So SRK has spent a few weeks anchoring KBC. How has he managed so far?
Well, on account of the constraints of the format, it was inevitable that SRK would get compared with AB. I mean, he could not make major changes, so in the bits and pieces, are the comparison points. Which is where we found the irritants.
I mean, why would I want to ‘freeze it’ when I have been comfortable with ‘lock it’??
What is this nonsense about ‘Shah Rukh, mujhe gale lagao’ instead of ‘I want to quit’?
The giving away of the watch by SRK and such extravagances were a bit too much too.
So the early pronouncement was that “its not working with SRK”.
But then the shows went on. And people kept watching patiently. And slowly it seemed like he was getting there. We slowly forgot about the ‘locks’ and the ‘freezes’ were here to stay. Instead of ‘main Amitabh Bacchan bol raha hoon’, we got comfortable with ‘main Shah Rukh bol raha hoon, pehechana mujhe?’!
It is clear that after Amitabh, he was indeed the next best bet. His live programs have shown that he can really relate to an audience, get comfortable with them, get them involved with him, and in short, have them eat out of his hands.
It appears like he is reaching that very stage, in KBC too. The TRPs of yore may never return. But SRK may not be the one to blame for the same. Its the changing times and the changing preferences.
There are fewer people now, who want to sit and watch and Q&A program. In these days of reality shows, people would rather watch song and dance or perhaps a few guys holed up in a house away from everyone else.. ! Who bothers about quizzes? Its for the nerds, it would appear.
For that reason, the TRPs may never return, but the advertisers and the interested audience may yet get their money and time’s worth respectively.
Random Musings 
I did not have high hopes of SRK fitting in where Big B left off. But it does seem like he has a huge audience who would tune in to see him and his suits and his subtleties more so than the show itself.
I would think the producers and the network would be happy with anyone who is willing to tune in, irrespective of the reason.
Has there been celebrity KBC shows yet or no?
Well, I was convinced that if not AB, then SRK is the next best. He is an extremely intelligent chap, thinks on his feet, and adapts well. So he is doing a decent job now. Yeah, the network obviously likes the eyeballs.
Its interesting though.. with very high cost shows (think Friends or Seinfeld in the latter seasons). They rarely pay back on their own. Its the shows before and after which get the rub-off effect, which end up filling the channel’s coffers. Its when the channel does NOT have good supporting shows that its a total bomb. That happened with Sony TV and Indian Idol.
In case of StarTV, they got the serial Kyunki and Kahani started when KBC-1 happened. And those shows continue to rake in the moolah for the channel till date. Even this time, I doubt if the channel will get a payback on its KBC costs. Inspite of the advertisers. They will need to reduce the rates, if the TRPs don’t pick up.
They did have the first celebrity show. It was decent. With Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, Arbaaz Khan and Malaika, and of course, the usual suspects, Karan Johar and Farah Khan.