Outsourced: The Complete Series [DVD]

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Reviewer: asugar2
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: So Outsourced is set in Mumbai. How exactly do they recreate Mumbai in Studio City?
Review: Outsourced was a great show w’ a mostly Asian cast! Please bring Outsourced Back!!Outsourcing has moved a lot of American jobs to India, but on TV it’s actually bringing more jobs to Studio City. The new NBC comedy Outsourced has set up studio space at the CBS Radford lot, at the corner of Radford Avenue and Ventura BoulevardThe show stars Ben Rappaport and Diedrich Bader as Americans running Indian call centers for American companies. A cast of Indian American actors joins them as the local staff of the call center.The Radford lot provides a sense of history to the show’s young actors. “It’s awesome,” Rappaport said. “You know, Gilligan’s Island was there, Gunsmoke. We’re right across the alleyway from where Seinfeld was shot. It’s just like a real magical feeling walking onto that lot.”Parvesh Cheena plays one of the call center workers, but he is a California local. Working at the Radford lot is convenient for him. “It’s close to my apartment,” Cheena said.Sacha Dhawan, who plays the operator Manmeet, just moved to Studio City from the United Kingdom. Like Cheena, he’s settled in near his studio. “I’ve moved over here to start shooting, and I live in Studio City now, and I can jog to work in about 20 minutes,” Dhawan said. “I love it. We did a lot of work at Universal Studios, which is quite a big lot. What’s great about Radford is it’s small, it’s intimate and it’s just right for the show and it’s very close to where I live.”You probably remember Bader as Oswald the delivery man on The Drew Carey Show. That show filmed on the vast Warner Brothers studio lot in Burbank. Bader is enjoying the more close-knit feel of Radford.Already, Bader has discovered the treasure troves of television lore buried within the walls of CBS Radford. “There’s been a lot of great shows that shot there,” Bader said. “Seinfeld was there, so there’s a great history to it. I love that, because I’m a studio geek. I love walking around and seeing what sets they’re constructing. That’s one of the reasons I love Warner Brothers so much because there was always so many new things happening. There’s a sign that says Elaine’s [still at Radford]. I’m not exactly sure why that’s there. I don’t know but it’s nice to have that vibe. That was certainly a fantastic show.”You are quite likely to see the Bader family shopping around Studio City. Diedrich and his wife, Dulcy, have already discovered places to eat and shop. Dulcy will hit Levine Custom Framing and then take the kids for treats at Gelato Bar.”They have a great sorbet place, actually great gelato and sorbet,” Dulcy said. “It’s across from Vitello’s on Tujunga. We have a frame guy that we love. He does a brilliant job framing, named Steve Levine, so we go there, and our kids love to frame things now so we always take them to Gelato after.”The Bader family plans to continue exploring Tujunga Avenue, so look for them on the street. “We like the Tujunga area,” Diedrich said. “We like that little strip there. They’re nice shops and restaurants in the middle of that kind of stuff. It reminds us of Larchmont, where we’re closer too.”Though new in town, Dhawan has already discovered a local eatery he likes. You may see him there on mornings before work. “There’s a really nice little place I go for breakfast called Studio Café, which I like,” Dhawan said. “It’s right near CBS. That’s great for breakfast.”With the studio located on what is often referred to as “sushi alley,” co-star Cheena prefers to dine after work. “There’s a late-night sushi place across the street, too,” Cheena added.So Outsourced is set in Mumbai. How exactly do they recreate Mumbai in Studio City? Producers sent a crew to film actual locations. The studio actors get inserted into the backdrops with special effects.”We were doing it on green screen,” Rappaport said. “So it was me and Rizwan [Manji] sitting in the rickshaw, and there was a guy behind us with a 2-by-4 shaking the rickshaw, checking his texts every once in a while.”Even the Indian actors are American or British. Few of the cast have actually been to Mumbai. “I’m from Chicago,” Cheena said. “Then we’ve got a couple of New Yorkers and some Brits, too. I think now you’re just seeing a lot of us on one network also, which has been great. NBC’s been a good home for a lot of ethnic diversity.”The Americans bring the culture clash to the call center, and therein lies the comedy. Meet Bader’s character, Charlie, an American who’s been in Mumbai for years, but hasn’t quite adjusted.”I love Charlie because he’s the guy who really says what everybody is thinking,” Bader said. “He’s one of those types, and it’s not exclusively American, like a French will want to go and hang out in the French community when they go to, say, Germany or something like that. I remember when I was a kid in France, there’d be a Mickey D’s there, and I would think, ‘Why would an American come all the way here and go to Mickey D’s? ‘ Well, a guy like Charlie would be that guy. He would be that guy that would be at McDonald’s going, ‘I just want what I want. Give it to me. I want it hot.'”He even brings peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Cheetos to work so he doesn’t have to eat Indian food in the cafeteria. “He just tries to replicate his world wherever he goes, and for him, it’s really just a job, but it’s not without interest. But the interest is mostly that he gets paid.”You’ll meet all the characters of Outsourced when the show premieres this fall. Once they’re famous, we’ll see how long they can roam Studio City freely. For now, they’re excited to represent a new culture that most TV audiences haven’t seen before.”A call-center job back in India is a really highly prestigious job,” Cheena said. “There’s a whole different culture of people where they had to open, depending on which time zone you’re working for, you have to have like your lunchtime, your after-work kind of bar thing. My mom was back in India when I found out [I got the part], just visiting, and I called right before I got on the plane, and the whole family at the wedding just freaked out and erupted, and they’re excited.”

Reviewer: Robert Schaffer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Five Stars
Review: Great series! Too bad there was only one season–but the season they had was fantastic!A young man who works for a novelty product manufacturer is sent to India to run a company telephone call-center outsourced to that country. Discovering the customs and foibles of the colorful locals and acclimating to the culture of India are a true adventure for him.Did I say colorful locals? A few complained about that because they were Indian. But, after all, this IS a COMEDY; colorful locals are a staple of the medium! (To prove a point: Anyone ever see “Northern Exposure”, “Men in Trees”, “Picket Fences, or about a million other examples of colorful locals used in a plethora of different “Fish out of Water” series.) Well, enough on that score.Now, back to the show:He even finds love in India–and more than one! Dederich Bader is a bit over the top (as usual) as a clueless fellow American who wrongly thinks he has the culture down pat and who befriends the green American newbie upon his initial arrival in India, insisting on showing him the ropes. But, even his character eventually grew on me after a while. It does take a few episodes for the cast and characters to really gel, but once they do, this series becomes a very entertaining and enjoyable television show. I will actually use the word “charming” to describe it (and I don’t associate that word with TV shows very often). I was really very sorry to see this series cancelled.The production values are amazing for a 30 minute sitcom! Through the windows running along an entire wall of the call-center we see a very well done Indian street set with bikes, motorcycles, peddlers and pedestrians constantly filing through it. A lot of the series’ action actually takes place outside the call-center on this impressive street set. Even the show’s lighting and cinematography is on a level that is rarely seen in 30 minute situation comedies (in fact, I can name a number of dramas that don’t have anything on this level).It seems that NBC had great expectations for this well reviewed series (except for a few critics who were alarmed that some of the more outlandish Indian characters might have been taken as insulting to ALL Indians without, apparently, noticing that, aside from the show’s main character, virtually ALL of the American characters were also laughable lunatics). A lot of money was obviously spent on this show, but the ratings required to keep a sitcom that cost as much as “Outsourced” did never really materialized and NBC pulled the plug after only one season without giving it a chance to “find it’s audience” over time.There are story arcs for some of the characters which are concluded by the final episode of the series, so, as a viewer, there is certainly a nice sense of overall satisfaction received from the final episode, but I can’t help wishing there had been more seasons of this show to enjoy. Well, at least the one they had was very well done.My own copy of the complete series is always being loaned out, so, I’m apparently not the only one who has a fond affection for this very enjoyable TV show.The quality of the discs is very good (both the picture and sound are top-flight for a DVD) and the series is a true bargain at this wonderfully low price.The DVD set includes deleted scenes (some of which really enhance one particular running story line) and if you were a fan of this show when it was first being aired, these will be welcome extras for you.I think that this series would make a nice addition to any TV show collectors library.

Reviewer: Shawna Craig
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Love it

Reviewer: Patapin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Quelle bonne surprise, après avoir vu le charmant film de John Jeffcoat, de découvrir qu’il était tiré de cette série.Celle-ci possède un traitement moins profond que le film, durée des 22 épisodes oblige (21 mn chacun), mais il y a des gags pratiquement à chaque réplique.Tous les acteurs se donnent à fond, et créent une ambiance vivante et mouvementée. Même le sous-directeur, véritable tyran qui ne s’en cache pas, finit par avoir notre sympathie.Uniquement en anglais sous-tité anglais certes, mais en fouillant un peu, vous trouverez d’assez bons sous-titres français sur le net.L’acteur principal a un charme fou, et un positivisme à l’américaine qu’on aimerait voir chez tous les patrons.Les épisodes sont à voir plutôt dans l’ordre, car des relations amoureuses se tissent entre certains acteurs.Un régal !

Reviewer: George Kaplan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Love it, best comedy ever and price is ok.

Reviewer: Sandra
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I LOVED this series, much too short with only one season but is constantly being re-watched on my dvd player. Todd (the American) is managing a call centre in India not by his choice. We can all learn cultural differences and celebrate them as he tries to adapt in his new job & they try to adapt to him and selling American novelties. Such a ecletic group of workers makes it hilarious. It’s roughly based on the independant movie of the same name.

Reviewer: C. S
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My DVD player is supposed to be all regions but for some reason this one wouldn’t work and it said ‘wrong region’ when I tried to play it. I’ve had my DVD player for 7 years and not had this before with dvds from this region but can’t be sure whether the problem is with the DVD or my player!