suman, Navin Nischol, Farida Jalal, Bhavana Balsavar, Deven Bhojani, Sushma Seth, Vishal Singh and Nattasha Singh.

8. Hum Paanch

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This Indian sitcom first aired from 1995 to 1999. The series returned for a second season from 2005-2006. It is regarded as one of the all-time favourite comedies. 

The show was written by Imtiaz Patel and directed by Kapil Kapoor, Rajat Rawail, Sameer Kulkarni, Raju Parsekar and Rajan Waghdhare.

The lead actors of the show - Ashok Saraf, Vidya Balan, Rakhee Tandon, Bhairavi Raichura and Vandana Pathak gained overnight stardom as iconic TV actors.

9. Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi

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This sitcom aired on DD National in 1984. It was written by comedy writer Sharad Joshi and directed by Kundan Shah, S. S. Oberoi and Raman Kumar.

The episodes revolved around the funny happenings in the lives of 'Ranjit Verma' (played by actor Shafi Inamdar) and 'Renu Verma' (played by actress Swaroop Sampat - Femina Miss India 1979), who play a married couple along with Renu's unmarried and unemployed younger brother 'Raja' (Rakesh Bedi) and the chaachi's daughter, who played the character of 'Rashmi'. 

10. Baa Bahoo Aur Baby

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This Indian television dramedy series aired on Star Plus between 2005 and 2010, with a total of two seasons. The series was produced by Hats Off Productions and centered around a fictitious Gujarati 'Thakkar' family living in Parla East, Mumbai.

After the first season, the second season aired on August 2009 due to popular demand from viewers. However, as it was not well received like the first season, it went off the air on 22 February 2010.

The show is an all time hits and has popularity worldwide. Reportedly, the markers and it's audience are waiting for the right time to release it's third season on the OTT platform Hotstar. 

11. Nukkad

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This Indian Hindi-language television series aired on DD National in 1986-87. It was directed by Kundan Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza and was written by Prabodh Joshi and Anil Chaudhary.

It starred Dilip Dhawan, Rama Vij, Pavan Malhotra, Sangeeta Naik and Avtar Gill in lead roles. The serial received tremendous response from the viewers and some of the characters such as 'Khopdi', 'Kaderbhai' and 'Ghanshu Bhikari' became household names.

The first season of Nukkad aired in 1986-87 and had 40 episodes. A sequel series titled Naya Nukkad premiered in 1993.

It's plot revolves around the urban youth, who are trying hard to make a living in an increasingly harsh socio-economic climate, meet-up at the local street corner every evening to exchange their stories and experiences.

12. Sharaarat

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This Indian fantasy sitcom aired on Star Plus from 2003-2006 and was loosely based on the American teen sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Featuring for just 1 season, it starred Farida Jalal, Shoma Anand, Mahesh Thakur, Poonam Narula, Eva Grover, Shruti Seth, Additie Shirwaikar, Harsh Vashisht, Simple Kaul and Karanvir Bohra

It's plot revolved around 'Jiya' (Shruti Seth), who is the great-great-great-great granddaughter of 'Rani Devi' (Daisy Irani). The show opens on the occasion of Jiya's 18th birthday. Hailing from a family of fairies, Jiya unknowingly becomes the wielder of magical powers. As a result of good deeds by ancestors, her family's first girl child of each generation is blessed with magical powers on turning 18 and so is Jiya. 

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Source: Internet