NBC Hopes "Outsourcing" Is In With TV Audiences

[otohara]

(Reuters) - The controversial practice of outsourcing jobs to India has inspired a new comedy on U.S. TV in a striking departure from the dysfunctional families and romantic entanglements that typically make Americans laugh.

"Outsourced" is centered around a fictional American maker of novelty goods -- fake pools of blood, farting garden gnomes and giant fake cheese slices -- that has moved it customer service center to the bustling city of Mumbai.

A naive young American is sent overseas to manage the new set-up, proving fertile ground for jokes about everything from differences in food to cultural clashes regarding sex, dress and attitudes toward women.

"We have all had the experience of talking on the phone to someone in a call center in India. That's what makes the show so relatable. We are trying to put a face on the person at the other end of the line," executive producer Ken Kwapis told reporters on Friday.

Kwapis brushed aside suggestions from some TV writers who have seen the first episode that the show stereotypes, or is offensive to, Indians. American audiences will get to see the comedy for the first time in mid-September.

"It is certainly not coming from a mean spirited place. A third of the writing staff is Indian," he said. "I think there is a way to treat cultural confusion without being offensive."http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66U03A20100731

[rucky]

1. This will be their Cop Rock. n/t

[hlthe2b]

2. I'd hoped they meant they'd outsourced their programming...

Given how lousy most network tv has been since the last writer's strike and the embrace of that horrendous reality tv genre.

[hedgehog]

3. This is based on a cute Bollywood movie, but I can' t remember the name.

It might have been "Outsourced".

[no_hypocrisy]

4. 2010: Hello Lakshman

[gratuitous]

5. It's replacement: The Unemployment Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NBC announces that it has replaced its latest fall offering "Outsourcing" with a rib-tickling new hit, "The Unemployment Office." Executive Producer Ken Krapis told reporters, "'Outsourcing' was just sort of star-crossed, snakebit and the victim of a bad economy. But this new show, hoo hoo! It's a doozy!" In his first network show since leaving "The Office," Steve Carell stars as the manager of a state unemployment office, interacting with his kooky staff and a zany cast of characters on their weekly visit to pick up their unemployment checks. The quips fly fast and furious as Carell parries with benefits-seeking down-on-their-luckers, including Ice-T, Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, and Neil Flynn.

[otohara]

9. Nice

you're good at this fake press releases, did you work in broadcasting?

I did!

[Starry Messenger]

10. Zing.

You should expand that a bit and submit it to Cracked.com. Best response yet.

[lob1]

6. The show may be a big hit in India.

The people whose jobs have been outsourced here aren't going to be laughing a lot.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. No offense, but I hope that the writers are conservative.

The last thing I want to see is some Liberal behind this to try to make outsourcing more palatable to Americans. That is going to backfire.

[Blue Owl]

8. It may be a "comedy"

...but sending our jobs overseas is no laughing matter.

[shireen]

11. +1

yes, i fail to see the "comedy" in it.