Outsourced

I would never have guessed that this show would be as funny as it is! I actually watched each episode back-to-back and it continued to get funnier as the shows progressed. It's great formula comedy and the characters have fantastic comedic timing!! If you haven't yet -- give this one a chance! I was expecting the story lines to be staid and predictable. So far, so good -- not a one yet has been anything I expected. The principal interacts with his counterparts so well it makes it seem that the work environment could be real! I've never been to India, but this would almost entice me to visit. The people in this sitcom are very watchable. You'll find yourself laughing out loud - promise!

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.

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.

Outsourced is Hilarious!

Granted that one who has more insight on Indian culture would find it funnier than someone who is still coming to terms with real-life outsourcing, any viewer with an open mind would easily find an easy laugh out of this story.

The protagonists have not yet been fully developed but with each new episode, more comedic talent is displayed and each so far has been better than the last. This show has the building blocks of a solid comedy, interesting and funny characters, fresh ideas, and a different setting from our typical abstract-humor based comedies like Frasier.

The biggest gripe that non-fans have with this show is that it seems insensitive to those who may have lost their jobs to actual outsourcing. Perhaps if the show went a different way, where a bunch of Indians came to open a gag-prop business in America, they would feel less insulted.

Regardless of ones taste for comedy, the show has its own merits and gives promise of great potential but hey,

IT CANT BE ANY WORSE THAN ***"THE CLEVELAND SHOW"***