The Mindy Project: Season 1
  • Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 25, 2012
  • Season #: 1
User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 82 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 82
  3. Negative: 13 out of 82

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  1. nerdyhousewife
    Sep 27, 2012
    7
    I'm surprised at the lackluster user reviews! I was really entertained by this show - the dialogue was fast and clever, the characters were complex, and the plot was believable. I really enjoyed all the honest, embarrassing moments. Plus, the show was able to keep an upbeat tone regardless of the funny but unfortunate events. Can't ask for more from a comedy. I'll keep watching.
  2. Juzdownunder
    Sep 26, 2012
    2
    What a nightmare. I have to admit first up that Mindy Kaling is my least favourite character from The Office, so it was always going to be a struggle enjoying this show. That being said, it's positively awful....cheesy tripe that will probably appeal to a demographic far, far removed from my own.
  3. Briancl25
    Sep 27, 2012
    5
    The whole idea of this show seems like a better premise for a movie, than a show. Most of the show was trying too hard to be funny with "ridiculous" situations that would never happen. The upside is that they don't try and bombard you with lazy humor like Two Broke Girls where they constantly say vagina or something or other. Time will tell.
  4. Eon2323
    Dec 5, 2012
    10
    If you love Kaling, you'll definitely love this show. The writing and the cast on this show is above par and provides the viewer with a nice, giggly feeling after watching an episode. If you love shows like New Girl and Happy Endings, this is the show for you.
  5. merper
    Nov 24, 2012
    8
    My sister urged me to watch this show and I completely gave up on it after watching the first two episodes. I found Mindy's character to be pretty repellent and the show seemed to have no real focus outside of her. Well, I watched the latest ones when I went home for Thanksgiving and it's surprising how quick a show can grow on you. They've really rounded out the cast and branched out the storylines. I'm still not sure I like the titular character, but she has a few good burns. The ex-con nurse who's a cross between Dwight Schrute and Tracy Jordan, the British doctor with an abundance of suave and dry wit and several other supporting characters got me laughing multiple times an episode. Mindy is a protege of NBC comedy and like Parks and Rec, 30 Rock and The Office, it looks like it'll take a few episodes for her show to find its grounding. It's well on its way though, and I urge even people who've given it up earlier to take another look.… Expand
  6. martinex
    Sep 28, 2012
    7
    Mindy pretty much picks up where her superficial character in the office leaves off. If you were listening to the show on the radio you would think the main character was some air-headed blonde. The show is well written and well executed. The only thing missing is a likable lead character. You almost can't help rooting against this shallow human being.
  7. JBM
    Oct 9, 2012
    2
    Before this show aired, the critics told us it will be the best show of the season. Not even close. It flops on many levels. It fails to give us a central sense of place or a rounded out ensamble. It was all about mindy and how sad and desperate she is. To be a success, a show has to have more than one central character that you want to come back and get to know more. This show did none of that. I disliked the men in her life and the girls around Mindy were all nodescript models. The two walk on celebrities are clearly not going to be around to keep this show afloat. Above all, it was hard to like the character of Mindy. I am going to have to force myself to watch more episodes in hopes they reboot it. But the worst sin this show committed was that it simply was not funny.… Expand
  8. booradley
    Jan 17, 2013
    5
    I'm torn about 'The Mindy Project.' It has its moments. It can be fun, it can be witty. On the other hand, it's cliched and unrealistic with an unsympathetic lead. Kaling's character, 'Mindy Lahiri' is a 31 year old practising gynaecologist who talks like a 16 year old valley girl. While her teenage neighbour reads Jonathan Franzen, Mindy reads a novelization of the film Iron Man. Like most thirty-something women on TV, she's obsessed with finding Mr Right, and yet she's inexplicably nasty to all the guys she meets, including those she works with. At work, she and her two fellow doctors, both male, talk mostly about sex and Mindy's messed-up personal life. She takes time off work for "best friend's day" (lunch and shopping) and has no hesitation in hastily rearranging her schedule to visit her teenage friend at her high school to grill the girl's boyfriend about their sex life. She seems to spend the better part of an afternoon at work choosing a Halloween costume. It bothers me that Mindy is so shallow, that she talks in a high-pitched, dumbed-down baby-girl voice, that she's astonishingly self-absorbed and at times cruel. She says things to Dr Danny Castellano, her divorced co-worker and obvious potential love interest, like "no wonder your wife left you," comments that are followed by dead silence in which I'm waiting for him to break down in tears. When handing out condoms at the high school she gives one to everyone, two to an especially pretty girl and none at all to a plain girl with braces, saying "you I'm not worried about." It was a shocking moment, and unnecessarily unpleasant, especially as Mindy Lahiri was supposedly plain and single until her early twenties. There are numerous dissonant moments like these in the show that make me dislike Mindy Lahiri. She is carrying on a casual sexual relationship with her other coworker, Dr Jeremy Reed, and while the fact is accepted, it's rarely actually addressed. It's not clear why Reed, supposedly a ladies man, would need to carry on this relationship with Mindy, or why she thinks it's okay to casually sleep with someone she works with. In fact, it's not clear why anyone of the men she dates are drawn to Mindy. When Dr Castellano gives her a gynaecological check-up at work, the scene is alternately funny, cringeworthy and appalling. She teases him endlessly throughout and moans sensually when he tries to give her a breast exam. Frankly, it's offensive. She clearly doesn't take her work seriously. No decent gynaecologist would think of an exam as a sexual thing, and the way she talks incessantly about sex and her love life at work invites the kind of banter that would qualify as sexual harassment in most workplaces. I… Expand
  9. Lovetv
    Apr 3, 2013
    9
    I expected higher ratings for this show. It is fresh and forward thinking and has me laughing through each episode. I think it's great! A lot of the shows on television at this time cannot even compare to how great this show is.
  10. justeatplants
    Apr 19, 2013
    9
    I think the Mindy Project is the best comedy (or maybe equal to Parks & Rec) on primetime. She is a politically incorrect, self-centered mess but ends up being such as a sympathetic character anyway. There is a great cast of characters. I'd never choose to be a patient at their OBGYN office myself b/c they are all weirdos, but it makes for a great show.
  11. mosey2013
    Apr 20, 2013
    8
    Another show I avoided and I binged watched it yesterday Its witty and funny, really nice show The show is feels fresh and Mindy has grown on me
  12. BBINDFan
    May 3, 2013
    10
    Great show! From the first time I watched it, Mindy kind of reminds me of me. I love this show. Can't wait till Season 2. Hope it has more seasons and goes on to become a great hit.
  13. utlonghorn
    May 17, 2013
    10
    I love this show. I'm a huge office fan so I loved Mindy on that of course, however seeing the previews I thought this show was going to be lame and not very funny. I thought it would be a stretch to have Kelly Kapoor have a whole show around her. So I didn't watch it at all until about two weeks ago when I was procrastinating my studying for finals. Starting watching it, and I couldn't stop. Hilarious humor, clever wit, and great writing of course. I'm not a television expert so I don't know how to critic how well characters have been developed, but everyone has a plausible story line and with this show's humor that's enough for me. I was drawn in by the first episode but I know some of my friends, it took them a little while. My recommendation: watch it, stick with it, enjoy. It's funny, end of story.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 32
  3. Negative: 2 out of 32
  1. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Sep 25, 2012
    70
    In all, it's a polished pilot, but one that will have to ground its characters better to work as a series.
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  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Sep 25, 2012
    80
    Kaling makes for an unconventional sitcom heroine, to put it mildly.
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  3. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Sep 25, 2012
    10
    Think Gray's Anatomy with unpretty people; then think of something else to watch.
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