Listen people, I'm not a big fan of the whole, "I'll just binge watch that show when it hits Netflix," generation. This is mainly because when shows really start to hit their stride, nobody is there to see it. Happy Endings went from "mediocre comedy" to "hilarious TV" at the start of the 3rd season, and I feel like I was the only one watching it. Then it got cancelled. At least Community will get the 5th (4th A) season it deserves.
Over at FOX, they seem to be doing something right. New Girl is running strong, with the 3rd season on the way. The Mindy Project got picked up for a second season, but the ratings could have been better. This is great for getting renewed for a second season, but FOX won't push a show that isn't doing well for too much longer (Futurama, Arrested Development, and even Family Guy got the axe due to low ratings). People need to watch The Mindy Project. That's why I'm here.
The Mindy Project is a show that my friends kind of mock me for watching. They think that Mindy Kaling is just "that annoying girl from The Office." Here's what they are forgetting. Mindy Kaling was part of the core writing staff that launched The Office and carried it through it's best years. She wrote the iconic "The Dundies" episode, "The Injury," where Michael Scott burns his foot in his Foreman Grill, and "Frame Toby," where Toby comes back from Costa Rica, and Michael is trying to get him fired by planting "drugs" in his desk. These are just my top 3, she wrote a lot of funny for that show for 8 seasons. So the girl has some street cred with comedy writing.
Now, Mindy Kaling has her own show, and the writing is still top notch. B.J. Novak (Ryan from The Office) has come with her as a producer, and has co-written an episode with Mindy Kaling as well. The main cast is great, focusing primarily on 3 obstetricians/gynecologists running their private practice. Dr. Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) is the title character, she's a rom-com lover, and her whole life revolves around finding a whirlwind romance, just like in the movies. Dr. Danny Castellano (Chris Messina) is a Springsteen loving "tough guy" New Yorker, who's wife ran out on him, and he hasn't really recovered from it. Dr. Jeremy Reed (Ed Weeks) is an English ladies man, who's had relations with Mindy in the past. He starts off a little two dimensional, but he starts to fill out around episode four. The cast works really well together, and all three of these actors are the core of that.
I'll admit, the pilot didn't really jump out at me, but I mostly hate comedy pilots (Arrested Development REALLY set the bar high for pilots). The second episode is the one that kicks it into high gear. They introduce Morgan (played by Ike Barinholtz, who is also a writer for the show), who is an ex-con who just wants to do well and prove he's a reformed, productive member of society. He also happens to love dogs, collecting mannequin heads, and hanging out at the local quarry. The introduction of this character is purely comic relief, being the one to always take everything too far. Even though an ex-con, the character of Morgan has a great innocence to him that makes all of his crude remarks 10 times funnier, just because he's saying them. He's got a giant stomach tattoo in Old English lettering that says, "No More Stealing Cars," to remind him of his sordid past.
This show has an amazing amount of guest stars for the first season. Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, and Seth Rogen are just a few. The show also gives the practice a rivalry. Mark and Jay Duplass play two brothers who are holistic midwives who work in the office above them. The doctors hate them for not being actual doctors and poaching patients from their practice.
Overall, the show takes you a lot of places, from a women's prison, to a New Mexico sweat lodge. There is a hip minister who has Moby DJ his sermons (it's actually Moby). In one story arc, Mindy gets involved with a man (BJ Novak) who has a "When Harry Met Sally" relationship with another women (Eva Amurri Martino), and it is apparent to everyone but the two of them. The show is able to keep it's "rom-com" theme throughout the entire season without feeling forced or boring.
The show had some initial problems, the network made them lose Stephen Tobolowsky (Ned Ryerson, Needle-Nosed Ned, Ned the Head) as the head of the practice, Amanda Setton played a receptionist who just gets written off of the show with little explanation, and Anna Camp (True Blood, Pitch Perfect) has her role, as Mindy's best friend/confidant, severely reduced after the fall run. Despite those fairly large set backs, the show went on, and still maintained it's unique brand of comedy.
With James Franco and Timothy Olyphant (Mindy Kaling wrote the episode of The Office that introduced Olyphant as their traveling salesman) already confirmed for guest spots in season 2, you know they aren't slowing down.
All I'm saying is, check this show out. Don't wait for syndication or Netflix, just tune in Tuesday September 17th, watch The Mindy Project so I don't have to say, "I told you so," in 4 years when everyone starts telling me how the show should have never gotten a shortened 3rd season, right before getting cancelled. Gonyon's on board, and you should be too (Shameless name drop, to get some Thundergonz heat).
Season 2 episode 1, right here!
http://www.fox.com/the-mindy-project/full-episodes/47017027744
I am gonyon and I agree
ReplyDeleteShut up Gonyon!
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