The Post Apu Era: The Aftermath of NBC’s Outsourced

We have come a long way- Asians in the media, especially from an era of “Fu Manchu,” Mickey Rooney’s “Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and of course Apu on The Simpsons.

Yes, the first ever American sitcom to star a primarily South Asian cast has managed to slip under the radar, as it was expected to be so much more, in this ‘”post Apu era.” Last week’s premiere of Outsourced on NBC was an adaptation of a sleeper-hit film of the same name, which was released in 2006.

With the show being a “moon-landing” of sorts, I hosted a private premiere party for some of my closest desi (South Asian) and non-desi friends (complete with samosas and all, of course!). We watched the premiere, and while there were undoubtedly some funny knee slapping moments when the room burst into laughter, there were also some very awkward moments that left the room silent– like when Rizwan Manji’s character “Rajiv” suggests to fire one of the employees because she is of a lower caste. Ouch. Un-necessary.

We sat in silence for about 30 seconds after the credits, milling over the appropriate critique. The words “too safe,” “cautious,” “confusing,” “cop-out,” “lazy,” and “un-funny” entered the room.

It took me an entire weekend to mill over my thoughts and to explore how I really felt about it all. Some of the critics had the following to say:

“Nope, I didn’t cry exactly, but I definitely frowned. My eyebrows wrinkled. The show struck me as more irritatingly lazy than out-of-touch, considering most of the bits that could be labeled offensive were also just unfunny.”

Malika Rao, Entertainment Weekly, Pop Watch

“Some of the show’s humor is predictable, like the bit centering around names.”

Tripti Lahiri, The Wall Street Journal

“I said Outsourced was careful — too careful, probably, to be very funny.”

Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

In a more positive note, our very own 8Asian John Lin had to say,

“Overall, our 8Asian bloggers found the sitcom bad to awful, but I thought it was okay and had potential. I’d like to give the show the benefit of the doubt, especially since one episode does not make the show.”

From our 8Asians Facebook page, Lloyd Quinto asserts,

“It wasn’t as offensive as I thought – just juvenile and tragically unfunny. The film had heart, the tv show was missing that….And let’s be honest, you watch The Office because it’s funny – not because the white characters are stereotypical and one dimensional and don’t represent the entire spectrum of the caucasian race. Outsourced just needs to be funny and have heart. In the end, it’s a sitcom – laugh.”

As Jay Sean says, let’s bring it back: It’s 1994, and Margaret Cho’s All American Girls debuts on ABC. Was America ready for an Asian family to enter their homes weekly via TV? Margaret received notes from producers and critics about being “too Asian.” Due to poor ratings, producers fired the entire Asian cast, with the exception of Margaret, and replaced them with white co-stars. 16 years later, can we say Americans are ready for South Asians to enter their homes weekly via TV? Are people going to say that Manmeet, played by Sacha Dawan is “too Indian?”

At any rate, we live in a “Post Apu era” where Mindy Kaling can be a dramatic Valley Girl-esque airhead on The Office, where Aziz Ansari can be the urban inspired woman crazy sly talker in Parks and Recreations and where Archie Punjabi can win an Emmy for her role on The Good Wife for being a sexy and cunning PI.

Some people may think that NBC’s Outsourced can go either way on the scale, tipped into the realm of a hack-ish racial quagmire or an eye-opening introduction of Indian culture to a mass who has been conditioned to associate the typical South Asian to the Quickie Mart’s lovable (yet grossly degrading) Apu.

I’m currently personally reserving judgment on the premiere, but I do have to say that I am quite happy that Americans are getting more exposure to the clothing, colors, and sounds of our culture. The soundtrack is my favorite part thus far. Whether it will resonate with the rest of America…We shall wait and see.