Anybody following NBC’s latest effort? I was on the fence from the previews but I still had some procrastinating to do after The Office was over so I figured I’d give it a shot. Plus, having worked in India in a similar role as the main character, I have sort of a personal connection main story.
Personally I think it has a lot of potential. It’s hard to tell from the pilot but the characters seem entertaining and they set up some intriguing story lines. Plus Dietrich Bader is all sorts of awesome. I hope they use him a little more in upcoming episodes.
I think it’s kind of meh, but I guess I’ll give it a chance and see where it goes. To my eyes at least, other than the really obvious things like the accent and the food, their Indians don’t really seem to act all that differently than Americans. I would have expected more subtle differences in real life, and would have expected a much more foreign vibes overall.
I wonder if any real Indians may feel offended by how they are portrayed in the show?
Series premiers are usually weak, but this could have some potential down the road. After the very poor offerings by 30 Rock and The Office this evening, NBC needs to try something different. Soon.
Actually, the only thing I really found kind of false was that Todd seemed genuinely surprised when his employees didn’t understand American references like the Green Bay Packers or Bad News Bears. I’m not surprised that he made mention of those things, (I’ve done it plenty of that without thinking) but that he was so shocked at their non-response seemed a bit fake.
From my experience (though I was in South India, and this is set in Mumbai), this show is equally as accurate to an Indian office as The Office is to an American one. So far they seem to be fairly close when portraying the cultural differences. The layout of the desks, the crazy driving (he totally stole my ‘Frogger’ line!) and the eating with their hands in the lunchroom are a few examples. Another subtle cultural reference I liked was when Gupta (the guy who talks too much) goes into the break room and finds it empty, he shakes his head from side to side as kind of an expression of “well, ok then”. I’ve seen that a lot in India (even started doing it myself after a while).
I hope they will continue to do more of that type of thing. As it is an office, I’d love to see them make a watercooler reference. In many buildings instead of using disposable cups, they have one or two communal metal ones. To drink, you hold the cup like 6 inches above your mouth and pour. First time I got brave enough to try it in public, I got water down the wrong pipe, started choking and spilled the remainder down the front of my shirt. Hilarity ensued. Hiring a chai wallah (tea server), common in most offices, would also have comic potential and would add a bit more of that cultural vibe.
I don’t think they’re portrayed badly. The show makes more fun of American consumerism and inability to adapt than it does of Indian culture. But hyper-sensitivity is a worldwide epidemic so those who are so inclined will likely make their usual fuss. The only thing I’m wary of in that respect is the show being too careful of offending anyone to remain funny. We’ll see.
I watched and enjoyed it. Although, I have to admit much of my enjoyment stemmed from knowing one of the actors personally. Hey, I have a boring life–that was the highlight of my week.
I don’t know if it’s particularly interesting at all, but it did seem to mirror what I encountered. In the buildings I’ve worked, they seem to have little value or need for much individual space. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an office out here, but I remember at least a semblance of privacy, either in cubicles or at least dividers between desks. I would think a call center especially would put importance on this, as it would help mute the noise from your neighbor when you are on a call. But on the show, and in a few offices I encountered in India, they have the desks set up like more of a classroom than an office. No dividers, and the desks all face the front. The layout varies a bit in different locations, but that was generally a good representation. The difference is that in most of the places I worked, I did have an actual office. I never saw the managers or owners with elevated desks in the front, overlooking their workers. That would’ve made me feel incredibly uncomfortable.
I think it could go either way. (There’s a bold prediction for you, eh?)
I was not very impressed with the script, but the cast (especially Deidrich Bader in his brief scene) was able to elevate the material a bit. If the writing improves, the show could be terrific. If it doesn’t, it’ll just be mediocre and won’t hold my interest. And there’s also the chance that it will devolve into something comepletely unwatchable.
I watched it, and got a couple of chuckles out of it. But while I was watching, I did wonder about the longevity of references to fake poo and vomit, as well as the dietary differences. As a matter of fact, at the begining of the show when you find out the main character works for a novelty company I immediately thought, “Okay, when are they gonna fit in the fake dog poo joke?”
Also the woman who played the Aussie was absolutely awful.
I saw it and note that it was based on a movie from a couple of years ago. So I rented the movie from Netflix over the summer, and as I watched the episode, I was trying to see where it followed the movie plotline and where it differed. For one thing the Aussie call center manager was not in the movie. She seems to be intended as a love interest for the main character. But some of the storyline followed closely to the movie. BTW, the movie was more of a romantic drama than a comedy and I thought it was pretty good.
My wife is high school friends with the actor who plays Gupta, so she is watching it. She is lamenting the fact that we stopped being a Nielson household a month before it premired, so she can’t even give it ratings.
I was overwhelmed. If it lasts and there’s buzz (mainly here on the boards) that it’s found it’s groove I’d give it another go, but I’m not looking to increase my TV time so to add it something else would have to go. It wasn’t that good, yet.
One question. Did they hire every unknown South Asian actor in LA for this show? (I mean, they already had one on each of the sitcoms on NBC on Thursdays, but this is a whole new level.)
I haven’t seen it and I suppose the idea is cute. I would love to see some Bollywood in there. But when you think about all the American jobs lost, outsourced to India, a comedy based on the wacky goings-on in India is kind of sad. (It’s as if a clothing factory in Ohio employing 200 people closed down and relocated to Mexico. Sitcom setup - a big wacky group of Mexicans work for peanuts doing former Americans’ jobs! Yeah, funny, I guess, if it weren’t for that big bunch of Ohioans now without jobs.)