The joke's on the idiot box: Johnny Leve

Comedy rules. (So do bahus, but more on that a little later). The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and The Great Indian Comedy Show continue to be Star One's more popular shows. A procession of professional comedians present their talent for mimicry - if not their talent for genuinely funny gags. Ranvir (the one half of the Ranvir-Vinay team) does a stand-up routine before introducing the various 'artistes.'

For some reason - no prizes for guessing why actually - there are many swipes at the Bhatt family ("Mahesh Bhatt is very annoyed because after the Prince rescue episode, no news channel called him for his reactions") and for some reason, Mallika Sherawat too seems to pop up quite often (has she become some kind of a resident joke in the film and television industry? Or is it open season because she seems to inhabit some D-cup grade of filmmaking in Mumbai?).

Star One has also stolen Sab TV's long-running, Office Office, probably the best comedy show on Indian television. It's now called Naya Office Office. It's still the same show, it's still got Pankaj Kapoor and gang in it, it's still funny, but now it has - quite unnecessarily - a 'message' at the end. Why bother? The only messages that matter to Star are the ones from their sponsors. Meanwhile, Sab TV, the original 'no tears-only smiles' channel, has started a comedy band called Pure Battees. There are new shows like Ishq Ki Ghanti (three young men loiter about, checking out the chicks; it has its moments but they are few and far between) and old favourites like Yes Boss (which can actually be quite funny at times).

Zee TV's comedy offering, the Johny Lever Show works best when he's doing the gags himself. This week, Johny Lever interviewing Johny Lever-as-Himesh Reshammiya was a scream. (Himesh has become the other joke figure in the entertainment industry, with his nasal singing, cap and stubble). We've just been informed that there are going to be two fresh bahu serials on the small screen - Karam Apna Apna on Star Plus and Dulhan on Zee. The promos themselves are enough to make one's blood run cold - nasty sisters-in-law nastily pointing fingers at the bahus and making nasty comments, while the bahus snivel and cower in a corner.

Meanwhile, I think I've made up my mind on whether aerated drinks are bad for you. I mean: I'm not actually sure how many pesticides there are in Coke. But I'm convinced that watching the endless television programmes that focus on this controversy can be seriously injurious to your health. I accept that the issue deserved some coverage, but did we really need to watch the same debates featuring the same people on every channel for a second week in a row? By the end, I thought I was watching The Big Coke and We The Tired Old Guests. Surely Vikram Chandra, Sagarika Ghose, Barkha Dutt and all the nice people on Times Now whose names nobody remembers can do better than this?

And finally. Natwar Singh has been the news channels' other obsession when they tired of Coke and Pepsi. I'm sure the controversy is gripping but frankly, some of the programming reminded me of a special episode of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge starring Johnny Walker as Natwar Singh (am I the only person to think that there's a resemblance?) Of the many interviews, Karan Thapar's was - as usual - the best. Say this for Thapar, despite his Gestapo pin-up persona, he manages to get all these people to talk to him and admit things they wouldn't to other people. Makes you wonder how smart the former Foreign Minister of India is if he's so ready to offer himself up as a sacrificial lamb for Thapar. And how smart was the foreign policy he ran.