In non-election news, tipsters are blowing up our spot to tell us about The Papdits, a TV pilot being shown online at Innertube, CBS’s broadband outlet. The creator is someone called Ant Hines, who is credited as a co-writer on Da Ali G Show and Borat.
The Papdits are a fictional Indian family (Kashmiri, the website specifies, strangely) who go around the United States in an RV on a mission to purchase and operate quartz mines. (Bear with me here.) We see them in Arkansas interacting with local yokels who are unaware that this is a “reality/scripted hybrid” played by actors who want to make them look ridiculous. I got through the corny music and overdone accents and made it to the point where the daughter wants to “make toilet” in a lake off the side of a boat that the family is trying to rent. You can see it all here.
The show is coming out of what Variety calls “two years of development hell,” being first developed for — and rejected by — Fox, before landing with CBS:
When it came time to make a decision on a series greenlight, however, CBS decided the show was simply too out there for its relatively mainstream aud.
Out there??? Try idiotic, borderline racist, a complete dog!
But [CBS exec] Tellem said Eye execs were hard-pressed to simply dismiss the show, which prompted serious laughter in the net’s screening rooms last May. …
Execs quickly decided it made sense to put the Sony/CBS Par show on the net’s Innertube broadband service. Rather than just throw it on immediately, however, net opted to wait a few months in order to piggyback the online premiere of “The Papdits” with the release of another, similarly themed project: “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”
Yeah, just like Borat, right? No, for at least one salient reason: while Sacha Baron Cohen is not, in fact, Kazakh, Ant Hines found himself some real-life desis to play the Papdit family. The mother, father and son are played by Priya Ayyar, Nitin Ganatra, and Kunal Sharma. One trusts this will not be the culminating achievement of their careers. CBS, meanwhile, thinks it’s onto something, and Hines ends up a winner either way:
While it’s highly unlikely the Innertube exposure will lead to a CBS berth for “The Papdits,” Tellem doesn’t hesitate when asked whether more episodes of the project could end up on Innertube.
“Absolutely,” she said.
In the meantime, CBS has given Hines a vote of confidence, inking a deal with the scribe to develop a new project for next season.
UPDATE: I think The Papdits is awful, but Priya at Nirali has a different view. What do y’all think?
Jai, great essay. And I do see your point, both about what Anglo-Indians went through, and about the parallels between what happened in India so long ago with what’s going on in the UK today. BUT…I still got no love for Anglo-Indians (as a cultural identity). They looked down (and continue to look down) on our culture, and I have no tolerance for that…certainly not from the marginal remnants of a bygone colonial order. I wonder if Russel Peters would have ever embraced his Indian side if there was no money, fame, and (presumably) women in it.
i could only watch a mere 2 minutes at that before wanting to vomit..
remember the old ‘say no to drugs’ commercial…
frying pan: this is your brain with frying egg: this is your brain on drugs.. (sizzling away)
i just feel like i wasted 2 minutes of my so called life…with some neurons undergoing apoptosis at that.
hell if fox rejected it (and they cancelled arrested development) how could CBS not?
Amitabh,
I don’t know any Anglo-Indians personally and I don’t know too much about their attitudes back in India either, but the community came up as a side-issue to the main subject of what I was discussing on that article.
There are of course some very well-known examples of Anglo-Indians in the public eye, such as Engelbert Humperdinck. Well-known in the sense of the person being famous — I don’t know if people are generally aware of him having desi ancestry.
Anyway, thank you very much for your response to my article. When you have some spare time I’d recommend you go through the comments too — some of the other participants mentioned some more fascinating-but-unknown facts about the legacy of that era. And who knew that Britain has already had a Prime Minister with some Indian ancestry ? Even more intriguing is the number of present-day English people who may have desi blood too (there’s actually a programme on British television next week where a DNA test was performed on a random white Brit who regarded himself as being “100% Anglo-Saxon”, and genetically he turned out to be 20% South Asian !).
