The past two decades were a big leap for Indian sitcom shows. Many famous, funny and humorous show when on air and got much acceptance from the audience. Shows like Tu Tu Main Main and Hum Paanch returned for their second season as well.

The present decade also has a lot to contribute to this genre in the industry. It has its own share of excellent comedy shows and sitcoms.

In the last decade shows like “Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma” and comedy reality shows like “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge” came as a boon to the field. Rib-tickling prank shows like MTV Bakra and Chuppa Rustam’s mass participation made this genre all the more appealing.

Here is the list of the top 20 Best Indian Comedy TV shows of all time Indian audience have been laughing out their hearts with.

1) Comedy Nights With Kapil

Comedy Nights with Kapil is launched and hosted by the famous comedian Kapil Sharma. It is aired on Colors TV channel. The show has a mixed format with Sharma acting out skits on stage with supporting characters, while also interacting with members in the audience and permanent guest Navjot Singh Siddhu. It is also seen featuring celebrity guests promoting their latest films. It has left its rival show Comedy Circus way behind in comparison of TRP ratings.

A few of the important character:

Kapil Sharma – Bittu/Himself

Sumona Chakravarti – Mrs. Bittu

Ali Asgar – Bittu’s Dadi

Upasana Singh – Bittu’s Bua

Naseem Vicky – servant

2) Taarak Mehta ka Oolta Chasma

This show has been most widely acclaimed by the audience in India. It is seen breaking many records and also is giving a tough competition to various Saas-Bahu type serials.

It has produced more than over 875 episodes and the show is still on the run. It is one of the hit comedy serial that the Indian Television has ever produced.

The plot revolves around the various striking happenings of the Gokuldham Society with its prime focus on the Mehta family. The show also has a lot to learn from.

A few of the important character:

Shailesh Lodha – Tarak Mehta

Dilip Joshi – Jethalal Gada

Disha Vakani – Daya Gada

Bhavya Gandhi – Tipendra Gada

Amit Bhatt – Champaklal Gada

3) Office Office

Office Office was an awesome sitcom that was aired from 2000 to 2004 on Sab TV. The plot was based on corruption and mishaps that is usually seen in a government office.

The main character played by Pankaj Kapoor of Musantilal was at the receiving end every time he had some work at various government offices.

Pankaj Kapoor was seen playing the central character that was always at the receiving end of all the troubles. He was show with different problems every time, problems that will never bore you.

A few of the important character:

Bhatia – Manoj Pahwa

Shukla – Sanjay Mishra

Patel – Deven Bhojani

4) Sarabhai vs Sarabhai

This was another hilarious show that was based on the Sarabhai family. The trademark of the show was the character of Maya – the Mother-in-law played by Ratna Pathak and Monisha (Daughter-in-law) played by Rupali Ganguly. They were shown pulling each other’s leg. It was based on the clashes in standards of a middle class and high class Gujarati family.

A few of the important character:

Indravadhan Sarabhai – Satish Shah

Maya Sarabhai – Ratna Pathak Shah

Sahil Sarabhai -Sumeet Raghavan

Monisha Sarabhai – Rupali Ganguly

5) Dekh bhai dekh

Dekh Bhai Dekh was another popular Hindi sitcom premiered on Doordarshan’s metro channel. It is still considered as a classic, among Indian television shows. The plot revolves round three generations of the Diwan family, who live as an extended family in an ancestral bungalow in the suburbs of Mumbai. It was a family show showing never-say-die attitude in a comic way. Another distinctive feature of this show was its fast speaking characters.

A few of the important character:

Sushma Seth – Mummyji/Sarla Diwan

N K Shivpuri – Pappaji/Raj Diwan

Navin Nischol – Balraj Diwan

Farida Jalal – Suhasini Diwan

Shekhar Suman – Samir Diwan

Bhavna Balsavar – Sunita Diwan

Amar Upadhyay – Sahil Diwan

6) Khichdi

Khichidi was an instant hit went it got aired. The plot revolved around the Gujrati family called Parekh who lived happily as a joint family. The problems and their solutions that the Parekh family faced was show in the most hilarious way. Some of their dialogues are still unforgettable.

A few of the important character:

Tulsidas – Anang Desai

Jayshree – Vandana Pathak

Praful – Rajeev Mehta

Hansa – Supriya Pathak

7) Shrimaan Shrimati

Shrimaan Shrimati was a popular sitcom with Reema Lagoo and Archana Puran Singh in the lead roles. It became an instant hit due to its storyline and excellent performance of the cast.

Love thy neighbor’s wife was the theme of this serial. Keshav Kulkarni (Jatin Kanakia) is married to Kokila (Reema Lagoo). Their neighbours are a popular film actress Prema Shalini (Archana Puran Singh) and her effeminate husband Dilruba (Rakesh Bedi). Keshav is attracted to Prema’s glamorous looks and lifestyle, while Dilruba is attracted to Kokila who is a smart housewife.

8) Tu Tu Main Main

Tu Tu Main Main was an Indian television comedy series that achieved wide audience acclamation when it was aired and became an instant hit at that time. The title Tu Tu Main Main is phrase in Hindi meaning arguments and bickering revolved round the everyday situation between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The main characters did perfect justice to the roles.

9) The Great Indian Laughter Challenge

The Great Indian Laughter challenge is the first successful reality comedy show for stand-up comedians which Indians can boast of.

The series has completed 4 seasons and has given the country some of the most amazing outstanding stand-up comedians.

10) Comedy Circus

Comedy Circus had a plot where TV celebrities and stand-up comedian were partnered to make the audience laugh. This show also completed four seasons recently.

The show has Archana Puran Singh with her laughter and excellent performance of Krushna Abhishek to boast about.

Comedy Circus Winners in the four season:

Season 1 – Kashif Khan/Ali Asgar

Season 2 – Juhi Parmar & Vijay Ishwarlal Pawar (VIP)

Season 3 – Krushna, Sudesh, Mellisa

Season 4 – Mukti Mohan and Kapil Sharma

11) MTV Bakra

MTV Bakra India is undoubtedly one of the finest prank shows, hosted by Cyrus Broacha with his amazing pranks.

The show also regularly featured pranks on famous celebrities and made the audience laugh.

12) Flop Show – Jaspal Bhati

Flop Show was a satire on the socio-cultural problems faced by the common man in India during the time it was aired. Although only 10 episodes of the show were ever produced, the show has had a long and powerful legacy. The show was written and directed by satirical humorist Jaspal Bhatti, who also played himself as the main character.

13) Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne

Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne was another popular Hindi TV comedy that revolved around the life of Mungerilal played by Raghubir Yadav. He has to face both official and household problems being a small time clerk. He also dates his beautiful colleague. As he basks in the glory of his accomplishments, his wife wakes him up to ruin the dream. The show made people laugh off their pain.

14) Zabaan Sambhal ke

Zabaan Sambhalke ran successfully for two seasons thus making it an instant hit in the 1990’s. The show said a lot about the high unemployment rates at that time in India. The story revolves around Mohan Bharti who is forced to teach Hindi in a language school. His students are people from all corners of the country and the world. It had the “I-hate-my-job”, “lost-in-translation” and culture shock situations to entertain.

A few of the important character:

Mohan Bharti – Pankaj Kapoor

Miss Lata Dixit – Shobha Khote

15) Nukkad

Nukkad was aired on the Indian Television in 1986 – 87. Each episode was based on an every-day issue of the lower income group. While some episodes ended on hope and positive consolation, some others ended on a sad but realistic conclusion. The crux of the show was its simplistic treatment getting the right amount of audience attraction.

A few of the important character:

Dilip Dhawan- Guru

Avtar Gill- Kaderbhai

Pavan Malhotra- Hari

Sameer Khakhar- Khopdi

Javed Khan- Karim miya Hajaam

16) Hum Paanch

Hum Paanch was an Indian sitcom aired in 1995 and ran for four consecutive years. The series also returned for a second season in 2005 due to is immense popularity. The series is regarded as one of the all time favorite comedies along with Dekh Bhai Dekh. It revolved round the lives of five sisters and the situations they had to face. Each of the lead roles gained overnight stardom and became some of the iconic actors of Television Industry.

The lead actors were Ashok Saraf, Vidya Balan, Rakhee Tandon, Bhairavi Raichura and Vandana Pathak.

17) Padosan

The Indian sitcom Padosan was based on the Bengali story Pasher Bari. It had a light hearted comedy plot that revolved round two families. The situations they had to face and how they helped each other. This show too was an instant hit.

18) Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi

Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi was a popular comedy sitcom on Indian television in the 1990’s. Till date it is considered as one of the biggest hit shows on Indian television. It was written by comedy writer Sharad Joshi and directed by Kundan Shah, S. S. Oberoi and Raman Kumar to make it reach what it could achieve.

19) FIR

FIR was aired in Sab TV with Chandramukhi Chautala (Kavita Kaushik) in the lead role. She is supposed to be a brave female inspector of Imaan Chowki who tries to solve crime and other cases in the most skillful was that makes audience laugh out loud.

The USP of the show is the amazing one-liners that every character says immediately after their dialogue. Pain WOW!

A few of the important character:

Chandramukhi Chautala – Kavita Kaushik

Gulgule – Kiku

Gopinath Gandotra – Gopi Bhalla

Raj Aryan – Ali Asgar