Comedy feature 'Outsourced' to NBC

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC is heading east with "Outsourced," an India-set comedy based on the newly released indie film of the same name.

The story centers on a customer service manager in Seattle whose department is outsourced to India, and he goes there to train his replacement. The project explores the clash of the Western and Indian cultures, and chronicles the manager's romance with a local woman. NBC ordered a pilot script.

The premise of a romantic comedy about an American man falling for a woman from a different ethnic background draws parallels to another indie film, the smash hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." A half-hour series version of "Greek" ran briefly on CBS in early 2003.

"Outsourced" feature scribes George Wing ("50 First Dates") and John Jeffcoat are on board to write the pilot script. They also will serve as executive producers, along with pilot director Ken Kwapis ("The Office").

Jeffcoat also directed the movie, which stars Josh Hamilton and Ayesha Dharker and opened in limited release last month.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter