The Mystery of Brenda Withers

I wasn't going to go there but really, I can't help it anymore. What more do I have to lose - I've already been shunned. I know Mindy won't appreciate this one bit but I've been wondering about this for a while now. 

Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers

Mindy fans know how she got her big-break alongside her college best friend, Brenda Withers:

In August 2002, Kaling portrayed Ben Affleck in an off Broadway play called Matt & Ben,^[17] which she co-wrote with her best friend from college, Brenda Withers—who played Matt Damon. The play was named one of Time magazine's "Top Ten Theatrical Events of The Year," was "a surprise hit" at the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival.^[3] Initially, Withers and Kaling had "for their own entertainment, mockingly pretend to be the best friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; that pretending spawned “Matt & Ben”, the goofy play that reimagined how Damon and Affleck came to write the movie Good Will Hunting."^[3]  (Wikipedia)

In 2006, Brenda did have a brief guest stint on an episode of The Office, the memorable "Booze Cruise."

As of 2011, they were still tight. Mindy not only discussed her BFF Brenda in her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), there were pics included of them evidencing their best friendship. Mindy also thanked Brenda in the acknowledgments. 

I'm pretty sure I saw a pic of them at an awards show together back in the day because Mindy had brought Brenda as her guest (maybe the one below?).

Brenda's acting credits on IMDb end after a stint on Law & Order in 2010. In 2011, she was acting in a play and in 2013 and 2015 also. So it doesn't seem Brenda has abandoned acting.

All of this brings me to the obvious - Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers are no longer best friends. Even if they maintain a pretense at a friendship, or they choose not to comment publicly on the dissolution of their friendship, there is no way they are really best friends anymore. 

More rabid Mindy fans may be outraged by my assertion. But, if you exploded into stardom and had your own network television show which is now continuing for its fourth season on Hulu, and said show featured guest stars all the time, would you not cast your struggling actress BFF on even one episode, forget creating a recurring role?

Yea. Exactly. I rest my case.

I'd love to know what happened between Mindy and Brenda but we'll probably never find out. They seem way too private to expose these vulnerabilities to the media. Even if they're both perfectly fine with things as they are, as an outsider I find it kind of sad. I'm guessing it's not what they envisioned as kids when they shared their dreams of making it some day and it must suck for Brenda to feel left behind, even if Mindy has legit reasons for moving on without her. 

Mindy, is there no room for forgiveness? For making amends? Maybe not. Just wondering. 

UPDATE - I called it!

OMG EVEN BETTER UPDATE (2017)!! - Read my reply to (Mindy's???) comment on this post "Why Mindy Blocked Us On Instagram."

Twitter Killed My Blog

I've been having so much fun on Twitter lately that I've been neglecting this blog.

Follow me @manformindy

@davidstassen tweeted to@ikebarinholtz "I dropped a whole tub of salsa onto your parking space today. Not sure if it's gonna get cleaned up." 

Problem Solved!

Man Drought

One of my readers (I have readers!) called me out:

It's not raining men. 

"Isn't this supposed to be a blog about setting Mindy up? What happened to the bachelors? Now this looks like any other fangirl site?" - Confused

Dear Confused,
Fangirl site!!????? Why... THANK YOU!

I admit - I have neglected featuring bachelors ever since I got blocked. I figured - what's the point now that Mindy has shunned us so? That's a poor excuse, however. I continue to receive interest from eligible bachelors and intend to feature a hot dude post eventually. I'm just so lazy in love. 

Things I'd Like To See In TMP Season 4 - Bollywood Musical

When Danny finally meets Mindy's parents, why not make a Bollywood musical out of it? Hey, when in India?

Things I'd Like To See In TMP Season 4 - How Do You Solve A Problem Like Tamra

Let us pray.

I'd really like the writers to retool what they're doing with Tamra. 

To me, Tamra is just the token "other than Mindy" minority irregular. However, TMP Writers Team, and I say this with love and continued admiration for your strong work - none of you guys are black, right? I'm not saying you have to be, but EGADS is it obvious whenever Tamra opens her mouth. I feel I'm watching the composition of well-meaning white people who once had black best friends in kindergarten now with the liberty of working under a minority female showrunner who was probably considered the only black kid (other than Duante) growing up in her private school in Cambridge. 

I don't even have an issue with race-y humor. I love when Mindy fuels humor without shying away from being ethnically Indian. It's just tired when you have a basketball team and Tamra is dominating (contrast against the genius of The Office's "Basketball" episode; the Rayron reveal was similarly delightful). It would also be another thing if Tamra made me laugh - but no, she doesn't (save Glob!). 

I googled this to see if I was the only one and found this article which I thought was spot on.

http://www.refinery29.com/2014/03/64580/mindy-kaling-diversity-sxsw-response  

I recall that The Office producer Greg Daniel once said about Mindy Kaling as a writer: "She’s very original....If anything feels phony or lazy or passé, she’ll pounce on it.”

Mindala, that's all I'm asking for when it comes to Tamra. Thanks yo.

Things I'd Like To See In TMP Season 4

Junior is coming!

