---
title: "The Mindy Project: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project"
critics_score: 74
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Mindy Project (2012): what the critics said

Critics' score 74 from 7 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics like The Mindy Project, and the praise clusters on Mindy Kaling herself: her writing and her performance of a woman whose romantic hopes and self-regard keep tripping over each other. Several reviews find the show a confident, knowing play on romantic-comedy conventions, and a couple single out its light touch with Mindy’s Indian-American background. The central pairing is generally judged to work, and the later seasons are credited with giving the supporting characters lives of their own.

The reservations are about everything around Kaling. Early reviews find the medical-practice setting underdeveloped and the supporting cast weak, and the two mixed notices, from The AV Club and Paste, fault inconsistent characterisation and thin episode plots, with Paste finding Mindy herself increasingly hard to like. The spread is fairly wide, from warm to lukewarm, and it tracks time: the pilot notices and the retrospectives are the kindest, the mid-run episode reviews the coolest.

## The Guardian — Guardian staff reporter

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2021. 

The Guardian praises the sitcom as a whip-smart, funny, and heartwarming ode to romance. It singles out Kaling’s portrayal of the contradictions of millennial womanhood and the chemistry of the main cast.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/oct/04/the-mindy-project-mindy-kalings-quirky-irreverent-sitcom-is-an-ode-to-romance)

## Vulture — Matt Zoller Seitz

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 September 2012. 

Seitz finds the pilot a confident, thoughtful comedy that playfully riffs on romantic-comedy clichés. He praises its stellar writing and cast, especially its understated treatment of Mindy’s Indian-American identity and assimilation.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2012/09/tv-review-the-mindy-project.html)

## IndieWire — Hanh Nguyen

Rating B+. 12 September 2017. 

The critic sees the final season as poised to be the show’s most meaningful, offering resolution while leaving Mindy’s romantic future open. They praise its resilient, positive portrayal of Mindy and the way it gives supporting characters their own arcs.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-mindy-project-review-final-season-hulu-1201875381/)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Tim Goodman

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 2012. 

Goodman finds the pilot promising and calls it one of the season’s few worthwhile half-hours. He praises Kaling’s believable portrayal of Mindy’s romantic desperation, while noting that the medical-practice setting is not yet fully developed.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/mindy-kaling-project-tv-review-371268/)

## Variety — Brian Lowry

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 September 2014. 

Lowry finds the season opener encouraging and says the central couple’s dynamic works well. He faults the weak supporting cast and calls the secondary plot disposable.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-foxs-new-girl-the-mindy-project-1201302789/)

## The AV Club — David Sims

Rating C-. 5 December 2012. 

Sims finds the episode frustrating and underwritten despite some genuinely funny moments. He singles out the characters’ inconsistent behavior and the thin midwives plot as its main weaknesses.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-mindy-project-two-to-one-1798175178)

## Paste — Amy Amatangelo

Rating 5.8/10. 14 November 2012. 

Amatangelo is losing confidence in the series, finding Mindy increasingly unpleasant and the episode’s central plot unconvincing. She praises the joke about Mindy’s jeans, which lands with perfect comedic effect.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-mindy-project/the-mindy-project-review-danny-castellano-is-my-gy)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project.md