Mindy was on the morning talk show out here in LA. She was a writer for The Office and kinda got roped into acting on the show as well. I think it is AWESOME that Mindy wrote this show- and she chose to make it the Diwali theme - as far as I know, the comedic writing world is very male and the fact that she as a woman broke this barrier is a huge acheivement. Tell me how the show goes- I'll be missing it!

Mad props to Mindy :)

Mindy also showed up with Steve Carrel in "the 40-year-old virgin" as "Amy." I think she has a real knack for comedy and I hope her career yields even more success.

Thanks for the post, Taz, I'll make sure to watch ;)

can't wait.. it's on in 2 minutes ;)

So glad for this reminder!
Imagine if I had missed it?

No live-blogging?

Mindy has also written for Saturday Night Live and has penned a movie tentatively titled "Unaffiliated," a sorority comedy that was picked up by Fox's new teen focused film division--Fox Atomic.

OK watching it now and it's hysterical in the stereotypical way. Ive been emailing you guys like nuts trying to get you guys to post about it. About damn time ;-)

Oh yeah heard her on NPR's Fresh Air earlier and she said her parents were going to be on the show, her real parents.

mindy is a dartmouth grad.. go dr. seuss (an alum....along with kaptain kangaroo...)...good show! west coasters tape it/tivo it...

OMG I'm dying...it's too funny. Go live blogging!

I ran into / met Mindy @ a party in LA not too long ago. There's a big story here for another time (perhaps the NYC meetup) BUT, she's really sweet / cute in person as well. At the time, I had no idea who she was (I don't watch The Office regularly) & so I only found out afterwards that she had a fanbase. BTW, I didn't ask her if she read SM.

It. Sucked. Ass.

The Brits want their Office back.

I think the song was a bit lame, but I love her parents trying to set her up with a doctor.

I wanted to be at that party.

Well, yeaaaaah. You can't compare it to the British Office. Nothing beats that.

Dwight was hilarious. It's very telling when Kelly couldn't explain anything about Diwali and Dwight could. Hilarious.

I never liked the show. I never really got it. My office environment is different so I could never relate but all the over stereotypical stuff that was so subtle was funny...losing shoes at a religions/temple event, the garlands around their necks, pulling out the Kamasutra, setting her up with a doctor, it was funny.

Goddamn Limeys. Bugger Off!

so are you going to throw yourself into the fire after she dies?

long live diwali

now where the HELL are my shoes?

long live the infamous brownies...

subramaniam chandrahekar...

apu...

and of course... m. night...

where the hell were the infamous female brownies?
manjula.. consort of apu ;)...

padmma lakshmi

and of course....
aishwairya rai...

dwight was hilarious...
'this is the best office meeting ever'...

Thought it was funny, the line from the mom, "oh she's very fair" and Micheal's response....so cool. i thought it was awesome. Good job Mindy!

the s'mores/samosa joke and steve carell's hilarious attempt at bhangra had me rolling, and kelly's dad sooo reminded me of my own anytime i brought home a non-indian...

1. Stop comparing the British Office to the American one. Yes, they're different, but they're both totally hilarious in their own way.

2. Mindy Kaling is a hilarious and talented writer and I look forward to her new movies/projects.

Having said that, this episode was, as I expected, a million laughs per minute. From the stereotypical Apu and Indiana Jones (they eat monkey brains -how many times have we ALL experienced that?) to the totally realistic Kelly's parents asking Ryan about his future plans with their daughter, I thought this was a groundbreaking step forward for Desis in comedy.

I am, however, pissed that SM didn't fenagle some sort of casting call in which we all could have been cast as extras in that episode. Hmph. Now I'm going to go watch Parminder Nagra's character get it on with John Stamos' on tonight's "very special" ER.

Preface: this might be considered inappropriate by some, but... I'm like that.

Anyone else think her real last name is hilarious? Choke-a-lingam?

It's not really pronounced "choke," the "o" sound is much softer. Sounds very Tamilian to me, even the way it's translitterated -- there's no "sh" in Tamil, only "ch."

There is a 'sha' in Tamil. Although it is grantham or "vadamozhi" (northern speech?), one of five consonants borrowed from Sanskrit.

Chockalingam is shiva? As a kid, I found the name funny because it sounded somewhat like something else that means "shrunken lingam". So before I met the first Chockalingam of my life (when I was 5), I was anticpating a small, dried up man. I didn't know what lingam meant at that time, though.

I saw it tonight, the show was awesome, and the writing excellent. I didn't know that Mindy was the writer, I thought she was only an actress. great job!

lingam

legume.

Stop comparing the British Office to the American one. Yes, they're different, but they're both totally hilarious in their own way.

Yes, they're different, but the Brit version is in a class of its own. Ricky Gervais makes a hell of a difference for one. Carrell is quite a good actor, but Gervais is a born funny man. The character equivalent to Gareth's isn't a patch on the original. Yeah, let's totally stop comparing these two shows :)

For Gervais fans reading, if you haven't already, do check out his stand up comedy acts. I got dvds of Politics and Animals, they're insanely funny. There's also the new series called Extra (not sure if it's running in the US) and it's definitely worth watching too.

Sorry, that should have been Extras, not Extra.

here is the NPR link where mindy is interviewed..

odd song choice for the bolly/bhangra get-down, though. Lo Aa Gaye LoDi Ve from "Veer Zaara"? bizarre.

As white boy who married a desi girl, the conversation between Ryan and Kelly's parents was spot on. After a slightly awkward dinner at the "best" Indian restaurant in Dallas in which her mom said absolutely nothing to me, then immediate question out of her mom's mouth at our next in encounter was "What do you like about my daughter and what are your intentions?" Fortunately my bio-data was on the acceptable side.

