QNBS: Outsourced

As I get ready for Chuck's fifth and final season which has been moved to a mid-season opening by re-watching every episode starting Season 1, I also embark on my Quest for the Next Best Series. Many series have been recommended but I will write about Outsourced first since it was first on my list of possible shows to follow next.

PROS:
1. It's about India...or a call center in India. The cultural references remind me of the stuff we learned or suppose to learn or were taught in undergrad.

2. Considering my cultural bias in favor of characters of Indian descent, it features a good deal of Indian actors/characters. This show made me realize how much I favor characters of Indian descent. It's like pro-Indian Nazism.

3. It's a bit racist...or, at best, it reinforces the current racial stereotypes. For me this is a plus because it shows what happens in real life: Americans will forever try to force their culture on everyone they meet and Indians will always be misunderstood or misrepresented as a BPO-friendly citizenry. It is in the racial slur (delivered perfectly by Diedrich Bader) that I find myself laughing hard to.

4. It's easy to watch, and is a welcome departure from the usual American-dominated TV series scene. Asha and Tonya (and the 'new' Vinmi) provides the token eye candy for males, and Manmeet and Todd for the females. Charlie, Madhuri and Gupta provide the occasional episode-filler storylines and jokes. Ranjit's story provides the right amount of laughter and drama and romance into the show.

CONS:
1. There is not much to expect. Todd tries to get by with his life in India as a manager of a call center that sells fake puke and the like. He experiences romantic conflicts with a modern-Indian woman named Asha and an Australian BPO manager named Tonya. The other characters are pretty much inserted into this main storyline to provide enough entertainment to stretch the whole thing to 22 episodes.

2. Not renewed for a second season. Enough said.


It bums me (and my college blockmates) out that the common/majority perception of the show (that it is boring, at best, or racist, at worst) has prevailed over ours, and has dictated, sadly, its existence. We liked it just because. The non-renewal pretty much seals the deal on this show not being the answer to my Quest for the Next Best Series.


Where are my fellow pro-Indian Nazism advocates when I need them? The Sad Answer: They're too busy doing their BPO-related tasks to watch or care about shows about Indians in BPO-related jobs.


Quest for the Next Best Series: New Girl