Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of people who may think they can top my Whack-a-Gupta score of 725… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
A few things I learned about “Gupta,” perhaps the nuttiest sitcom character on network TV in years:
• He can’t drive. Not a bike, not a car.
• He likes to watch. His boss. In bed. Sleeping. Not sleeping.
• He loves the break room cookies. Sorry, Madhuri.
• He looks a lot like his glasses-wearing cousin.
• He knows how to wear a giant ear and spy on his bosses.
• And he can break into Bollywood-style song and dance at a moment’s notice.
When “Outsourced” debuted on NBC last September, I have no doubt that Gupta – played to perfection by actor Parvesh Cheena – was one of the characters that set the tongues of TV critics wagging. He was a stereotype and not a good one at that they thought! But given some space to become a three-dimensional figure, Gupta was discovered to be the essence of sweetness, with a few necessary quirks. He could just as easily have been Kenneth the Page on “30 Rock” or even Creed on “The Office.”
PARVESH CHEENA podcast excerpt: “I secretly always thought Gupta would one day be with Madhuri in a spinoff: ‘Madhuri Tolerates Gupta.’ As opposed to ‘Joanie Loves Chachi.'”
And as the actor playing Gupta, Cheena – like his goofy, guileless counterparts on other NBC Thursday night shows – had to let go of all inhibitions. He succeeded magnificently.
Parvesh Cheena Website • Twitter • Order Outsourced: The Complete Season from Amazon.com
The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!