Not Taarak Mehta..., this Indian production is world’s longest running live-action TV show

The Indian TV industry has a lot of long-running shows. While Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma has been running since 2008 and has more than 3,800 episodes, the detective drama CID closed with 1,547 episodes after spanning 20 years. However, they’re not a match for the longest-running TV show in Indian history, which is Krishi Darshan.

3 things you need to know: 

• Krishi Darshan airs on Doordarshan (DD National).
• The first episode of Krishi Darshan premiered on January 26, 1967.
• The show has consistently focused on topics such as agriculture, animal husbandry and horticulture.

Krishi Darshan’s historically long run

Krishi Darshan premiered on Republic Day of 1967. It typically features episodes that range between 25-30 minutes. In its 56-year-long run, the show has a near-unbroken stint. Most shows on TV, which are deemed long, usually feature a run consisting of a few hundred episodes to a thousand episodes. 

The agriculture-based features a number of experts who provide know-how and information about certain topics crucial for an agrarian society. Krishi Darshan has spanned 52 seasons till now and has more than 16,000 episodes and counting.

What are the longest-running shows across the world?

The longest-running show ever is the German show Sandmännchen. The animated show has been running since 1959 and spans an astounding 22,200 episodes. It is a children’s bedtime show and has been made using stop-motion animation. Guiding Light is an American show that premiered in June 1952 and went on till September 2009. The fictional family drama spanned 15,762 episodes. Another long-running series is General Hospital, which began in 1963 and still goes on to this day. General Hospital has more than 15,000 episodes in its arsenal.