#SaveMindy

By Melissa Amster

You may be wondering why I'm writing about a TV show at a book blog. Well, I recently found out that the fabulous and iconic comedy series, The Mindy Project, is on the bubble. This means that its fate hasn't been sealed on the renewal list and the viewer count isn't up to FOX's standards. Since the show has such a chick lit feel to it and I mostly talk to my some of my favorite chick lit authors about it on a weekly basis, I felt that CLC would be the best forum for appealing to FOX to give it another season (or two...or three...)

For those of us die-hard fans who have been watching the past three seasons, we were left with a cliff hanger a few weeks ago. And before the IMDB article came out, I had been hearing buzz about it being in renewal limbo. Two other shows I love were also cancelled by FOX early on. Arrested Development didn't get to finish its third season and Firefly only got one season and that was it. Both shows still have a huge fan base and Arrested Development was recently brought back to life through Netflix, with the promise of more shows on the way. I've also heard that Community was picked up by a different station after an outcry from fans over being cancelled too early. This gives me hope that even if FOX chooses not to renew, another station will snap up The Mindy Project immediately. How could they not, after all?

Aside from being hilarious, The Mindy Project is about a strong female character who holds her own in her relationships and friendships, while also not being afraid to show her girly side. Mindy Lahiri is one of my favorite television lead characters. There's something so endearing about her. Even though we're at different places in our lives, I can still relate to her and feel an emotional connection. Besides, she can rock out to the Rent soundtrack! The show plays out like a Nora Ephron movie with all the romantic highs and lows, as well as the comedic situations that take place each week. It's like Friends meets Sex and the City.

I wrote a whole tribute on my personal blog after watching only a season and a half! And it got even better after that! There were some episodes, and even just scenes, I'd watch over and over.

Watch at your own risk if you're new to the series:
*Scene from season two Christmas episode.
*One of the best kissing scenes ever, from later in season two.

All I know is that The Mindy Project makes me laugh consistently, and even knocks my socks off when it throws in a game changer that I didn't see coming. The supporting cast is a lot of fun and I can imagine them all (including Mindy) hanging out and joking around together while not on the set.

Also, there's my crush on Chris Messina, but that's another blog post in itself! When I first found out he was going to be on the show, I didn't know what to expect, since he seemed to have these minor roles in the movies I've seen him in. However, his character, Danny, is a strong lead and he does an amazing job in this role. How can you not get all emotional when he looks all intense with his deep brown eyes?

Anyway, if I haven't convinced the executives at FOX to renew The Mindy Project, maybe some of my friends can help....

"I knew The Mindy Project was going to be my favorite show, and that Mindy Lahiri was my spirit guide, early in the first season. She described a recent Saturday night: "I fell asleep watching the movie Amelie. And when I woke up, I had spilled so much red wine on myself I thought for a second I had been shot." Oh, girlfriend, I have been there. I’ve been hooked ever since, because like Mindy, I’m on a seemingly never-ending quest for self-improvement. While our adventures and experiences are totally different, there’s a comfort in seeing another young, professional woman trying to get her life together, even though it’s really hard. When I laugh at Mindy’s world, I’m able to laugh at myself. And I need that."
~Laura Chapman, author of The Marrying Type

"The best thing about The Mindy Project, while no offense to the remarkable Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), is Mindy, both Kaling and Lahiri. Mindy is a hot mess, but she’s also intelligent, successful, lovable, funny. For so long, it has been acceptable on television for male characters to not be completely put together all the time but still successful, but not so for women. What woman out there doesn’t see a little bit of herself in Mindy? She shows us that it’s okay to enjoy fashion and pop culture and still be a bad-ass doctor (or lawyer, or stay-at-home mother, or whatever else you want to be). With Liz Lemon and Carrie Bradshaw off the air, we NEED Mindy to fill that role. We WANT Mindy to fill that role.

And the Mindy behind the scenes is just as amazing. How many other Indian-American women are the creators, executive producers, and head writers of television shows? Diversity on television is more important now than ever, but Mindy never uses her ethnicity as a fallback or a joke. She is who she is. She is trying to show us that it shouldn’t be a big deal - because it isn’t.

Please renew The Mindy Project, television will not be the same without it."
~Rachel Lynn Hamm, author of Honor's Lark

"Smart, sassy, whimsical, and hilarious - there's nothing else like The Mindy Project on TV. It's a show I can laugh about, quote, and swoon over with my girlfriends."
~Tracie Banister, author of Twin Piques

Losing The Mindy Project would mean women losing a role model who is much needed today. Mindy (Lahiri) Kaling represents a strong, independent, flawed woman and shows us it’s more than possible to be intelligent, funny, beautiful, and your average woman. I love seeing such a powerful woman on television who isn’t striving to be a be a size 0 – she embraces and loves herself – a rarity these days.
~Tracy Krimmer, author of Caching In

"It needs be renewed because it made me laugh when my husband was deployed. I need laughter!"
~Amber Myers, author of The Swimmer's Assistant, guest reviewer for CLC, and blogger at Airing My Dirty Laundry

If my friends and I have convinced FOX executives to renew (keeping fingers and toes crossed here), I'd recommend that Mindy has some girlfriends in season four. I miss her girlfriends from season one. I also hope they scale back on Morgan's buffoon side and allow him to be genuinely funny in the dorky way he knows how. (He just became too much and it was over the top after a while.) I definitely want Rhea Perlman to stick around as Annette. She's hilarious! Finally, I'd love to see something happen between Jeremy and the tough financial executive, played by Cristin Milioti from How I Met Your Mother.

FOX, the ball is in your court now. Please don't let Mindy's fans down....

The script I won from @MindyProjectFox