Ben and Kate & The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project is so far this seasons best comedy. It is created, written, starred and named after Mindy Kaling who is know for her work on The Office.

The series follows Mindy (why bother change her name), a single physician who struggles with her personal and professional life.  The pilot starts with a typical set-up, she sees her ex-boyfriend getting married and kinda loses it. After that she decides to put her life together and not date the wrong kind of guys.

 

It's no wonder that its called The Mindy Project, since the supporting characters are kind of forgettable. Gwen (played by Anna Camp from Help) plays Mindy's best friend who is the total opposite to the main character. Other cast includes Chris Messina (Damages, Newsroom), Stephen Tobolowsky (Glee) and Zoe Jarman (I mostly remember her as the girl who almost gives her baby up for adoption for Mitch and Cam on Modern Family).

 

I think this show could be the New Girl of this year's season. With a strong lead actress and good writing, this show is almost guaranteed to get picked up for a second season, especially if the supporting characters step up the game. It has also gotten some great reviews from the critics.

 Ben and Kate

This is the second new comedy on Fox. And that is why it is just ridiculous that the last name of the siblings the show follows, is Fox. Ben (Nat Faxon) and Kate (Dakota Johnson) are total opposites. Kate is a rational single mother while Ben is a day-dreaming goofy guy. Ben hasn't been around that much, since he comes and goes as he wishes, but after he sees that her sister needs him, he decides to stick around.

 

This setup gives a lot of room for development and I was truly surprised by how much I liked this show. Sure it's not like a non-stop laugh marathon (mostly because of Kate's rational thinking), but Ben is hilarious. He is like the second child of Kate. And BJ (Lucy Punch) is might be the greatest part of the show. She gives "good" advices, like "always put stuff in your mouth", makes me wonder where she got her name...

 

The shows creator Dana Fox is a close friend of Elizabeth Meriwether, who created New Girl, and I think these two shows have kinda similar rhythm and cinematography. But I think it gives the show a light look and makes it harder to judge. Few words about the lead actors. Nat Faxon is an Academy Award winner, he co-wrote the Descendants script. He must be one of the greatest actors, since he plays stupid so well and no one could guess he is an Oscar winner. This is his biggest role on TV so far. Dakota Johnson is also relatively new actress with only minor roles (Social Network, Five-Year-Engagement). Not to mention that she is the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith.

Overall I think Fox has got a pretty strong line-up of comedies with these two, New Girl and Raising Hope. Not to mention all their animated shows, like Family Guy and Simpsons. But we'll have to see with these newcomers, since many shows change a lot after the pilot, but looking good Fox!