In a year with no "must-see" comedy pilots, it would appear Fox gets to, once again, hold the title of Most Anticipated New Comedy. After launching New Girl, the network turned Zooey Deschanel and the rest of the cast (particularly Jake Johnson and Emmy-nominated Max Greenfield) into overnight stars and the comedy earned Fox some of its best ratings in years. This year, Fox is trying to make magic again with The Mindy Project. Created and co-produced by it's star Mindy Kaling (she was a co-executive producer, writer, and actress on NBC's The Office), The Mindy Project is hoping to find the same success as that other show about a grown woman finding her footing after the end of a relationship. After Fox previewed the New Girl pilot a month before it's actual debut last year, they decided to do the same with two of their new comedies, including The Mindy Project. Now that I have seen the episode, I can give you all the exclusive details on The Mindy Project pilot! First, I should clear the air about the comparisons to New Girl: the first episode of The Mindy Project is not as good as the first episode of New Girl, and Deschanel is better than Kaling. While that may seem discouraging, it should be recognized that New Girl's pilot is Emmy-nominated and is considered one of the best comedy pilots in years, in addition to the fact that the pilot for The Mindy Project is actually good, just not as good. Mindy Kaling is very good in the lead role, and I'm glad to see she looks to be able to pull it off, especially since her character on The Office, Kelly, was always very shrewd, bitter, and cranky. Still, Kaling does a good job here, and it should be recognized that she wrote this first episode, so she's got double the achievement in this episode. As for the rest of the cast, Chris Messina is the easy early standout. He is the better third of the series' obvious love triangle, even though he is snarky and sometimes just downright mean (there's a moment halfway through the episode that actually garnered a gasp from me). At the other end of the triangle, Ed Weeks plays Kaling's dream man, the sexy, British doctor who Kaling is secretly taking to the bedroom. Weeks is good, but he really doesn't get much to do in this first episode except flash a smile that sends Kaling to the moon. I've loved Anna Camp since she broke onto the scene with her supporting role in The Help (although she had a short blink-and-you-miss-it cameo on Glee once), and her role on The Good Wife only added to my adoration for her. While she had to cut her stint on that show short in order to star in this fall's musical comedy Pitch Perfect (more on that movie in the coming days), she is back on TV this fall as Kaling's trusty BFF. While she doesn't get a whole lot of screentime, she does a very good job, and it will be interesting to see her handle a truly comic role. Stephen Toblowsky barely makes it on screen in this first episode, but I don't believe he was originally supposed to be in the first episode anyway, so hopefully we'll see more from his character soon (I loved his brief role on Glee). Finally, Kaling's two office assistants, played by Zoe Jarman and Amanda Setton, get a little action in the first episode, with Jarman benefitting from the extra screentime. There was no real standout right away (unlike Schmidt in New Girl's first episode), but there's definitely room for growth. The episode's two big guest stars, Bill Hader and Ed Helms, were really funny, as usual, and their storylines are left open for their return. The writing was pretty solid, although the references to romantic comedies get a little stale about halfway through. The best line of the pilot: "Maybe I won't get married, you know? Maybe I'll do one of those 'Eat, Pray, Love' things. Ugh, no. I don't wanna pray. Forget it. I'll die alone." It's a pretty good first episode and as I've learned over the years, you can't judge a comedy based on its first episode alone (well, most comedies at least), so I'm definitely sticking with The Mindy Project to see it's all-but-guaranteed improvement as the season goes on. You should too! But first, check out this trailer for The Mindy Project and tell me your thoughts in the comments section below. If you've seen the episode too, lemme know what you think too!
No comments:
Post a Comment