<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 2107 -- 6/06/2010 >>>>>
NBC will soon debut a new sitcom called "Outsourced". I watched the trailer
(link after commentary) and thought it was quite hilarious while at the
same time raising cultural and societal issues in the United States versus
India. If NBC can resist the temptation to devolve the show into typical
sitcom banality it could be used to raise many issues that have been
largely ignored by the mainstream media such as job loss, ethnicity,
national identity, and globalism.
The show is not subtle about its portrayal of Indians as clever and
conniving (and willing to lie and cheat), and Americans as stupid
narcissistic consumers (like the Sex and the City girls). Hopefully NBC
won’t go further with these insulting stereotypes.
It’s not clear if Americans who are the victims of outsourcing will
appreciate the humor. Time will tell when the ratings come in. Of course
U.S. ratings might not tell the entire story since like most globally
oriented entertainment, this show has the potential to be marketed in many
places throughout the world.
If there is an ulterior motive to the show it might be discerned by
considering that General Electric owns NBC. GE pioneered outsourcing and
mass layoffs under the leadership of "Neutron" Jack Welch, who cleared out
GE offices with the efficiency of Neutron Bombs that leave the buildings
but kill the people -- hence the nickname. Could the TV show be nothing but
a propaganda ploy to get Americans more accepting of the dubious deceptions
that goes on in outsourcing call centers?
I tried to find out how much of the TV show is produced in the U.S. versus
India in order to verify or deny the irony of rumors the show is truly
outsourced. The TV show depicts scenes with Indian trainees who are
instructed to lie about their nationality, so it’s doubtful that the
production company would release accurate and reliable. Some of it is
definitely filmed in California. Many of the scenes look like India but
they could almost as easily be in 21st Century Silicon Valley! Is
"Outsourced" made in the USA or is it in reality just another industry that
has been outsourced to India?
This excerpt from the Seattle Times gives a good synopsis:
Winner of the best film award at the 2007 Seattle International
Film Festival, "Outsourced" is the story of a laid-off Seattle
retail manager who travels to India to train his replacement at
a call center -- and falls in love with a fellow employee.
"George and I always felt that the show shouldn’t be a carbon
copy of the movie," said Jeffcoat. "We wanted to bring it someplace
else, to a modern call center. There are a lot of changes.
The comedy is definitely broader than in the movie, so that’s
going to be interesting to see how people respond to it."
Locally made ‘Outsourced’ joins NBC fall lineup, Seattle Times,
May 7, 2010
There is no shortage of web forums that voice disgust over "Outsourced" but
not many articles have been written about the potential for backlash.
"Is NBC’s ‘Outsourced’ Funny Or Offensive?" raises some great
questions:
Will Americans laugh at a sitcom about outsourcing their jobs to
India? With our country reeling from the deepest recession and the
largest job losses in india-call-centerdecades? NBC certainly
thinks so. The network just bet big on the premise by picking up
the provocatively titled Outsourced as its first new primetime
comedy series order for next season. By tackling such a touchy
subject, NBC is guaranteed free publicity because of the inevitable
controversy over its new comedy series. And that may distinguish it
in next fall’s cluttered landscape where more than 90% of new shows
fail.
IMPORTANT LINKS AND ARTICLES:
web version of newsletter:
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2010/06/04/new-nbc-tv-show-called-outsourced/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2011810268_outsourced08.html
Locally made 'Outsourced' joins NBC fall lineup
http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/is-nbcs-outsourced-funny-or-offensive/
Is NBC's 'Outsourced' Funny Or Offensive?
NBC TV trailer
http://www.nbc.com/outsourced/video/outsourced-full-length-trailer/1228242/
Cast Interviews
http://www.nbc.com/outsourced/video/outsourced-cast-interviews/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425326/
Movie Database on 2006 Outsourced movie
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2010/06/03/sex-and-the-city/
"Sex and the City"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/sep2002/wlch-s17.shtml
General Electric’s Jack Welch and the corporate plundering of America
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2011810268_outsourced08.html
Friday, May 7, 2010 - Page updated at 04:16 PM
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal
use, must be obtained from The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail
resale@seattletimes.com with your request.
Locally made 'Outsourced' joins NBC fall lineup
By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic
"Outsourced," the popular 2006 romantic comedy made by local filmmakers,
will soon arrive on the small screen. NBC announced Friday that it has
picked up the show, along with two other new series, for its fall season.
