The Wall Street Journal has a story on Outsourced, one of NBC's new fall sitcoms. The show, produced by Ken Kwapis of Th e Office, is about an American office manager who has to move to India to manage a call center. Hilarity ensues: 'Outsourced': Can American Comedy Work in India? Here's a preview:
The show was actually adapted from an independent film from a couple of years back of the same name. After swirling around in development for a little while, it's finally hitting the schedule. Will audiences go for a foreign workplace comedy? Kwapis seems to think so:
In fact, despite its location and fairly exaggerated accents, "Outsourced" scored high on relatability points with U.S. test audiences, something that Kwapis found "promising and heartening."For now, I'm going to be a little wary about this show. Based on this preview, and everything I've heard from folks who have gotten a first look at the pilot, my expectations are fairly low.
...
Kwapis says cultural exchange on the show will be a two-way street. Protagonist Todd (played by Ben Rappaport) will be exposed to Indian culture and language on the show, and he will also introduce Americanisms to his Indian counterparts. Kwapis added that working with a cast of young and fresh Indian-American actors was very stimulating and that he had been delighted to discover the immense untapped talent pool in the South Asian-American community.
In one scene, says Kwapis, Anisha Nagarajan (of the musical "Bombay Dreams") who plays a very quiet worker in the call center, learns how to speak up and sell an American product. "Call centers in India often quite literally give people a voice they didn’t know they had," says Kwapis.
But I'm also a firm believer that new television shows also could use some room to grow over time. I want to watch Outsourced with an open mind, at the very least because it's giving some solid, steady work and exposure to some talented Desi actors. More on the show here.
