The Kumars at Number 42 ... Sunset Boulevard

Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar's comedy chat show is set to be remade in America.

Producers of the BBC hit, which ended its seven-series run last year, are in talks with US broadcasters.

It would make Syal, 45, and husband Bhaskar the latest British comedy stars to cross the Atlantic, after Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Syal told the Standard: "There's interest from America and we are in talks. It's early stages and so much depends on the budget."

She said she would hope to star in any American version rather than see a US cast take over the format. "I'd be really interested. Can you imagine, the Kumars interviewing Sylvester Stallone and Nicole Kidman? I think it would be hilarious."

The comedy stars Syal as the matriarch of a British Indian family who invite stars into their "home". Bhaskar plays her grandson, host of the show.

Repeats of the Kumars on BBC America have been a big hit with viewers.

Syal,who juggles her career with raising daughter Chameli, 14, and son Shaan, 16 months, also attacked British television.

She said: "In the old days producers like Michael Wearing, who made Boys From the Black Stuff, were in charge of their own budget. They'd be told, 'that's your money for the year, it's up to you what you do with it'.

"Now a script has to go through so many levels of management it's going to be watered down. And there are few chances for new writers to get their work on because we've lost the single play. We need the single strand drama back.

"Also I'd like to see better roles for women. I would love to see a feisty women of a certain age comedy."

Syal revealed she is working on a film called The Describer - a dark romantic comedy in which she hopes to cast Hugh Grant as a lawyer who is turning blind.

Syal is also in rehearsals for a new play, Rafta, Rafta by East Is East writer Ayub Khan-Din. It opens at the Lyttleton Theatre on 26 April.