What Went Wrong With Outsourced

1. Make sure to eliminate any part of the Western characters that would give the characters that odious air of entitlement. One of way of fixing this, aside from doing through characterization of Todd and co., would be to have more Indian writers on staff. Out of the 17 writers hired to work on Outsourced, a very small number are actually Indian. I think hiring more Indian writers would have helped even out some of the script problems. Also, the writers needed to make sure they were well-versed enough in Indian culture to make jokes about it. I’m not saying some weren’t well-versed, but if we’re speaking in generalities, the whole writing unit should have had not only the standard show bible, but an Indian bible–a book put together by the producing staff and head writer(s) that outlined both major and little-known facts about Indian culture, a list of contacts on Indian culture for research, and various movies, television shows, food items, and other forms of pop-culture in India. Also, if it could’ve been worked in the budget, the entire team should have gone to India as a research trip, similar to how Disney would pay for its team of animators to go to faraway locales to sketch, sight-see, and do background research in order to bring the local flavor back to their animated films such as  The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Paris, France), Mulan (China), and The Lion King (Kenya, Africa), to name a few. Pixar and Dreamworks also did this for Ratatouille (France) and The Prince of Egypt (Egypt, Africa), respectively. Also, Dreamworks head Jeffery Katzenberg utilized the minds of the top biblical scholars, Arab-American leaders, and Christian, Muslim, and Jewish theologians in order to create the best possible (and least-offensive) movie, since the film, much like Outsourced, had the potential to alienate several cultures, ethnic groups, and religions.
2. Understand India fully. I touched on this with the suggestion of an Indian bible already. This is where such a book would come in handy for writers, as would that trip. In order to write about a certain group of people and their country, you have to have immersed yourself in it for quite a long time. In order for the show to really be both hilarious and hard-hitting, the writers could have not only used the lighthearted parts of India, such as Holi, but also the dark parts, such as the high poverty rate, the illiteracy, and the health issues. Other parts of Indian society, such as the latent colorism, the residual caste society, and the argument over arranged marriages could have been talked about, or, in the case of the arranged marriage issue, talked about more often and in much greater detail. Perhaps the writers were saving some of their Indian knowledge for later seasons, but if the show was to be a success, they should have put some of their heavy guns in the first season. Similarly, the same type of treatment could have been done for America, particularly Kansas, where Todd is from. While the lighter side of America was always talked about on the show, the darker issues could have made its way into the show as well. Issues like racism and discrimination against people from the Middle East and India due to the fear of terrorism, the theatricality and “horse-race” quality of our political system, race relations issues, our own healthcare issues, fear-mongering, etc. If the show seriously dealt with both sides of both countries, Outsourced could have been a very well-written, possibly controversial, but very successful dark comedy. Also, placing the show in a more believable setting than a soundstage (or perhaps, just a more believable soundstage) could have helped immensely.
3. With the above research suggestions completed, the humor would have come naturally. There’s a bevy of things in both countries to choose from that would make compelling television. Such a rich bounty of harvestable material should have provided scores of ideas. And, coupled with the right amount of knowledge, the jokes could have had some substance other than something as simple as Jingle Jugs.

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