Flop Show

Flop Show is an Indian television sitcom that first aired on Doordarshan in 1989. The show was written and directed by satirical humourist Jaspal Bhatti, who also played himself as the main character. His wife Savita Bhatti produced the show and also acted in all the episodes as his wife. The sitcom was a satire on the socio-cultural problems faced by the common man in India at the time. Although only 10 episodes of the show were ever produced, the show has had a long and powerful legacy.

Overview

Flop Show has a distinctive opening sequence. It starts off with a dedication to those whom the specific episode is poking fun at. This is followed by the title song "Flop Show", which mocks the show itself as being misdirected. It features most of the main cast collectively playing musical instruments as a band. Jaspal Bhatti appears as an eye-patch wearing, menacing looking director. The other cast members are dressed variously as a police inspector, a doctor, a peon, etc.

All 10 episodes of Flop Show are satires done on socio-cultural problems of the common man. The show was immensely popular and still gets repeated re-runs on various Doordarshan channels. The show was shot completely in Chandigarh with some episodes being shot at Punjab Engineering College (Jaspal Bhatti is an alumnus of that college). The cast remained the same in every episode, although they played different characters as each episode essayed a different story.