After taking some time to get to know his new staff of sales people in India on the new series 'Outsourced' (Thu., 9:30PM on NBC), Todd (Ben Rappaport) got some bad news about them this week. But at least his boss, Jerry, made the presentation of the news interesting.

Talking to Todd from the United States via video chat, Jerry took advantage of the technology to put up different images behind himself. He launched it with the illusion that he was on an amusement park ride, with the bad pun, "It's been a roller coast of a day."

Todd's assistant manager Rajiiv (Rizwan Manji) was on hand so that he could meet Jerry, and he was immediately impressed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir, "he said. "I'm enjoying the American irreverence you bring to video chatting."


But then Jerry got serious, explaining to Todd that he had him conduct employee evaluations because revenue was down and Todd was going to have to cut one of his employees. When Todd tried to fight for them, Jerry changed his background to the brick wall we see in classic stand-up comedy shots.

"How many Indians does it take to sell novelties?" he asked to dead silence. "One less than you have now."

The actor playing Jerry isn't listed among the series regulars, but we think this bit could be utilized for great comedy on a regular basis. Every time Todd has to check in with headquarters back home, Jerry could be using different kinds of backgrounds to say serious things in comedic contexts. At least these scenes would be immune from the criticisms of the show about racial stereotypes of the Indian people and culture.