When I heard about the new comedy “Outsourced” my first thought was, that’s not funny.  At all.

The sad reality that jobs are being taken from Americans and being outsourced to India, is now a comedy?  How is that funny? Unemployment is at an all time high.  People can’t find jobs.  They are losing their homes.  Their savings.  Their everything.

And it wasn’t just someone. It was a whole group of people, and then a whole network, thought a show about people in India, who now have jobs that were taken from American’s was… Genius!  Cutting Edge! Hilarious!  One that would sell lots of advertising!  From companies that moved all their American jobs to India.  And we would still buy their products.  Paradoxically.

“Hey, did you see the one episode where Sally in Cleveland is let go from her job of 30 years to Gupta in India, because it’s cheaper to hire there. And the new employee, Gupta, flourishes while Sally’s bank forecloses on her home and her unemployment benefits run out and she can’t find another job and the strain on her marriage is too much and she ends up divorced and her kids won’t talk to her anymore.  HILARIOUS!”

And weirdly, this comes from the same network that gave us great, smart, well written comedies like 30 Rock and Community.

Oh, I know!  Outsourced should have been a “reality” show.  That way one camera could follow Sally and one follow Gupta and we could see how “outsourcing” affected their lives.  Oh the drama!

Oddly, you never hear about jobs lost to India much in the press.  Even companies considered ‘Good ol’ American’ like Target have outsourced jobs to India.  Target quietly ends jobs here and re-hires for the same job in India.  And we unknowingly bounce along and keep buying their products.  Cute little doggie mascot!  But even if we DID know, what are we going to do about it?  Individually?  Pointless.  As a mass?  Maybe. But, where will we buy our goods?  Where will we go to buy everything in one place?  And I guess we need to keep those people in India employed. It is a global economy, right?

For Americans to laugh lightlheartedly at shows like Outsourced and continue to flounder foward, makes me think of that film, Idiocracy.

Hey, while were at it, why don’t we make a comedy about Catholic priests who fancy little boys.  Or how about one where women aren’t allowed to get an education or drive a car and get stoned to death for small crimes.  Or how about one where a whole country is so poor, the people don’t even have clean drinking water.  HILARIOUS!

I could get Arnold Schwarzenegger to play himself!  Genius!

It’s not the show that’s the problem, if only it were make believe, but it’s not.  It’s about something tragic that is happening across America.  Or maybe it’s all in how you look at it.  Maybe the writers secret mission is to bring attention to, and make more people aware of, the problem. Then I would think the show was genius.

Before I wrote this, I watched one episode.  I thought it was only fair to watch at least one if I was going to mouth off about it.  And nope, watching it didn’t change my mind at all.