Outsourced (Thursdays 9:30/8:30 Central)

NBC

Sep 23, 2010 By Lily Moayeri Web Exclusive

What would convince you to just up and move to India to run an outsourced call center? Forty thousand dollars in school loans and no options. That is how Todd Dempsey (Ben Rappaport) ends up in India as manager for Mid America Novelties. This is the gist of NBC’s sitcom Outsourced, which is The Office in India—except not nearly as clever or subtle. And it makes The Office seem politically correct. In under 10 minutes, Outsourced manages to hit numerous offensive Indian stereotypes, borders on being racist, and not remotely funny. What is vaguely amusing is the Indian take on American novelties. They are bringing attention to the lowest common denominator Americans, which are also stereotyped. There is social commentary embedded in the clunky dialogue, but it is conveyed so shakily, its effect is entirely lost. The majority of the cast is Indian, or partially Indian, which begs the question, is America ready for a foreign cast when some British shows are broadcast with subtitles? If Todd is representative of the all-American male, then maybe we should all move to India. Todd has no adjustment period, embraces a staff that has nothing culturally in common with him, and he likes it. Yeah, right. Outsourced should be outsourced itself. (www.nbc.com/outsourced)

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Dave
December 11th 2010
6:05am

You claim that the show “borders on being racist” and seem to be very sensitive about these issues, but then you claim that “the majority of the cast is Indian…is America ready for a foreign cast”.

If you look up the cast, they’re American, Canadian, or British… just because they’re of Indian heritage does not mean that they can’t be American. Just because they’re of Indian descend does NOT mean that they are “foreign”.

This kind of attitude is what holds many Asian (east or south) American actors back. No matter how American they are, network producers ask if they’re too “foreign”, or whether or not America can accept them.

You tried to be sensitive to racial issues, yet made an incredibly politically incorrect statement.

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