BWW Preview: What Do You Mean You Don't Watch THE MINDY PROJECT?

With two seasons under their belt, THE MINDY PROJECT has quickly become one of my favorite comedies on television. Under the brilliant Mindy Kahling's writing staff, and a cast of unbelievable actors, this show never fails to disappoint. So if you haven't jumped in yet, allow me to bring you up to speed.

Dr. Mindy Lahiri is an OB/GYN. She works in a practice with Dr. Jeremy Reed and Dr. Danny Castellano. Mindy is CONSTANTLY searching to find the right guy, and we have the pleasure of going with her on the ride. In Season One, Mindy dated a series of guys including Josh, who had a bad habit of having extra girlfriends; Brendan, one of the midwives from upstairs (back to him in a minute) and Casey, a super hip, handsome, young minister.

However, her real soulmate seems to be her colleague, Dr. Danny Castellano, an angry, yet lovable, Italian from Staten Island. Also working at Shulman and Associates are receptionists Betsy and Beverly and the nurses Morgan and Tamra. As Season One ends, Mindy decides to move to Haiti for a year with Casey for some mission work as Danny reconciles with his wife.

Season Two begins in Haiti with Casey and Mindy getting engaged, but Mindy quickly being transported back to the U.S. for emergency gallbladder surgery. When she arrives, she finds that a new "Dr. L.," aka James Franco, has been hired in her place at the office; not to mention that he has another job as Danny and his wife's sex therapist. Also, Dr. Reed is now fat and Danny, even though reconciled with his wife, is still clearly carrying a torch for you-know-who. James Franco is quickly dismissed from the office when he "accidentally" sleeps with Danny's wife, effectively ending their marriage once and for all. Casey, having a crisis of conscience, gives up his ministry to be a D.J. and then a party planner. Mindy, needing some stability, ends her relationship with Casey.

Dr. Reed hires a new doctor to help out at the practice, Dr. Peter Prentice. (Adam Pally). The staff immediately adores him, Mindy... not as much. After an evening of bonding at an MMA fight, Mindy and Peter form an odd, but solid friendship. Meanwhile, a new lawyer on the floor, Cliff (IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY's, Glenn Howerton) turns into a new love interest for Mindy. Her solo attempts at wooing him fail time and time again; enter Morgan and Peter who perform a modern day, Cyrano-esque sexting conversation to let Cliff know that Mindy is indeed interested. (See clip below). Mindy and Cliff enter into a relationship, which ends quickly when Mindy flies to Los Angeles for a business conference and runs into Casey. Claiming lack of trust, Cliff promptly breaks it off with her.

Distraught and desperate to get back to New York to repair her relationship, Mindy is kidnapped by Danny to go and visit with his estranged father. After he and his father reconcile, overcome with emotion on the plane ride home, Danny finally kisses Mindy and they decide to be together. Unbeknownst to them, the matchmakers Morgan and Peter have convinced Cliff to get Mindy back. Unfortunate timing leads Mindy to postpone her breakup with Cliff, which, in turn, postpones her relationship consummation with Danny. After a very awkward breakup, Danny and Mindy can finally be together, but Danny isn't quite ready to go public. Not interested in being kept a secret, Mindy ends their brief affair with no one in the office ever knowing anything happened. Mindy toys with the idea of leaving Shulman and Associates, but is persuaded to stay by Dr. Prentice, Dr. Reed and Danny.

Peter plays wingman to Mindy to help her get over her broken heart which leads to an awkward one night stand (Max Greenfield). She then meets an older police officer she begins dating (Tim Daly) and Danny is none too happy that she is moving on even though he has moved on as well dating Peter's sister. When Mindy decides to look for a new place to live, Danny mentions the apartment next door to his is available. Mindy realizes that Danny is trying to keep tabs on her and declines to move.

Mindy meets a cute stranger on the subway, and starts an online romance only to find out it is Danny posing as the cute stranger. He confesses that he's madly in love with her, and that he regrets letting her go. Having none of it, she refuses to fall for it again, and tells him heartbreakingly, "You want me until you don't." (Amen, sister). Her colleagues, finally being clued into the secret romance, convince her that Danny does indeed have true feelings for her, and she agrees to once again try and meet him on the top of the Empire State building to live out her romantic comedy fantasy. This time he shows up, and with a fantastic 80's soundtrack as the background, they agree to be together for real.

Here are my top five reasons I would recommend this show:

1. Office romances - Mindy and Danny may be the cutest will they/won't they since Jim and Pam Halpert. And the Morgan/Tamra/Ray Ron triangle is non-stop entertainment.

2. The Midwives - The Duplass Brothers (Mark and Jay) star as the upstairs rivals of the practice and have set up some of the weirdest and funniest elevator confrontations in the series.

3. Morgan Tookers - Honestly, one of my favorite characters ever on television. Morgan is an ex-con with a huge heart accompanied by brutal honesty and loyalty. The tattoo on his stomach reads "No more stealing cars," you know, to remind him.

4. The Guest Stars!!!! Season Two guest starred Timothy Olyphant, Anders Holm, Glenn Howerton, Bill Hader, Chloe Sevigny, Jenna Elfman, Anna Gunn, Tim Daly, Max Greenfield, Ben Feldman, Kevin Smith and James Franco just to name a few. Already, Season Three will feature Shonda Rhimes, Allison Tolman, Niecy Nash, Rhea Perlman and who knows who else?

5. The Writing - Some of the best comedy writing in years. Great one liners and banter, from slapstick, goofy scenes to heartbreaking moments, Mindy Kahling and her team are as sharp as ever.

10 of my Favorite Lines from Season Two:

• Cliff: Do you really need to tan? Mindy: Babe, this is the palest I've ever been. I'm basically a white person. Yesterday, I caught myself watching Lacrosse, and I liked it.
• Tamra: Take it easy, Mrs. Robinson. Mindy: Okay, I am way too young to understand your Graduate reference.
• Peter: I got a sex date with a two, which means she's a Chicago four, which means she's a Wisconsin nine...
• Danny: How did you find out? How did YOU find out? Morgan: Well maybe I'm smarter than you may have thoughten.
• Danny - I'm having a great time. I just tried a B.L.T. with avocado! Morgan - He hated it, Ritchie. He started yelling about NAFTA.
• Peter - Are you all right, Min? You're all nauseous and fevery. You look like that morning you tried to be a vegan.
• Danny - Look, I'm going to count to three. If you don't kiss me, I'll realize this was a big mistake and return to my seat in humiliation. One...two...three. Four...?
• Mindy - Are you saying I'm not cultured? I've been to London. I saw Mamma Mia on the West End before it transferred to Broadway, where I saw it again.
• Peter - Our deepest fear is not that we're inadequate. It's that we're powerful beyond measure. That's a quote from my frat buddy, Pubes.
• Morgan - I bought you drinks on my credit card, man. Do you think I can afford seven mojitos for a guy who did NOT just get dumped?

And without a doubt, this was my favorite moment of the season. It's been a long time since I've been this happy with a comedy pairing:

But we can't ever forget that this happened...seriously, why aren't you watching?

My hopes for Season Three? Maybe a peek into Beverly's past, something for poor Dr. Reed to do as he's becoming scenery at this point and please, oh please, more Ray Ron, more Morgan and Tamra and DEFINITELY more Morgan and Peter. Do yourself a favor and jump on board. Season One and Two are available on DVD and streaming on Hulu Plus. The season premiere is Tuesday, September 16th at 9:30/8:30 Central on FOX.

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