The Mindy Project
Mindy Kahling is obviously the Mindy in the title, but she plays Dr. Mindy Lahiri on the quirky, upbeat show. Dr. Lahiri is a rockstar gynecologist but is a bit of a disaster in her personal life. She sleeps with coworkers, man-babies, and generally inappropriate men.
The first half of the series follows Mindy’s dating life, but mostly documents her singlehood. If you had a camera inside the average American women’s house, you would probably see a lot of what happens on The Mindy Project.
I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve eaten a whole pizza by myself on a Friday night or drank an entire bottle of Pinot while watching The Bachelorette. Neither is Mindy. She eats what she wants, wears what she wants, and won’t apologize for that emergency bear claw in her desk drawer.
The very best thing about Mindy, and the thing we could all learn to do more, is that she is not the “cool girl.” While she wants to impress her dates theoretically, in practice she just does what she wants. She orders the extra bread basket, she talks about her weird rash, or she admits how long it’s been since she’s had a second date. She is categorically herself and is without any shame. We could all stand to be a little more like Mindy.
Where to watch: Although The Mindy Project was a Fox project for the first four seasons, it found new life on Hulu for its final two. You can watch the whole thing now on the streaming network.