The Mindy Project

A quick review after the beginning of the 3rd season.

"The Mindy Project" is a very enjoyable, painless, quirky comedy.

It's about a ...colleague of mine...Dr. Mindy Lahiri and her relationships in modern New York City.

The script is usually very good. The jokes and some one-liners make you laugh effortlessly. Some physical humor is also present. Overall a comedy which is enjoyable and fresh.

A major plus the absence of a "fake laugh track". I don't know about you but I don't like comedies that are trying to tell me WHEN to laugh.

Watch it and it will make your mood!

The side characters can be funny, especially Ike Barinholtz's character, but essentially if you don't think you can grow to love Mindy as the flawed and often self-centred protagonist (basically a more developed "Kelly" from the Office) you probably won't enjoy this show.

The pilot episode had a few laughs but was underwhelming. That has changed with episode two where all the actors seems to have found their footing and the episode was very funny. Mindy's writing is sharp and if you like the humour on the Office, you should like this new series as well.

The supporting cast is pretty good as well, particularly Chris Messina whose susceptibility to irritation blends well with non stop chatter that is Mindy. There are swipes at the overemphasis of being politically correct in the workplace (just like in the Office), which makes for witty lines.

Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) is a single gal in the city. She's an OBGYN doctor in a Manhattan practice with Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), Jeremy Reed (Ed Weeks) and later Peter Prentice (Adam Pally). Morgan Tookers (Ike Barinholtz), Beverly (Beth Grant), Betsy Putch (Zoe Jarman) and Tamra (Xosha Roquemore) are the nurses.

With Mindy Kaling coming off of her memorable role in The Office, I was expecting something much better than the usual network fare. She has a few interesting takes but this is mostly the regular single-gal-in-the-city show. The most outrageous thing here is that she's a minority actor in the lead of a regular show. She doesn't really play up that fact. Other than a brother, her family aspect isn't used much. She plays up her chubbiness more than her ethnicity. Mindy does struggle from time to time to find the flow. Her revolving door of relationships does leave me scratching my head a little. However that happens in single gal shows all the time. My minor complaint is that this is not as daring as I hoped but it is still very good with excellent writing. After 3 seasons, it gets canceled by Fox but the show gets a second life elsewhere.

I must admit, when I originally started to watch the show I had low expectations. Mainly because though I'd previously enjoyed Mindy Kaling's portrayal of Kelly Kapoor on The Office (US), I'd seen characters who are hilarious in supporting roles not be able to translate that humor into an entire show based around them as the lead character... I'm looking at you cast of Seinfeld. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be completely wrong in this case.

This really is a great show that doesn't take itself to seriously. Also, I thoroughly enjoy the soundtrack. But the dialogue is where it's at... I'm actively working to make my friends converts for the show so I can start quoting it more... "We get it, you're smarter than us because you read the newspaper" -- it's like Mindy read my mind, people who read the news are just the worst, surpassed only by morning people.