MUMBAI: After grabbing headlines for weeks now and being the talk of the town - amongst viewers and the industry alike - Colors’ flagship comedy show Comedy Nights With Kapil is all set to come alive in a new avatar but sans Kapil Sharma.

Re-christened as Comedy Nights Live, the show will be hosted by actor – comedian Krushna Abhishek and will go on air from 31 January. The show will aired on Sundays at 10 pm.

It may be recalled that Colors’ other comedy show, Comedy Nights Bachao, which is based on the format of roast comedy, also has Abhishek along with other comedians like Bharti Singh etc. The show airs on Saturdays at 10 pm.

While Comedy Nights With Kapil was jointly produced by SOL Production and Kapil Sharma’s K9 Productions, Comedy Nights Live will be produced by Vipul D Shah’s Optimystix Entertainment India.

Colors will air the final episode of Comedy Nights With Kapil on 24 January, which also happens to be the day when the Bigg Boss 9 finale will take place.

“It’s good for Comedy Nights Live as the time band is already established, therefore it will do well. Initially for the first two – three weeks, ad rates for the 10 second slot will be slightly lower by Rs 20,000- 25,000 but if the show performs well, then it might go up,” a senior media planner tells Indiantelevision.com.

While there have been questions raised about how the show will perform without Kapil Sharma, another media observer opines, “It’s a format that the channel has to follow. Let’s give Krushna a chance as he has performed well in his others shows including Comedy Circus. Even Comedy Nights Bachao is performing well.”

Launched on 22 June, 2013, Comedy Nights with Kapil will complete 192 episodes on 24 January. How successfully Krushna fits into Sharma’s big shoes and does justice to the show, only time tell.