The series pilot, shot earlier this spring, was initially scripted by
Seattleites John Jeffcoat (director/co-writer of the film) and George Wing
(co-writer), and given a recent rewrite by L.A.-based writer Robert Borden.
Jeffcoat and Wing, interviewed by phone Friday, said that credit
arbitration is currently ongoing to determine whether they will receive a
full or shared writing credit for the pilot.
The two will be consulting producers for the series, and are negotiating
other writing and/or directing involvement for the show's first season.
Winner of the best film award at the 2007 Seattle International Film
Festival, "Outsourced" is the story of a laid-off Seattle retail manager
who travels to India to train his replacement at a call center —
and falls in love with a fellow employee.
"George and I always felt that the show shouldn't be a carbon copy of the
movie," said Jeffcoat. "We wanted to bring it someplace else, to a modern
call center. There are a lot of changes. The comedy is definitely broader
than in the movie, so that's going to be interesting to see how people
respond to it."
Ken Kwapis ("The Office") developed the project and is executive producer
for the series. Ben Rappaport will play the transplanted manager; other
cast members include Rizwan Manji, Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh
Cheena, Anisha Nagarajan, Diedrich Bader and Jessica Gower. Writing and
production will begin in earnest in June, for a not-yet-specified fall
premiere.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/is-nbcs-outsourced-funny-or-offensive/
Is NBC's 'Outsourced' Funny Or Offensive?
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tags: Comedy, Networks, TV | Sunday May 9, 2010 @
3:12pm PDT
Comments 70 Email This | Print This | Bookmark and Share
Will Americans laugh at a sitcom about outsourcing their jobs to India?
With our country reeling from the deepest recession and the largest job
losses in india-call-centerdecades? NBC certainly thinks so. The network
just bet big on the premise by picking up the provocatively titled
Outsourced as its first new primetime comedy series order for next season.
By tackling such a touchy subject, NBC is guaranteed free publicity because
of the inevitable controversy over its new comedy series. And that may
distinguish it in next fall's cluttered landscape where more than 90% of
new shows fail.
According to NBC's official description, the set-in-India workplace series
"centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties whose call
center has suddenly been outsourced to India and a manager, played by Ben
Rappaport, is being transferred to India to run the operation. Supposedly,
the socio-economic aspects of exporting American jobs to India are not
expected to be front and center story-wise. Instead, the series is billed
as "the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash". The
sitcom is based on the 2006 romantic comedy by the same name which won the
best film award at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival.
In the movie, a Seattle retail manager Todd Anderson, is told to travel to
Gharapuri to train his replacement. Once there, he encounters a bunker-like
call center filled with willing novices who are supposed to learn how to
sound American. (They mispronounce his name "Toad".) "Todd just lost his
job. Now he has to find his life... Call centre chaos... What really
happens at the other end of the line!" were some of the movie tag lines.
Todd finds that he must learn about the Indian culture before he can even
think of Americanizing his subordinates with help from the new assistant
manager who becomes his love interest.
Though the timing of the TV series seems intentional, NBC first developed
Outsourced more then 2 years earlier. That series pilot was initially
scripted by Seattleites John Jeffcoat (director/co-writer of the film) and
George Wing (co-writer). It was brought back almost by accident by TV/film
director Ken Kwapis (The Office, He's Just Not That Into You, License To
Wed), who developed that project in its first incarnation. This development
season, NBC approached him to helm another pilot, but he urged the execs to
revisit Outsourced instead.
This season's pilot was given a rewrite by LA-based scribe Robert
Borden,and Jeffcoat and Wing told the Seattle Times a few days ago that a
credit arbitration is currently ongoing. Though NBC's announcement said
only Borden and Kwapis are getting EP credit and the movie's writers have
no producing credit, the pair told the local media they'll be consulting
producers for the new series and are negotiating writing and/or directing
involvement on the first season. "George and I always felt that the show
shouldn't be a carbon copy of the movie," Jeffcoat told the Seattle Times.
"There are a lot of changes. The comedy is definitely broader than in the
movie, so that's going to be interesting to see how people respond to it."
Recession-themed comedies were popular last pilot season and one, ABC’s
Hank starring Kelsey Grammer as a Wall Street executive losing his job,
made it onto the air -- but then lasted only a handful episodes. In that
case, it’s safe to say the demise came because the show wasn't good, but
the recession overtones might have been a contributing factor. This year,
NBC has another hot comedy pilot that touches upon the economic downturn,
This Little Piggy, about adult siblings moving in with their older brother
after falling on hard times. But both Hank and Piggy reflect the
recession’s impact on American families, while Outsourced goes to the
heart of a sensitive economic and social issue. Normally, social issues
resonate deeper with people in the more conservative middle and southern
regions of the country. But NBC’s upscale workplace comedies which
Outsourced will join, like 30 Rock and The Office, tend to draw most from
the more liberal coasts.