I don't want Mindy & Danny to get back together right away. Shocker. As much as I love Mindy & Danny, I want Season 4 to clear any doubt that their relationship is progressing simply because Mindy got knocked-up. I'd love for Mindy, who has been so desperate for love, especially with Danny, to finally realize her worth! I want her to make Danny work for it.

Even though it made for great TV, Mindy got over Danny asking her to leave his family's dinner way more quickly than I did in the Season 3 episode "Dinner at the Castellanos." What if she hadn't been pregnant? Would that have been okay then? He didn't even apologize for it so much as rush into a proposal on the basis of her being pregnant, that we realize in the Season 3 finale he didn't even wholeheartedly mean.

Television viewers may not realize it themselves but do you know what we live for - anticipation. Season 3 had less of it because Mindy & Danny were finally a couple (haters!) - but it would be great to bring that back in Season 4. The last thing I think I want to see is Danny return from India and for him and Mindy to pick right back up again from where they left off before he dissed her. 

Here are scenarios that could be played around with:

1) Danny comes back from India ready to make a full commitment but now Mindy isn't ready to take him back, to Danny's disbelief. 

2) Mindy wants Danny to remain in her life and be her best friend co-parent. Danny agrees but secretly yearns for her and wants her back. He finally realizes that he took for granted having Mindy romantically but now he's facing the reality that he may have lost her as his love.

3) Mindy and Danny plan for the arrival of their baby, and this continues to bond them - kind of like Rachel and Ross on Friends before they realize they should be together. Wait, is this too much like Rachel and Ross?

4) Pregnant Mindy should meet a great guy who wants to date her, and this should infuriate Danny (what kind of pervert wants to start a relationship with a pregnant woman!?). This great guy should be really great (not like the dopey and completely unbelievable Rachel prospect, Joey). Let's get some good love triangle action going. As you can see, I really want to give Danny the pain.

5) Of course, Mindy has to go into labor in a most ridiculous and inopportune setting. When Danny comes to her rescue, and in the glorious aftermath of the birth of Lahiri-Castellano Jr., great guy third wheel realizes he's not the one and backs off. However, Mindy still isn't ready. This also baffles Danny. She still feels that Danny's desire for commitment is because of their son and not because of her, and she is worried about upsetting their new family if things don't work out between them in the long-run.

6) The wonderful hi-jinks of Mindy and Danny and newborn baby raising. Of course, we need Grandma Anette in the mix and Mindy to assert herself as the mom.

7) The new family is doing great and Mindy and Danny are growing closer than ever. Suddenly, Mindy suspects Danny is talking to a new woman. This really eats at her. She follows Danny one day and finds new woman interacting with Danny & Junior, with new woman even holding Junior, and Mindy is like "Hell no!"

8) Ultimately, we learn that Danny was planning the ultimate proposal for Mindy. His proposal and commitment to Mindy finally wins her over, and she agrees to marry him - leaving the wedding to Season 5.

Victorious!

Friends, I have done it! 

I have watched every episode of the three seasons of the Mindy Project, completing my TMP-a-thon. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and have an even deeper appreciation for the show, Mindy and her team.

So, where are the rest of my reviews (you are likely not asking)? 

Somewhere along the line, I wanted to simply appreciate the show and not be distracted by reviewing it. Eventually, the notion of reviewing became unappealing. It was like falling in love and then telling your beloved that they could stand to lose fifteen pounds. What kind of asshole does that? So what if I cringe almost every time Tamra has a line (save "Glob" - that was perfection) and the lackluster character development of Danny's ex Christina and her even more meh portrayal by Chloe Sevigny (okay, I am that asshole), when there were so many more glorious offerings, such as the Deslaurier brothers, Rhea Perlman as Mama Castellano, "Harry & Sally" and "Harry & Mindy," Peter Prentice, and of course, Mindy Kaling as Mindy Lahiri.

Kudos to Mindy and her team. Shout-outs include:

Mindy - You are a force. Of my favorite episodes of all three seasons, you were often the writer (as was the case with The Office). Truly impressive. 

Tracy Wigfield - I'd be mid-watching certain episodes and think - this is tight. I'd look up the writer after watching, and sure enough, it was you. You have a special brilliance for integrating side plots. 

Lang Fisher - It has always been a dream of mine to get down to "All Night Long" at a wedding - how did you know? "Wedding Crushers" was beautifully crafted and brought me much joy. To me, this was also the break-out episode for Peter Prentice and cemented his friendship with Mindy Lahiri.

Matt Warburton - "In the Club" is one of my all-time favorite episodes of the show. You're hot.

Jeremy Bronson - The wonderfully demented mind behind such delights as "Indian BBW."

Jack Burditt -  Here's my complaint: Why wasn't there more from this man in Season 3? This guy is consistently excellent.

Charlie Grandy - Timothy Olyphant as "Sk8er Man" was comedic genius. Also, "I Slipped" was groundbreaking for network television - you dirty boy. I also loved "Danny Castellano Is My Personal Trainer," "Christmas" and pretty much everything else from you. 

Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen - "Mindy's Minute" was awesome. I want to put you two in my pocket and take you with me wherever I go.

Chris Schleicher -  So young, so talented, and so supple.

Alina Mankin - Rising star of comedic writing - I called it right here.

I eagerly await Season 4, especially after this breaking news.