Thoughts On NBC's Outsourced

Tuesday, September 28, 2010



I just don't know what to think of NBC's "Outsourced" yet. I can't quite decide if it's got possible potential, or just needs to be cancelled (or maybe never should have been made in the first place).

And I ask myself the question of if I would be having this conversation with myself if the character Todd (Ben Rappaport) wasn't White or if one of the un-attainable love interests in a position of power (Pippa Black) wasn't a White Women (even if she is from Australia).

What if Todd was South Asian? How much of a difference would it make to the storyline and a joke like the one about Manmeet's name (because don't even front like you've never made a double entendre with someone who had the last name Ho when they stole your SO away from you)

Is it fair of me to ask, or should I even be asking myself the question because at the end of the day Todd is White and I highly doubt they'll be replacing him anytime soon.

See - I actually like some of the characters - they are quirky. There is something fun to watch about a group of people who aren't the "A" team trying to simply make it and in some ways there's nothing more American than a story about the "B" team trying to be the best (because we all love a rags to riches story).

So does it deserve some time to be as irreverent as it should be (because that's the only way it can succeed)? Or does the fact that it's already offensive to people put it in the category of "Must Be Cancelled TV"?

And how much does it matter that even though it's the largest Asian cast on TV right now - the main backdrop for the the cast is basically stereotypical (like a whole show about Chinese Americans doing Chinese takeout)?

In the end I think it could have had potential.

It might have had potential....

But the more that I think about it - could have and might have just doesn't quite cut it.

Who knows though - maybe they'll surprise me?