As for Russell Peters — well, he looks pretty damn Indian to me in terms of his appearance. Not sure if he could “pass” as anything else, even if he wanted to 😉
Russel Peters when he is mimicking his dad’s accent makes him sound like a Punjabi.
it’s the dreaded samosa gene.
all you gujus and kashmiri and maloos and anglos with thin pointy noses – beware of strangers bearing samosa noses – once you yield to the charm the samosa takes over. we will leave our stamp on your progeny ..
is the samosa in you,… yet?
mooahahahahahaha.. moaaahahaha
Very familiar with Anglo Indians. Also went to Catholic schools growing up in India. Know the Bible as well as the Gita, and alas, neither one of them too well.
My question: how come we don’t call the children of white and Indian marriages in this country Anglo Indians? I am going to call some of my “Anglo Indian” nieces and nephews this weekend and ask them what they call themselves, if anything.
I’m half white and half Indian, and I prefer to not use the term Anglo-Indian. My primary reason is that the term, in my mind, seems to be mostly associated with an Indian-British mix. My caucausian heritage is a mix of mostly Slovak and a little Hungarian (from my maternal grandfather) and on my maternal grandmother’s side, the family lineage is traced back to the Mayflower (which is at it’s root, British heritage, but many generations removed at this point). On my Dad’s side, the family lineage is all Indian. I suppose I shy away from the term Anglo-Indian because it feels inaccurate because only a fraction of my heritage is “anglo-saxon” and to use the word “anglo” would mean ignoring my eastern european heritage. Moreover, the part of my mom’s heritage that could be called “anglo-saxon” (the Mayflower connection) is far removed from the European continent and is also connected to something that many people would consider very American (the early European settlers on the continent).
I think that “white” heritage in the US is varied to the point that “anglo” does not describe most people. There are communties with ties to Russia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic (and many more) in addition to the communities with ties to Ireland, Scotland, England, etc. I think that “anglo” is far too narrow to describe all of these varied groups. So it is too simple to describe Desi mixes as “Anglo-Indian”
When I think about it, I realize that it’s kind of cool that there are so many cultural heritage groups mixing these days. Variety is the spice of life, right?
I have used a bunch of different terms over the years. I have used the lenghty “half-American-half-Indian-no-not-Native-American-Indian-as-in-“India”, Indian American, half-Desi, Eurasian, mixed, Desipean, etc. I haven’t settled on one yet. In general, questions about my ethnicity (because as most people tell me, I look like “something”) produce a conversation about culture and identity that extends beyond what can be included in a short descriptor, which is just fine with me. 😉
semidesimasala, asha’s dad – i will draw parallels wit the metis in canada – who are descended from french settlers and first nations – but have evolved a distinct culture/race(?) – may be just a function of critical mass. acadians/cajuns would be another example in the nrth american context.
I know the American whites cannot be correctly called Anglo, but I was merely wondering about why the Indians here, many of whom assume that Anglo simply means white, do not use the term to label the children of white-Indian marriages. Whatever the reasons, the less labeling the better.
I think it’s obvious why we don’t use the term ‘anglo-indian’ more widely…it refers to a specific, historically-defined community in India that came about though a certain process during the Raj, and has its own identity/culture/characteristics. It doesn’t simply refer to anyone who is half-desi and half-white. Just as African-American refers to a specific community in the US, with a specific historical background and cultural/ethnic process behind it. If a couple from Nigeria move to America today, their 2nd gen US-born kids are not ‘african-american’ in the same way that people from the historically-defined african-american community are.
Maybe razib could tell us more, but there was a fascinating study about English genes…the common understanding is that Anglo-Saxons (germanic people) invaded Britain, pushed aside the local Celtic people, and populated most of England. However the genetic story is different…it seems to support the idea that a small number of Anglo-Saxons invaded (or migrated over), intermarried with local people, and spread their Anglo-Saxon culture and language much more so than their genes…the majority of the populace having predominantly celtic genes to this day…there are apparently very few regions in the UK where the average person has more than 50% germanic genes. Maybe this is analagous to the situation with the Aryan Invasion Theory of India?
‘The Papdits’ was really painful to watch.
Amitabh,
Razib is definitely the best person to answer this. He actually talked about this topic on my own thread over on Pickled Politics — check out his posts #12, 39, 51 & 52. (Post #52 includes a link to Razib’s own blog where he talks about the “blood of the British”).
There’s an article in the online version of The Times which discusses the British programme next week which I mentioned earlier, and includes the results of DNA testing on Carol Thatcher, daughter of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. You’re not going to believe this — she turned out to be 1/4 Middle-Eastern. Online article here.
