Outsourced (TV Timeout)

Outsourced is a disgrace of a television show. I have seen one episode, and it was one of the most laborious, unpleasant half hours of my life. It’s a lazy sitcom made by people that had little interest in making quality television, but instead in forcing a single, insulting joke down the throats of America. This is not a review. This is a plea. Do not, under any circumstances, watch Outsourced. To borrow a phrase from Roger Ebert, if you do, “I will never let you read one of my reviews again.”

Essentially, Outsourced is a show that attempts to generate comedy from the fact that India is, in fact, a country that exists. Ignore the fact that its main character, played as blandly as possible by Ben Rappaport, never even hints at entering a second dimension. The opening scene finds him walking into his office in Kansas City to find his novelty item company has been outsourced to India, and he’s the lucky sonofagun who gets to go and run the Indian call center. It probably took you 10 seconds to read that sentence. It takes about the same time for the series to plant you into the middle of an India that never has, and never will exist.

About here is where we meet the theme song, which (as I tweeted) sounds like a cat being dragged through a Bollywood nightmare. Such is the case with the entirety of the musical score.



Thus begins the parade of endless Indian stereotypes that never even begin to resemble humor. Among the characters he meets are Rajiiv, Asha, Gupta, Madhuri and (wait for it) Manmeet! Oh, Outsourced, you cut like a knife!

Managing all of these characters is our hero (and Jim Halpert clone) Todd. Does he have a family? Friends? What impact did the movie to India have on his life? Outsourced doesn’t care. All it wants to do is put a white man in India and watch alleged hilarity ensue while mocking Indian culture for being so behind us in SO many ways. Todd, however, is saved when he finds another white man to hang out with! Huzzah! This friendly face is played by Diedrich Bader. Also, there’s a hot Australian lady for Todd to be attracted to.

Last year NBC was able to make Thursday nights the funniest night on TV, giving us weekly doses of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock. Not one of those shows is bad. Needless to say, NBC felt the need to shake things up, push Parks and Rec to midseason and replace it with this piece of trash. NBC, this is why you are consistently in last place.

Creation of the show is credited to Ken Kwapis, who also directed the first episode. In the past he has directed several episodes of The Office, and he even did two episodes of the short-lived but great Freaks and Geeks. You’d think working on those shows would teach him to be able to make something, you know, funny. Outsourced is not funny. It sucks the ability to laugh out of you, wondering if you may ever be able to experience joy again. Normally I write “TV Timeout” pieces for shows I love, but this is different. I am begging all of you to let this show die a quick, unheralded death, and we can await the return of Parks and Recreation in the fall. By all means, tune in to NBC on Thursday nights. Watch Community. Watch 30 Rock. Watch The Office. But please, in the name of all that is holy, when it turns to 9:30 eastern time, find a better way to spend your time. Watch QVC if you have to. If this did not convince you, just remember that the pilot ends on a poop joke, with the basic message that Indian food is disgusting.

The Social Network comes out next Friday. I know this is not directly related, but I state it as an antidote. That is one of the best movies of the year. This is not the best anything.