Outsourced

As someone who has TWICE within the last 7 years lost my position to outsourcing I winced at the news of this show coming to NBC. After all, WHY would I want to watch a show, and a comedy at that, based upon a concept that has left me jobless. I have to be honest; I was hoping that the employees would be foolish, cultural stereotypes, and therefore I would have an excuse to poke fun at them. So I sat back, got my generic snacks and soda ready (can't afford the name brand stuff anymore) and prepared myself for a chance at cultural ridicule. But a funny thing happened; about 10 minutes in....I laughed! Not at the locals naive concept at American excesses, NOT at their reverence of all things beef-related, NOT at their stereotypical accents (actually in THEIR country the American had the accent) but because I heard something funny. So I put my pride in my pocket and started to watch this show as though I was interested in what I was watching. Then I realized something; just because someone is naive doesn't make them stupid or deserving of ridicule. What I ALSO realized was that these characters were just like me...wanting a job so they could pay their bills, put food on their table and a roof over their heads. And even though the locals were naive and kind of goofy in a sweet way I found myself caring about them. For example, the young girl who barely speaks above a whisper; THIS is a job for someone like her? Of course not. But her character was so innocent and so sweet and wouldn't give up I was rooting for her to succeed. The guy who couldn't stop talking...we ALL know someone like that but he wasn't obnoxious, probably just lonely and haven't we ALL been there? The American manager who was sent to India to head this rag-tag group could have been written as a cruel SOB but he wasn't. Their success was HIS success and he goes above and beyond to see that his employees succeed so he could secure his own position and contribute to the company's bottom line (without being a creep in the process). These are likable, well conceived and well acted characters and guess what...the show is funny. Maybe not "The Big Bang Theory" or "30 Rock" or even "Family Guy" funny but I'm willing to give them every opportunity to rise to the occasion.

While I'm against outsourcing by Big Business, I must confess that I loved this show. NBC snagged me at screen-side while with this charming cast of Ben Rappaport, Rizwan Manji, Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh Cheena, Anisha Nagarajan, Diedrich Bader and Pippa Black (our Aussie poor girl Nicole Kidman), who portray the different facets of the Indian working-class and their non-Indian counterparts.

"Outsourced" highlights the misconceptions that staff and management hold when East and West meet at Mid-America Novelties in India. And while it's not all PC (thank you!), it's good to see a genuine multi-cultural cast, rather than the token Asian or African-American tacked onto the cast credits. I'm usually not a big fan of the station, but Gupta's chatty talk, Manmeet's wonder at American dating customs, Todd's confusion about local customs, and Charlie, his bluff-and-bluster friend, prove that opposites do attract. I applaud NBC for taking this small but vital step towards this meaningful celebration of cultural diversity.

It's a shame that NBC chose to cancel this little diamond in the rough, in favor of the usual Primetime Pablum.

In the pilot of Outsourced, Todd (played by Ben Rappaport)arrives at his workplace one morning to find the Midwestern joke catalog callcentre he manages desolate. Todd is told he can either follow the work, which has been outsourced to India or find another job. Rather than face job hunting in this economy, he chooses India.

The utter charm of this show is in the storytelling from Todd's point of view; Rappaport's simple, untraveled Todd embraces the vast cultural differences he encounters in his new home with mystified delight. As a long time American ex-pat in a different culture, I remember that feeling of discovery.

Some people have complained of stereotyping and at the beginning of the show, the characters did come off as stereotypes; Todd, like us (the American audience for whom the show is written), is uninitiated and meets several new people on the same day just as we meet them in the first half hour. Due to some of the best sitcom scriptwriting EVER, characters have developed, Todd's POV has dampened and the show has become a true ensemble.

I could write several more paragraphs about Outsourced, rhapsodizing the scriptwriting, superb ensemble cast, direction and arc of the show- but I will instead tell you this; outsourced is a show about Joy- about reveling in our differences and sameness and foibles and strengths.

The only reason I didn't give it 10 stars is that is reserved for M*A*S*H* and the first few years of Taxi.

We have loved this show from the beginning. It's funny, clever and sweet and the characters are genuinely likable. It might not be for everyone, but if NBC hadn't shoved it to the end of the Thursday lineup and filled in the 8:30 slot with pointless newbies and endless Office repeats, people who don't have a DVR but do have a job to get up for in the morning might have had a chance to enjoy this show.

They announced its demise today along with the addition of four new shows, none of which sound promising.

I'm going to see the suit that makes these decisions in hell, and he isn't going to like the encounter.

outsourcing is a hot and happening subject and this is a series totally based on that.it did start of well with a bang only to lose its flair midway,but did come back strong around the end of the season.sadly its heard that there wont be any further seasons of this indo-us combo due to viewer ship issue.but tell u what being an Indian i personally don't feel the series as offensive,even though only the poorer parts of Mumbai have been emphasizes and shown in the series.

Ben rappaport as Todd/manager does an excellent job,Gupta and Charlie are probably the most comic characters in the show with Charlie coming up with some rave ideas and Gupta being as dumb and disgusting as possible.also the Indian accent and u.s culture blending with Indian culture makes it a good watch.

well all in all a good series with a brilliant concept which should be given a try by all of them out there and truly deserves one more season at least.....