The Mindy Project is fall’s best new comedy


By
 1 Comment/in ,

Watch out Zooey Deschanel, there’s a new, new girl in town.

The Mindy Project hasn’t even officially premiered, yet the show starring and created by actress/writer Mindy Kaling already has viewers excited about this clever and fresh new comedy. The show began generating buzz last week thanks to Fox’s initiative to release its pilots to Hulu several weeks before their official airdates. This profitable method of promotion worked wonders for last year’s endearing New Girl, and the network is optimistic it will have a similar effect this time around.

While The Mindy Project and New Girl will be sharing a home in Fox’s new Tuesday comedy block, don’t be mistaken: Mindy Lahiri is no Jess Day. Those who may have found Deschanel’s wide-eyed character (and perhaps the actress herself) to be annoying and excessively quirky will take solace in the fact that Mindy is, for lack of a better term, the anti-Zooey.

Indecisive, dramatic, sexual, loud and a downright troublemaker: Kaling’s take on the contemporary 30-something female is refreshing in its edge and wit. Beyond that, it depicts a woman who is realizing that perhaps the fantastical stories of the romantic comedies she grew up with are nothing more than a disappointing fallacy about what love is supposed to be. “In high school, Tom Hanks was my first boyfriend,” says Mindy in the pilot episode.

Now a successful doctor, Mindy is trying to balance her work, love life, sex life, friendships and everything in between. Watching it all unfold is hilarious, but not by any means like watching a train wreck. Rather, we appreciate the show’s honesty and its ability to make us laugh at ourselves. In one way or another, we are Mindy, flaws and all, and we can’t help but love Kaling for creating a female lead whose quirks, while sometimes cringe worthy, are actually relatable. Goodbye incessant and superficial “adorkable-ness.” Hello, Mindy.

The Mindy Project airs Tuesdays 9:30/8:30c starting Sept. 25 on Fox, but you can check out the pilot and a trailer for the second episode “Eat Pray Whatever” right now on Hulu.com.

1 reply
  1. Ben Anderson
    Ben Anderson says:

    I’m looking forward to the new series this fall on TV. I haven’t looked too deeply at The Mindy Project. My coworker at Dish has been talking about it, and she said it looks pretty funny. I like the description of Mindy Kaling being the “anti-Zooey.” I think I will check The Mindy Project out, but on my DVR. I have the Hopper DVR which will automatically record The Mindy Project for me. It records all the prime time shows on the four major networks without having to set a reminder. Without having seen the new show; wouldn’t Emily Deschanel’s character on her show Bones be the opposite of Zooey Deschanel? Just a thought, Zooey and Emily play total opposites on their respective shows. I would watch Bones over New Girl any day.

Comments are closed.