What you see is what you get. The statement stands true for the latest celebrity-hosted chat show to hit television.

It's like this. When the teasers of Oye! It's Friday featuring host Farhan Akhtar [Images] played out, they mocked every current trend/clich� only to go ahead and do the exact same, it sure looked curious to me. It so turns out that this is exactly like one of those boring shows you thought it wouldn't be.

Like Sajid's Superstars, Oye!, which made its debut last Friday on NDTV Imagine, also believes in promote-thyself-and-thy-movie. And that entitles Farhan to kick start the proceedings, against a tackily-designed stage, by crooning Meri laundry ka ek bill from Rock On!! Ironically, the filmed version came across as more genuine than its so-called live counterpart.

The usually dapper filmmaker-turned-actor/singer looks surprisingly off in a shiny green vest, denim jacket and dusty brown pants, as he animatedly introduces the audience to the collaborating musicians (Jazz Junction) and dancers (Oye Girls).

The chemistry is awkward. No, make that plain non-existent. The jokes don't tickle. Sample these:

Recession itna bura ho gaya hai, ladkiyan ab sachmuch pyaar ke liye shaadi karne lagi hain.

Facebook pe log in karne se pehle deodorant lagane shuru kar dete hai.

Don't check the bank balance. Check how balanced is the bank.

Neha dhupia [Images] in the flesh, in some bones, in some skin, and some clothes.

Seriously, what? Even potty jokes are better than this.

And so before the impatient viewer can reach out for the remote, Farhan quickly reads out the menu -- performances from Hard Kaur (indifferently romping about in skimpy Ed Hardy sponsored attire) and Neha Dhupia (lends her bit of glamour to the jaded surroundings) accompanied by a tete-e-tete with Hrithik Roshan [Images]. In a tangerine shirt, rolled up sleeves, torn denims and soft-bearded look, the Krrish [Images] star makes a Jodhaa Akbar [Images] inspired entry.

In a first things first tone, he tells the host (and us), 'First I want to say something about Luck by Chance [Images]. If it's not *the* biggest hit, it will be one of the biggest hits of this year.' For the uninitiated, Lucky By Chance is Farhan's home production, with him in the lead and is directed by sister Zoya. Hrithik plays a brief cameo.

In between recorded gag skits, the director-actor team of Lakshya indulge in a dreary Q&A.  Even as the stilted studio audience and their fake ha-has manipulate us into believing the interaction is funny, it doesn't work. Here's why:

When Roshan Jr is asked in which film he got maximum support from his co-star, his reply is, 'Preity Zinta in Koi...Mil Gaya.' Farhan shoots: Oh, I thought you meant Jadoo. Wait, there's another: Who is Jadoo's favourite heroine? Neha 'Dhup'ia! Who wrote this tripe?

There are some sweet moments, though. When Hrithik fondly recollects how he met his lovely wife, Suzanne.  'I was 12. She was 10. I saw her. And I kept seeing her. And my friends started teasing me with the song 'Susannah'.  The Dhoom 2 [Images] sensation also revealed that when he was 18, he met her again at a family function. 'I was standing with a friend, Uday (Chopra). And I told him, you see that girl? I am going to marry her. '

And while one does share Hrithik's wide-mouth wonderment at the antics of a magical troupe, Double Fantasy and their astonishing wardrobe-changing tricks and 11-year-old Siddharth Rangrajan of Hyderabad renders a scintillating performance behind the drums, the sluggish pace and complete lack of fun on the show is hard to ignore.

Of course, what single-handedly kills Oye! is its stale humour, which makes Santa-Banta brand of jokes look outstanding in comparison. Nor does it endorse Karan Johar's [Images] knack for teasing and digging out tightly-held star secrets or challenging diplomatic opinions. None of the slick sensibilities that Farhan has been so famously associated with, through his films -- Dil Chahta Hai [Images] or Rock On!! are reflected in Oye! It's Friday. He tries hard though. Too hard, maybe, to show he's enjoying this. But a forced smirk cannot get him too far.

Also, most of the situational goof-ups between the show's crew and Hrithik (the bit where they recognise Hard Kaur and don't know who the actor is) look perfectly staged and are amusing in the least.

Unlike the program it tries to model itself along the lines of -- Saturday Night Live or The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which are quite entertaining, imaginative, pleasantly insolent and most spontaneous, Oye! is dull, mundane, uninspired and perhaps a bigger disappointment than Don from Farhan Akhtar.

Thank God it's Friday? Not this time!

Rediff Rating: