I haven't heard much buzz about the new sitcom, Outsourced, yet. Have any of you been able to catch an episode? Here in the US it plays on Thursdays at 9:30pm eastern time on NBC. If you are living outside the US, hopefully you can reach their website, and you can catch full episodes by clicking on 'video' on the homepage.
I have watched each of the three episodes so far and since I am back home now, I get to watch them with my dad, who seems really interested in watching after he's been hearing about all-things-Indian for the past three years. It's funny when a joke is said on the show, and my dad will ask me, "is that true?" or, "is that really how it goes?" One time, after the show pointed fun at how Indians "bobble" their heads, - the Indian head shake - my dad asked me if I was able to do it, and he was impressed when I pulled it off quite well. 
I really hope the episodes will play in India, as when I lived there most of my favorite shows were blocked. But it's the opinions from Indians that I'm really looking forward to the most. Don't let this statement keep others from sharing your views, but because the sitcom takes place in a call center in Mumbai, and many of the jokes so far have been differences between Americans and Indians and are quite stereotypical, I can't help but wonder if Indians find the show funny or offensive.
Anisha Nagarajan as Madhuri
I honestly can't imagine how this show will continue to have enough material to make it into a second or third season. So far they've pulled almost every joke in the book and it's only been the third episode: the Indian head shake, arranged marriages, "goopy", spicy food, sacred cows, guys dancing with guys, working in call centers, etc.
And here's one for Australians Sharell and Grace; they even throw an Australian woman into the mix, who drops Australian slang here and there, at which the Americans and Indians just go silent. 
Although I do wonder if Indians will find the sitcom funny or offensive, you should know the show does a good job of poking fun at Americans just as much - and at times Australians. It's basically a 'clash of the cultures' where each culture is teased by it's known general stereotype.
If you're able to take things lightly, and laugh at all our differences, I think you'd enjoy watching Outsourced. Even I was going back and forth between offensive or not offensive, and I soon came to the decision that the show could actually bring us all closer together, with the universal language of laughter.
I think the show is OK, they will probably be able to pull a few seasons out of it because NBC’s sitcoms are relatively successful.
They bumped Parks and Recreation for it though, which upsets me a lot. I am a big Amy Poehler fan.
I couldn’t ever get into Parks and Rec myself.
I saw the pilot episode… and like you said, all the cliches were already there. The thing I didnt like about it was it is such a rip off from teh movie- Outsourced. The entire first episode felt like it was a condensed version of the movie.
I am wondering if they will include “Holiday in goa” concept here as well.
Having said that, I’ll still watch it!
ah, good idea Garima, I didn’t think about that but now that you’ve said it – I bet they will!
I gave up on it after the first one. In my opinion, it is mildly funny, mildly offensive and exquisitely pathetic. Oh, for the love of Dwight…’The Office’ it is not. Watch it if you are craving for a PJ fix.
I agree – it’s no where near what ‘The Office’ is, which is what I was hoping it would be similar to.
1 word … yuck!
I haven’t seen outsourced (again stupid prepaid internet) so I hope it will air when I am in India (or even in Aus when I am back).
Last weekend I watched Monsoon Wedding and there was a
‘loose moralled’ cousin from Australia that spoke in a very ocker way (ie with a ridiculous twang that people on the outback, not the city attach to their accent) that ended up shacking up in the movie.
I also saw the movie Nishabd whilst in India. In the movie Amitabh Bachchan’s older character falls for a young, scantily dressed best friend of his daughter that had been living in Australia. The movie has a world of smut and eventually all hell breaks loose when AB is busted.
I think that stereotypes of Australians are 100% there for a reason and also show our growing presence in the international scene. I don’t necessarily fall under the stereotypes so they don’t bother me, however when I get together with my big Aussie family I see a very beer and kangaroos side of myself.
I myself don’t have an Australian accent – after being surrounded by Punjabis for two months and Vishav before then it has a more international (notably Indian) sound.
