The Kumars at No. 42 is a UK television talk show. The shows stars a fictional Indian family, including Madhuri and Ashwin Kumar, their thirtysomething son Sanjeev, and Sushila, Sanjeev's grandmother (normally referred to as Ummi). The family live in Wembley, London, England. The show's central premise is that Sanjeev's parents have supported his dream of being a TV presenter by having a TV studio built on what used to be their back garden. Running jokes include Sanjeev's apparent social ineptitude and Ashwin's obsession with financial matters and tendency to tell long stories with no real point. It is also a regular conceit that the guests' appearance fees are paid in chutney.

The show has an improvisational feel, though in reality much of the regular cast's performance is scripted. In the early episodes, only Meera Syal (Sushila) improvised to any great extent, though as the cast have become accustomed to their characters, the improvised content has increased.

The show's UK debut was on 12 November 2001 on BBC2. It was produced by Hat Trick Productions and Pariah Television . In August of the following year, NBC entered a deal to buy the format, but later dropped out. It was then bought by Fox TV who aired the show in the US under the title The Ortegas with a Latino family, rather than an Asian one, but was dropped. The Australian version, The Greeks on the Roof debuted in 2003.

The Kumars at Number 42 is also shown in Asia (including India) on the Star World satellite TV channel, and on SABC in South Africa, where former President Nelson Mandela appeared as a guest on the show. It is currently broadcast in the United States on digital cable channel BBC America.

UK credits

Starring

• Sanjeev Bhaskar as Sanjeev Kumar
• Meera Syal as Ummi Sushila
• Vincent Ebrahim as Ashwin Kumar
• Indira Joshi as Madhuri Kumar

Writers

• Richard Pinto
• Sharat Sardana
• Sanjeev Bhaskar

Producers

• Anil Gupta
• Richard Pinto
• Sharat Sardana