Outsourced, opinions?

[Jono]

I was looking up what Diedrich Bader has been up to since The Drew Carey Show, which I've been catching up on recently and saw he was in this show.

So I was looking for some opinions of the show with an eye towards watching it. However, I'm a bit wary as it was dropped after its first season.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Shit.

But that opinion is based on just watching half of the first episode, that was enough for me.

 

[TheSeeker]

It actually got quite a bit better. I wasn't too crazy about it at first but I really warmed up to it by the ned of the season.

 

[darthraidr]

i thought it was fairly average sitcom. most jokes are very predictable. there was way too much focus on Gupta by the end and not nearly enough focus on Asha.

i watched the entire first season (more than i've seen of the office (US) or Parks and Rec).

 

[TheSeeker]

Yeah, they did go a little overboard with Gupta. I really liked Manmeat (sp?) though.

 

[Professor Zoom]

i thought it was fairly average sitcom. most jokes are very predictable. there was way too much focus on Gupta by the end and not nearly enough focus on Asha.

i watched the entire first season (more than i've seen of the office (US) or Parks and Rec).

It's pretty average to bad. I think it was a missed opportunity. Bader should've been the lead, instead of Mr. Boring McWhitebread. The show would have been less "look how crazy and kooky these Indians are..."

And I'm glad they stopped focusing on Asha. She was a frickin piece of wood. Her accent was awful, and towards the end, she stopped trying.

 

[Aldo]

If you can, watch the movie first. While it doesn't have any of the actors from the show, the show actually takes a lot of plotlines and ideas from the movie. So watch the movie and if you enjoy it, then chances are you'll like the show.

 

[Lindley]

I actually liked the show quite a bit.

 

[Trekker4747]

I was looking up what Diedrich Bader has been up to since The Drew Carey Show, which I've been catching up on recently and saw he was in this show.

So I was looking for some opinions of the show with an eye towards watching it. However, I'm a bit wary as it was dropped after its first season.

Bordeline racist.

 

[bigdaddy]

It was well filmed, the sets were very neat.

The characters, the jokes, the acting were all pretty bad.

 

[Mr Light]

It was alright.

 

[Lindley]

Bordeline racist.

In what way?

If anything, the show gave some fun insights into Indian culture. Sure, plenty of the jokes were based on cultural misunderstandings, but I don't see that as a problem.

 

[Trekker4747]

Imagine a show with a white man working in an office or living with a family in Harlem. The people around him all speak in eubonics, eat watermellon and fried-chicken. Would that not be racist or offensive towards blacks?

The show seemed to me like it was putting Indian culture on display and saying, "See how wacky and un-American they are?"

 

[Lindley]

The show seemed to me like it was putting Indian culture on display and saying, "See how wacky and un-American they are?"

Well, yeah, but "wacky and un-American" isn't a bad thing and it wasn't portrayed as such. The differences in culture were certainly played up for laughs, but in a respectful enough way that I didn't have a problem with it.

 

[Professor Zoom]

The show seemed to me like it was putting Indian culture on display and saying, "See how wacky and un-American they are?"

Well, yeah, but "wacky and un-American" isn't a bad thing and it wasn't portrayed as such. The differences in culture were certainly played up for laughs, but in a respectful enough way that I didn't have a problem with it.

Sometimes respectful. Sometimes not. I don't think I met any Indians or Indian Americans who liked the show, and a part of it was representation.

 

[Lindley]

Well, I was introduced to it by an Indian-American, for what its worth.

 

[JarodRussell]

Imagine a show with a white man working in an office or living with a family in Harlem. The people around him all speak in eubonics, eat watermellon and fried-chicken. Would that not be racist or offensive towards blacks?

It would be hysterical!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well, I was introduced to it by an Indian-American, for what its worth.

I introduced it to one of my Indian co-workers and it became one of her family's favorite shows and we'd discuss each week's episodes so a positive experience for me on that front.

 

[I Grok Spock]

^Yep. My Indian office-mate also liked it. (Of course, it may be that his name is Rajiv, and that he's a dead-ringer for his namesake on the show )

Not a bad show, and I think it made just as many (if not more) jokes at the expense of the "ignernt Americans" as it did for the wacky Indians.

They were able to wrap up the storylines in the finale, so its a complete one-season viewing experience.

 

[AliciaD496]

^Yeah, if you just watched the first couple episodes it would definitely come across that it was making fun of those 'wacky Indians'. As the series went on more often than the not the comedy seemed to come from one of the 'white' characters misunderstanding or not knowing (ie being ignorant) of an Indian custom and causing awkwardness. I liked the series as it progressed, the characters grew into a better understanding on both sides. The ending did fairly wrap everything up...although I would have liked to know whether Asha and Todd ever made it to admitting their feelings fully and whether they finally sustained a real 'dating' type relationship, and the aftermath of Todd returning home eventually (how he felt about leaving the team in India, how he felt trying to fit back into his old life after learning to fit in somewhere else)...the movie kind of touched on that, but the TV series never did or didn't have time.

Oh yeah...and I totally recommend the movie over the series, much more respectful of Indians in general and a much better story all around.