Aaaah the good old days-when burra sahibs and mem-sahibs could roam the mall road unmolested by the filthy natives. Alas liitle did mem-sahib know that burra sahib was the result of a horny encounter betwixt the elder burra sahib and the untouchable jamadarni who came to collect shit from the outdoor toilets.
Razib, you save your intellectual firepower for other blogs I see! Shame, we can use it here when not discussing South Asian versus Indian all the time. You’ve got a absolutely stunning intelligence my friend!
You guys all take yourselves way too seriously!! I love you Expressa & Mr. Kobayashu!! This show does not make fun of Indians it makes fun of Americans. If I was from AK I would be upset that I am being protrayed as an idiot! Who cares if a South Indian is protraying a North Indian! I am just happy that a TV show about Indian family was developed. I thought that the show was funny!! I laughed so hard that my cheeks hurt! I hope that we see more of the Papdits!!
i DEFINATELY do not want to threadjack, but what about the other indians in television? there are a few now. what about that dude on HEROES? [nbc] and anchal on america’s next top model? Anchal’s out now, but a few episodes ago she was rocking desi.
I know I’m late to the party, but I’m just watching this now. I hate to disagree with my girl Priya, but I have to admit I didn’t find it funny, either. Arrested Development was genius; this was a poor imitation.
i liked it – thought it was great. laughed my ass off.
arrested dev got canceled, and yes it was genius. family guy got canceled as well before getting picked back up after fox realised it was a hit – and that they (fox) were late to the party. borat is a success because it feeds off this same notion that humour is changing in america, and that it’s ok to laugh at people/cultures… perhaps a backlash to political correctness. best example of this is dave chapelle – who made fun of everyone – but mostly his own race. the jokes are even better when one actually knows more about the the cultures involved. the daily show is another prime example of lowbrow-highbrow humour. one has to know what they are making fun of in the first place. to be able to laugh on both levels, and hopefully in the process, yourself, is the point.
Just saw the Papdits. AWFUL. Not just awful, but offensive. Seems like the creator of both Borat and the Papdits has something against brown people.
I think the reason why the Papdits didnt get picked up and Borat did is because not many people are knowledgable about Kazakstan. Most Americans probably think its somewhere in the Middle East. Obviously, India and Indians are more well known. Networks knew it wouildnt fly over.
What is more amazing is how Madhur Jaffrey (the grandmother) agreed to do this crap?? I mean come on – hanging people in the trees? Crapping in tupperware? What is this nonesense?
Wow.
Wow. I mean…wow.
I got to 4:45 and then I could no longer bear another second of it. Didn’t laugh once, didn’t even smile. “We don’t know how she got out of the sack?” “Can she make toilet here?” “This is…the widow.” Let’s not forget the egregious gerund abuse. That sucked even harder than I expected it to…I can’t believe I wasted four minutes getting a plugin so that I could watch that garbage.
Here’s the biggest problem with the Papdits– IT’S NOT FUNNY. Quit comparing it to Borat…THAT guy is funny.
I theeeenk we should play “Throw the Gujju Down the Well”. The loser has to make sexytime with the monkeys in the bunker.
ANNA — You very lovely laydee with long legs that go all the way up to your waist. How much you cost ?
😉
I suffered through Borat last night. It was awful. I cracked a smile twice. Gross out humor just doesn’t do it for me.
Abhi,
I theeenk you are just slightly gussafied because the other Mutineers keep throwing you down the well, no ?
good one.
ok.. so i’m clearly out of touch with the majority of SM. thats fine. I can understand that the Papdits are not for everyone. But I cannot accept the argument that Borat is different or better. Borat is actually much more aggressive (he chases people!) and crude (incest jokes/murder jokes/incessant woman/jew bashing). Note this in-character interview by FHM.
I don’t think it is fair to say Borat is less offensive that this. The Papdits make jokes about widow-burning and infanticide. It doesn’t get more obscene or offensive than that.
I remember when this women “Priya Ayyar” came to my house as a little girl and played by Memory, beethoven !!! It was a long time ago in Lompoc California, But you can say!! Her long time friend from long ago, Robert Lee is proud of her. The star she was is now seen by the whole world !!!