Perhaps I should do more to be less adaptable – oops.
Hehe PS, thanks for the shout out
Grace were you born and raised in Australia? If so I’m amazed you could (partially) lose your Australian accent and pick up an Indian one so fast! I always wanted to pick up the English accent myself…and the friend from Kazakhstan I met while living in India had such a cute accent too!
I have a friend from Belarus who literally moved to the US at 15 speaking no English and spoke English without a Russian accent within 6 months.
Meanwhile I can’t get A to stop saying “It feel me good” instead “that feels good.”
or rather “That makes me feel good” the above statement sounds a little TMI.
I have been meaning to write a blog post on learning Punjabi, my favourite Punjabi phrases and communication barriers.
I have been sidetracked – thankfully the interaction with you has helped me to find an added angle of accents and my evolving tongue to write half the post already!!
Now instead of posting here I will force you to come and read on my blog – a little blog blackmail never hurt anyone
I promise the post will be there when you wake up…
Vishav is taking me to see Eat, Pray, Love!!
It has only just been released in Aus & India – perhaps to coincide with the Commonwealth Games.
I saw the shows on tivo…few thoughts…
not enough material to sustain itself….most of the actors are indian americans aping indian accent (so it is not the true indian accent onthe show)…the gal on the right in the pic above is hot….plus the show stopper in episode 2 was a american pop song “don’t cha want ya’r girlfirnd to be HOT like me”, I had to see the song on video…what else, yes I think the show is shot in us location (based on the breed of the cow they used). c’mon indian cows don’t have fur
hi gringo. same thoughts I had – most likely all Indian-Americans faking the accent and the show is filmed in some Hollywood studio – which makes perfect sense, but silly me I was hoping it would actually be filmed in India!
guaranteed you will see many more American movies filmed in India in the next few years. Its cheaper to film there and there are already a pool of experienced professionals, from techs and cameramen to actors. Many more movies are being filmed outside of Hollywood. PA gives huge tax cuts for film producers and over the past few years, it seems like they are always filming movies in Philly and in my home county. The industry will take a big step and move to India soon.
lol Jubeee, I was an extra in “She’s Out of My League” which was filmed in Pittsburgh two summers ago!
hah hah, really? What scene were you in?
I saw some youtube video by some common American people who are against this show. They are against this show because they think it is not funny that we are loosing job due to recession. Now, in this show, we see all the jobs going to India. I was wondering what do you think in that context….. Do you also think it is bad timing from CBS to telecast this show.
Honestly, I haven’t thought of it in that way. But now that you brought it to my attention, I guess I could see why some people would react that way. I’m not sure if there’s enough of these people to affect the show’s ratings, though. I wouldn’t mind seeing the youtube video you mentioned.
sounds very Tea Party to me
Thats not Tea Party, its mostly Democrats who are against outsourcing and Indians. Regardless its a typical show that pigeonholes Indians into weirdo foreigners. Its to be expected though.
Haha, I’d love to get a laugh out of the typical Aussie!
Maybe I’ll be able to download the episodes or something.
I actually didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped! It was funny, but the second and third episode weren’t as funny. I agree, they have done just about every Indian joke so far and I can see the show being pulled by the end of the season. It’s too bad though, because it could be a good show!
I’m an American, and I thought the first episode was too cliched, but I liked that the later episodes have become more about the stories of the characters. The people who oppose it because of the “they took our jobs” thinking are definitely a minority, and it’s typically Republicans (aka The Tea Party) who are anti-”the other” (look at protests against Muslims and immigrants). The show is already NBC’s second highest-rated sitcom behind The Office. Also, for those not in the US but who have unlimited Internet access, haven’t you heard of BitTorrent? You can download any show you want. Just get a program to download with:
http://www.utorrent.com/
Then go here for the files:
http://btjunkie.org/search?q=outsourced
Cheers.