(Due to TIFF, regular blogging won’t resume until the end of next week. I’ll be writing all about my TIFF adventures at MSN.ca and tweeting from @jen_mcdonnell, so please be sure to check that out. Also, I see lots of people are searching this blog for news about Aaron Paul’s TIFF movie, Smashed. The premiere isn’t until Sept. 12. Don’t worry, I’ll be on it like a meth addict on blue crystal!
In the meantime, my BFF Nicole and I have been IM’ing about the five buzziest fall TV shows. Check out our previous post on Elementary. Today’s target: The Mindy Project!)
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9:30 p.m. on Fox and CityTV
Up Against: The New Normal, Emily Owens, M.D., Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, NCIS: LA
Premise: Mindy Kaling plays a 30-something OB/GYN who’s doing well professionally, but her personal life is a mess (the pilot opens with her getting arrested after making a drunken speech at her last boyfriend’s wedding). She’s yearns for a romantic comedy love life, and she’s set up for just that: she’s in a friends-with-benefits relationship with a hot British doctor (Ed Weeks), and is frenemies with another hot OB/GYN (Chris Messina).
Our Take:
Jen: I love, love, love Mindy Kaling. Love her in The Office, love her book, love her! But I’m not completely in love with her show yet.
Nicole: I really liked this show. It’s bumpy for sure, but cute.
Jen: Bumpy but cute is the perfect way to describe it. I found it very charming, but very uneven. And the title? Ugh!
Nicole: They’ve done an excellent job setting up the sexual tension/triangle and the douche doctor (played by Chris Messina) is super spiteful. I hate him already.
Jen: I almost think they made him too mean. He’s obviously going to be her main love interest eventually. We should be rooting for him a bit more than the first episode lets us.
Nicole: I’m going to guess that it will take no longer than episode 3 before the British doctor punches the mean doctor over her or vice-versa.
Jen: And the fact that she’s sleeping with the uber-hot British doctor really doesn’t help her character’s whole “feel bad for me; my life’s a mess!” vibe.
Nicole: AGREED.
Jen: That storyline almost felt like wish fulfillment on Mindy Kaling’s part. “Hey, I want to make out with a hot guy so I’m going to write that into the script.”
Nicole: Fashion-wise, I thought she was really well-styled apart from that terribe Herve Leger dress she wore on her first date with Ed Helms’ character. Yuck.
Jen: Right? I mean, her first outfit choice was meant to be terrible but the supposed improvement was a bandage dress? Really?
Nicole: But I do wonder if she wanted to reshoot the final scene after this was published.
Jen: Ha!
Nicole: How embarrassing.
Jen: That being said, there were genuinely laugh-out-moments. And I adored all of the ’90s rom-com references.
Nicole: Same. Mindy Kaling is crazy pretty, too.
Jen: I didn’t love the pilot, but there is enough potential for it to become one of my faves. And it helps that Fox paired it with New Girl (which also started out rough, and then became awesome).
Nicole: New Girl + The Mindy Project: that’s a guaranteed hour of TV for me.
Jen: I hate that it’s up against Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, but that’s what PVRs are for. This show, plus New Girl, Suburgatory and Apt. 23 will make for a solid Tuesday night girl-powered comedy block.