But outsourcing is actually a subject that touches a nerve even in largely
liberal and open-minded Hollywood. Sony Pictures Entertainment recently
became the latest studio to ship most of its IT operations to India,
resulting in mass layoffs. And the making of subtitles for American DVDs
has now been largely outsourced to India as well. On the other hand, each
broadcast network still has to depend on American audiences to tune into
its TV shows for successful ratings. Because, at least for now, those
viewers can’t be outsourced.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/sep2002/wlch-s17.shtml
General Electric’s Jack Welch and the corporate plundering of America
By Jeremy Johnson
17 September 2002
Divorce papers filed in court earlier this month against retired General
Electric Corporation Chairman and CEO John F. Welch Jr. provided a glimpse
into the lifestyle of America’s corporate elite. In her suit to dissolve
their 13-year marriage, Jane Beasley Welch complains that the $35,000 per
month offered by her husband is nowhere near enough to maintain the
"extraordinary" standard of living that they enjoyed together.
Her papers quantify $126,820 in monthly expenses incurred by the couple,
not counting sizable additional amounts paid by General Electric as perks
to its former chief executive. Among the most significant items, GE
provides a company-owned luxury apartment at the Trump International Hotel
and Towers on Central Park West in New York City. Besides allowing Welch to
live there rent-free, GE picks up the tab for such additional necessities
as fresh flowers, wine, laundry and dry cleaning services, a cook and wait
staff, a housekeeper, and every other detail down to toiletries, newspaper
and magazine subscriptions, even postage. GE also pays a portion of
Welch’s dining bills at the exclusive restaurant Jean Georges, which is
located in the building.
Additionally, Welch receives a free grand tier box at the Metropolitan
Opera, memberships at four country clubs, including Georgia’s prestigious
Augusta National, court-side tickets to New York Knicks basketball games,
box seats behind the dugout at Yankee Stadium plus a skybox for the Boston
Red Sox, prime tickets to the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open tennis
tournaments, VIP tickets to all Olympic events, and unlimited use of a
corporate Boeing 737 jet. The cost of this last item alone is estimated at
$291,869 a month.
The list goes on. GE pays for Welch’s limousine and driver in New York,
bodyguards when he travels abroad, satellite TV installations in his New
York apartment and his three other homes in Massachusetts, Connecticut and
Florida. And, Mrs. Welch reports, GE contributed $7.5 million over the
course of their marriage to help furnish the four homes with appliances,
security systems and sophisticated computer and telecommunications
equipment, with GE employees assisting with the installation.
All of these "fringe" benefits supplement a retirement agreement that
includes a pension of over $9 million a year and a health insurance and
life insurance package that Welch negotiated with the GE board of directors
in 1996 when he agreed to extend his tenure as chief executive until age
65. The contract specified that upon retirement, Welch would retain
"lifetime access to company facilities and services" comparable to those
made available to him as CEO. Welch formally retired on September 1 of last
year, but, in addition to everything else, he receives a consulting fee of
$86,535 for his first 30 days of work each year, plus $17,307 for each
additional day.
Yet another company-paid perk is the cost of financial planning services to
help Welch manage his fortune, estimated at $900 million.
In statements released on September 6, neither Welch nor General Electric
disputed the extent of the perks, most details of which had never been
revealed to shareholders. GE spokesperson Gary Sheffer insisted that the
company had complied with all legal disclosure requirements, while Welch
asserted that the arrangement had "worked to the benefit of all
constituencies."
Welch has been lionized as the model corporate executive for producing
higher profits year after year. He is credited by his corporate admirers
with almost single-handedly turning GE from a company valued at $15 billion
when he took over to one valued at over $400 billion when he retired a year
ago. Since then, the company stock has declined some 25 percent, in spite
of reporting a 15 percent increase in six-month profits this year to $7.94
billion.
His ruthless methods earned Welch the nickname "Neutron Jack" among GE
workers, due to the layoffs he carried out soon after taking over. In the
course of the 1980s Welch cut some 100,000 jobs.
He established the principle of selling off any subsidiaries that failed to
maintain a number one or number two market share in their respective