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Well Played, Kaling: Ranking 15 of Mindy's 'Project' Love Interests

By Sarah Carlson | Lists | November 14, 2013 |

By Sarah Carlson | Lists | November 14, 2013 |


Mindy Kaling’s job is more fun than yours. In fact, her job just might be more fun than the one most TV actors have. Not only did she create and is helming one of TV’s better comedies in The Mindy Project, but she’s having her cake and eating it, too. Sure, Kaling’s Dr. Mindy Lahiri is often the butt of jokes, and the star isn’t afraid to look silly, much in the vein of Tina Fey and 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon. But even more so than Fey, Kaling has surrounded her heroine with a bounty of love interests — funny, attractive man after funny, attractive man. They’re everywhere, so much so that some wonder if the show relies too much on guest stars. You could argue that, but you can’t argue the impressiveness of the list of Mindy’s love interests only eight episodes into its second season. Fey let Liz have her fun (Dean Winters, Jason Sudeikis, Jon Hamm, Michael Sheen, Peter Dinklage, Matt Damon, James Marsden), but Kaling’s Mindy has her own harem. Be honest — you’d do the same if you had your own show. Think Lena Dunham in Girls: Sure, she often bares it all and isn’t afraid to make everyone uncomfortable, but she also got to pretend to have a fling with Patrick Wilson. Well played.

As we tip our hats to Kaling, let us live vicariously through her character and rank Mindy’s various love interests, from the almost-hook-ups to the almost-husbands. Girl’s definitely got a type.

15. Adam (Josh Meyers): Too prostitutey.

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14. Jeremy (Ed Weeks): Too much of a player. Thankfully, they dropped this storyline quickly and changed gears for both characters, making each more likeable.

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13. Dennis (Ed Helms): Too clumsy.

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12. Josh (Tommy Dewey): Too sleazy.

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11. Tom (Bill Hader): Too incapable of holding his alcohol.

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10. Matt (Seth Meyers): Too unmemorable, except for those dimples.

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9. Morgan (Ike Barinholtz): Too much of a friend. This almost hook-up counts, and he’s this high up because although he’s strange, Morgan is a sweetheart.

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8. Graham (Timothy Olyphant): Too spacey.

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7. Jamie (B.J. Novak): Too in love with his best friend.

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6. Sam (Seth Rogen): Too good to be true.

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5. Jason (Ben Feldman): Too aware of Danny.

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4. Brendan (Mark Duplass): Too midwifey.

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3. Casey (Anders Holm): Too flaky. This character’s change of course was a bit forced (from pastor to rapper), but the cute was fun while it lasted.

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2. Cliff (Glenn Howerton): Too soon to tell.

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1. Danny (Chris Messina): Perfect.

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Sarah Carlson is a TV Critic for Pajiba. She lives in San Antonio. You can find her on Twitter.