NBC's new sitcom "Outsourced" - worst sitcom idea ever?

[Hugabear]

For those who haven't seen any of the commercials for this new show, which debuts this fall, it centers around an American who supervises a call center located in India. One trailer that I saw showed the manager making fun of a character's name, "Manmeat". Yes, this the kind of humor they've deemed worthy to include in their trailers.

I'm just wondering how a show like this gets greenlit in the first place, especially with the economic problems we're having. "Hey kids, let's sit down and watch a humorous show about jobs that used to be here in the US, but have been shipped off to take advantage of cheap labor! Hahaha, those people sure have funny accents, don't they?" What's next, a sitcom showing the hilarious hijinks that take place in an unemployment office? Maybe they could do a reality show mimicking life on a Southern plantation back in the early 1800s. I better stop before I give some lurking Hollywood producer some ideas.

[AlabamaLibrul]

1. Yes. (eom)

[rucky]

2. It's America's new favorite unprotected minority!

[JCMach1]

3. Sounds like an American version of 'Mumbai Calling'- actually a kind of funny British show...

[dflprincess]

4. NBC is owned by GE which was once run by Jack Welch

a pioneer of out sourcing.

Hardly surprising this show would end up on this network.

[nickinSTL]

5. as someone whose wife is unemployed

largely due to outsourcing of programming jobs to India -

that's an INCREDIBLY insensitive and offensive premise for a sitcom.

Not to mention the racial insensitivity involved in making fun of the names and accents of the Indians.

Yeesh. Who decided this was a good idea?

Fortunately, the last time I tried to watch NBC, the digital picture was unwatchable (yeah, switching to digital was SUCH a great idea), so boycotting NBC will be easy enough.

[Hissyspit]

6. Hugabear, just as I saw your thread, I had just opened a package from Amazon containing the book

"Sitcom Bombs: A Guide To The Most Fogettable TV Comedies," which I ordered as a birthday present for a friend. I looked through the book and said 'I need to get a copy of this for myself.' I then looked up at the computer and saw your thread. The book goes season by season and profiles the sitcoms that lasted five episodes or less. Looking through the book, I would have to say, "Outsourced," as godawful as it sounds, has quite some competition.

http://www.amazon.com/Sitcom-Bombs-Guide-Forgettable-Comedies/dp/1451528078/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280460779&sr=1-1

[tom_paine]

7. Shitting into hapless peasant faces while they smile and take it is in fashion, these days

I am reminded of an interesting, seemingly frivolous concept I read somewhere last year (wish I had the link, but it's long forgotten). The idea that something as silly as Super Bowl commercials somehow reflect pertinent points of the current American character or lack thereof. Examples were presented and it was in interesting article I took with a grain of salt.

But then, in the last Super Bowl (I usually try to ignore or flip away from commercials, but in the Super Bowl, many believe the commercials to be it's best attraction, and this can't be overruled when one is a guest) I stood in awe of a Doritos commercial which pretty much said it all about the state and condition of the modern American Subject Populace.

In it, a Doritos truck breaks down and the residents of a town form human roadways and bridges to allow the truck drive over them and get through.

Yep, that pretty much says it all. We are "human resources" to be ground under and crushed so that Corporate America can feed us poison (very tasty and smartly marketed poison, though)for both our bodies and minds.

One thing is clear, Aristocratic contempt for the bottom 80% of Americans can scarcely be concealed now, in ways both small and large, obvious and subtle.

File the grotesquely contemptuous sitcom as one of the more obvious manifestations.

[lib2DaBone]

9. Well said. Thanks for the post...

Whatever they dish out these days... we are expected to take it and shut up.

Not much different than when Pretzel Boy was in power with his Free speech zones and Christin- invitation-only town hall meetings.

The Foxification of America.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Is it based on the movie?

It was pretty good and was a jab at stereotypes and culture shock. The message was far different than what you are assuming here.

But if not, it wouldn't be the first time a TV adaption screwed up.

Edit - IMDB link to movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425326/

Roger Ebert's Review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/REVIEWS/709270303/1023

[digitaln3rd]

10. It's a comedy.. lighten up.

Sheesh, who cares. It's a fictional television show.

[Hugabear]

12. And it's my OPINION

This entire forum is designed for us to express our OPINIONS. And when I see a new TV show that NBC is heavily promoting, I have every right to express my opinion regarding it.

If that concept is too difficult for you to wrap your head around, this might not be the proper venue for you.

[Stevenmarc]

16. An opinion

based on a trailer, sort of like giving a restaurant review based on an hor d'ourve. I tend to like to reserve opinion till I actually have a basis to form an opinion, it keeps the knee jerking to a minimum.

[murielm99]

11. I thought it sounded like a terrible idea.

We won't be watching it here.

[scheming daemons]

13. Can't be worse than "Charles in Charge"

[Initech]

14. Several episodes of Seinfeld were centered around George scheming to collect unemployment.

So NBC already beat you to that idea.

[LooseWilly]

15. Heh, well I'd imagine the production costs are lower...

in other words, why is anything outsourced?... If all of that can be, whatever it is, then why not a tv show too?

I'll make a point of watching it on Hulu while I'm on the phone with call centers— on hold.

:+

[Desertrose]

17. The movie was pretty good.

Doubt the TV show will be though.

[Sebastian Doyle]

18. If the Scamca$t takeover of NBC goes through

They'll have to make it a Canadian call center instead of India.