“The Mindy Project,” one might assume, is just another Tuesday night comedy to skip over when flipping through the channels. However, this would be a huge blunder.
Mindy Kaling, the show’s writer and creator who previously played Kelly Kapoor on “The Office,” has masterfully taken all those cheesy thoughts that run through a girl’s mind and made them into one of the most comically appealing sitcoms currently on television.
The show details the struggles of a 31-year-old OB-GYN, Mindy Lahiri (Kaling), who wants to be the most successful doctor in the office and to find true love, but who is riddled with commitment issues. Mindy is basically attempting to transform from a somewhat immature woman stuck in a high school state of mind to a responsible and serious adult.
And she’s pretty much failing.
The writing is clever, the jokes are simple and the storyline is human, a combination that delivers heart and relatability to the screen.
Not only that, but Kaling manages to surround her female lead with an ensemble of characters who translate perfectly into the real world, which is surprising given that the show is written like a rom-com ““ a genre where characters tend to be overexaggerated.
First, there’s Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), the cocky rival doctor with whom Mindy has a love-hate relationship. Messina’s deadpan humor matches Kaling’s beat for beat and not only builds that tension needed for a successful rom-com relationship, but also fantastically highlights how well the show is written.
Then there’s the British heartthrob of the doctors’ practice, Jeremy Reed (Ed Weeks), the dreamy distraction keeping Mindy from her true romance. He’s horribly shallow, but Mindy can’t help herself.
It’s interesting to see how well Kaling has captured this very rom-com sentiment of liking the player who is easy with the truth and makes her feel great, over the dependable guy who is brutally honest, in her storyline. Weeks plays the role perfectly, his charming and suave persona bringing allure and likeability to the character who in a rational mindset should be hated.
The rivalry between the characters Jeremy and Danny is like two 14-year-old boys duking it out to see who’s really the coolest kid in school, except they’re actually upwards of 30, and the entire situation is a little ridiculous but still fun to watch.
Supporting characters include the office’s ditzy assistants, Betsy (Zoe Jarman) and Shauna (Amanda Setton), and Mindy’s “grown-up” best friend Gwen (Anna Camp), who together balance the silly and the sensible in the show, something Mindy herself also needs help with.
“The Mindy Project” is natural and unpretentious. The thing that makes it so enjoyable is that it doesn’t try too hard to be so incredibly funny, a problem far too many sitcoms suffer from these days.
It brings to the screen those feelings of self-doubt and desire for all-around success that viewers can connect to ““ and does so in a way that lightens what could be a truly depressing situation.
Not watching this show is truly self-deprivation of TV’s best comedy.
Email Boodaghians at lboodaghians@media.ucla.edu.