Fangirl Friday--The Mindy Project

I love sitcoms. Love them. Always have. What's better than a sweet, happy story told in under thirty minutes that makes you laugh and feel good, gives you a brief pick-me-up and leaves you with a smile remembering the antics of your favorite characters? Nothing, that's what. I've loved sitcoms for as long as I can remember, watching reruns of Diff'rent Strokes after school and first runs of Family Ties on Sunday nights before bedtime. Friends is my all-time favorite TV show, the DVDs of the complete series being one of the best purchases I've ever made, with The Cosby Show a close second. Remember, I talked about my love for Clair Huxtable in a previous Fangirl Friday.

In the decade since Friends went off the air there have been other sitcoms that have been good enough, like How I Met Your Mother and The Office, but nothing has captivated me like The Mindy Project. A fan since the pilot, I honestly wasn't sure the show would make it through it's second season, but it found its feet last year and has been consistently funny in a quirky, unique way ever since. With a great cast, hilarious hijinks, and relationship development that keeps you coming back for more, Mindy the best sitcom on TV right now. Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you why it shouldn't be missed!


Lets Start with Roll Call. The cast of characters on this show are supremely talented and always hilarious. 

Dr. Mindy Lahiri is our title character, an OB/GYN with killer fashion sense, a boatload of confidence, not much awareness of current events, and an abundance of pop culture knowledge. She is hilariously shallow in her worldview, but she loves deeply and takes care of those in her tribe. Truly, truly one of the best characters on TV, it's a travesty that Mindy Kahling doesn't have a mantle full of awards for this character when she clearly throws her entire self into her role, unafraid to take comedic risks. 

 
Dr. Danny Castellano is Mindy's co-partner at Shulman and Associates, their OB/GYN practice. A middle-aged, Italian-American divorcee, Danny is devoutly Catholic complete with all of the guilt and hang-ups of a modern man who is divorced. With biting wit and sometimes harsh criticisms I was not a fan of Danny in the beginning. The episode where Mindy tries to make Danny be her doctor is alternately hilarious and painful. But Mindy and Danny developed a respect that turned to friendship that turned to romance, and now they are one of my favorite couples on television. More on that in a bit. Danny's red reading glasses, his gingerbread houses, and his little old man who doesn't get technology tendencies--I love it all I did not like him at first, but now he's one of my favorite characters. His layers make for a truly great character.

Morgan Tookers. Oh my god, Morgan is fantastic. I adore how much Morgan loves Mindy, how much he loves his job, the fact that he's worked hard to overcome circumstances but still remains loyal to his family. His ridiculous one-liners, the colorful characters he brings into the show, Morgan cracks me up every single episode. 

 


The Partners: Peter Prentiss and Jeremy Reed. I love how these two characters have changed over time, and I love that they are such foils for one another. Jeremy is a suave(ish), dedicated doctor, who is a grown-up. Peter, on the other hand, is goofy and immature, in the most ridiculous way.

Okay, the cast is superb, and the show is hilarious. But the very best thing about The Mindy Project is the romance between Mindy and Danny. It was just a wonderful slow burn and we Wenches do love us some slow burn. When Danny kissed her on the plane I sighed. When he grabbed her ass while doing it? Well, that was perfection.




 

I was not thrilled when Danny decided to slow it down, but I was hopeful that he'd see the light soon. In one of the best season finales of the year, a spectacular nod to romantic comedies, Danny did see the light and, again, it was perfect. And hot.



As so often happens when a show moves the slow burn to an actual relationship, I was afraid we would return from hiatus to silly problems, or maybe Dandy realizing that they had made a mistake, but Mindy Kahling has assured us that they won't jerk the fans around, and that they realize it will be interesting to explore these two romantically inept people building a relationship together. So far this season, that's exactly what we've seen, and it's been glorious. I fucking love Danny and Mindy together, even more than the sexual tension. Here are some great Dandy moments...

This was ridiculously hot.

So, that last one...I can't do a Fangirl Friday without mentioning that Danny Castellano dances. Dances well. I'll share with you two clips to wrap this up. The first one, Danny choreographs a dance for Mindy as a Christmas present. It was surprising, perfect, magnificent.

The second one, well, just watch the season three premiere. Which ends with this. I am such a sucker for a man who can dance. Enjoy.

The Mindy Project is my favorite sitcom on TV right now. Do you love Mindy and the gang as much as I do, Saucy Reader? What's your favorite current sitcom? Share your thoughts in the comments below!