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Reviews
Outsourced (2010)
Exceeded Expectations
Watching the pilot(s), I was very skeptical as to how the creators could make a recurring show out of a call center concept where a bunch of folks sit together in a room and answer phone calls. However, I'm pleasantly surprised to see the creativity around each character and leveraging the richness/nuisances of both Indian and American cultures.
Given how the American workplace is evolving, shows like this help create a better understanding of different cultures. Don't get me wrong – it's not that a silly comedy show teaches us Indian culture. It's about understanding that fun is universal. People are people – with feelings, emotions and shortcomings. (On an unrelated note, I've indeed started being more polite to the customer service folks when my calls are routed to outside US ... to somebody equally human as me.) One thing about the show that I like is that it's an equal opportunity show making fun (in a playful manner) of both Indian and American cultures. The Indian Gupta and the American Charlie Davies are simply killer characters. Charlie's dialogs (especially around interpretation of India and in one episode Australia) are just hilarious. Gupta is equally funny, and adds physical comedy which just cracks my entire family up.
I hope the show continues to do well and has a strong Season 2. It may benefit from continued investment by NBC to make the sets richer (like what we saw in Rajiv's wedding episode). Also, a little bit of tighter editing will help clean off some jokes that fall flat occasionally or look too silly.
I could not help but notice that some reviewers rated this show negatively based on their inherent bias against outsourcing or the hurt it's causing to their cultural feelings. Honestly, I do not agree with penalizing a small show, which is merely trying to bring a smile on your face, for all that dense stuff. I'm sure the audience is not dumb enough to stereotype things based on a tiny show. Dunder Mifflin in the show Office does not represent the state of the art US corporate culture that supports the world economy, the buffoons in the show Community do not represent the hard working folks who go to a community college, the intellectual scientist community does not behave like the eccentric kids in the Big Bang Theory
Nevertheless, these shows provide us good entertainment – a hearty laugh after a day's hard work. Overall, the show is a joy to watch. Highly recommended and kudos to all involved for creating such a joyous series.