Both British and American versions owe a debt to Mike Judge and his underappreciated "Office Space". "Yea, that would be great...mmmm kay? Oh and you forgot to put the coversheets on your TPS reports."

Was anybody else a bit disappointed by the ep? Maybe it was after all that hype...

Anyway, it's still pretty cool that Kaling is a writer for The Office--and did you guys know that there are a lot more South Asian writers working for primetime shows? You didn't? Oh, well, you'll just have to read about them in Nirali on Monday. ;)

asha's dad: yeah, the grilling and toasting of the boy was to par... office space is a classic.. in my row of dvd's which are the 'golden bunch'... (p.s. asha in the ducky costume, ubbery cute!)

ismat: i just wanted more... the 20 or 24 minutes were too short for everything.. they coudld've done without the other 3 getting toasted while working and doing shots... (jim, and the 2 cohorts)...more diwali..less toasty time... would've made for a better episode...but hey, i'm not a tv writer..

An in another news, Parminder Nagra in ER performed a hot bed/bath scene last night. In her dream that is.

Dwight was hilarious. It's very telling when Kelly couldn't explain anything about Diwali and Dwight could. Hilarious.

"Okay, sit down. This isn't Lord of the Rings."

LOL. :D

Quel horreur!! I missed it!!! YouTube link please!

I thought this episode was hilarious and had me rolling throughout. Steve just plays Michael with brilliant nervouse energy. You expect what he is going to do next but wish that he wouldnt do it.

When the little girls around Ryan said that "Kelly ko Zach Braff pasand hai"...i laughed so hard i peed a lil(TMI)

and who else caught Parminder getting all steamy in the shower with uncle Jesse?

Office Space". "Yea, that would be great...mmmm kay?

That movie is a classic!!!

Dwight was hilarious. It's very telling when Kelly couldn't explain anything about Diwali and Dwight could.

Well, remember Dwight is sexually attracted to two ethnicities - "White and East Indian." ;)

Lots of quotes from Office Space here.

I thought Gary Cole in particular was brilliant; he had such a practically-comatose laid-back style in the entire movie. The way he kept slowly saying "If you could do such-and-such, that would be terrific, okay ?" whenever making a request of his underlings was so accurate to real life (it's even funnier to me because I've seen that for real many times). I've actually had to force myself not to start grinning whenever previous managers have said that to me, because it's instantly reminded me of the movie.

Gary Cole's constant drawling "Hmmmmmm.....yeahhhhh" was hilarious too. They even made that part of the song during the credits at the end of the film.

and who else caught Parminder getting all steamy in the shower with uncle Jesse?

Uncle Jessie from The Dukes of Hazzard ??? What the hell kind of show is ER turning into ?!

To further my writing career, I will be changing my name from (long south indian name omitted for anonymity) to Greg Kumar. I will also begin to sprinkle my writing with references to mangos, henna, deepavali and sari borders. If I'm lucky I'll get cast as the token brown guy (software engineer, taxi driver) on a crappy American version of a great british comedy.

I feel more proud to be brown today than ever.

It was enjoyable, but the other story line of the drinking game in the other regional office went nowhere.

Favorite lines, "Kelly, who is one of our most ethnic employees..." and "This is the best meeting ever."

Since I can't speak a lick of Hindi, can someone translate what Kelly's sisters were saying? And BidiSmoker, get off your morally superior high horse for a second. What Mindy did is pretty damn cool. This was the most desi half-hour that I've ever seen on American network television--well, maybe there was a "very special episode" of Blossom meeting a brown friend...

Damn! To be young and free....

Missed the show...can't watch TV with two kids 14 & 7. Most of the shows I like, have 'inappropriate' content for the kids...so says wifey. How I wish I could watch Colbert & Office!

Bidismoker,

I agree with Southie, why you gotta hate??? You act as if its morally wrong to act in those roles. While i know nothing about you, i do know you are the exact type of desi people that are part of the problem. While its not favorable to be a 7-11 clerk, cab driver or tech nerd, those are the roles that are available, and its bloody hard to get any work being desi. So instead of hating, why don't you write the next brilliant screen play to glorify the desi actor, well unless ofcourse you are too intellectual,too sophisticated, too creative to do something for the masses...are you sure you're not an aunty....cause they are the greatest haters!

As someone said above - it sucked!! There was no head or tail. I am tired of the same jokes. But maybe for the american audience it was something new. I am not sure it was a good introduction to Diwali - even as s joke. Diwali like halloween?? WTF? That tells me that the writer has either thought so OR she probably actually heard some ABD making such a statement in real life.

That tells me that the writer has either thought so OR she probably actually heard some ABD making such a statement in real life.

or as um .., like a writer, she came up with it on her own?

Bidismoker,

I retract my previous statement as after lookin at your blog, you seem like you may be a chill character and i do agree with a lot you say.

Rani, Yes if she came up with that as a writer on her own, consciously or sub-consciously she made that connection. Maybe where she was growing up, people walked around wearing garlands at a diwali party making her feel that it was a costume party. I know that writers sometimes exaggerate to make a comic point, especially when the content is focused on a general American audience, but some of the jokes made me choke.

Jai,
Not from DoH but from Full House, a tv-series.

can someone translate what Kelly's sisters were saying?

"Kelly likes Zach Braff", while looking at Ryan

but some of the jokes made me choke.

fair enough ...

i just thought some of the comments were just kicking her a bit too hard ... we talk about solidarity but do not show enough

Jeet,

Not from DoH but from Full House, a tv-series.

I was just kidding in my previous post :) However, we haven't got to the latest season of ER in the UK yet. I do remember Full House though -- hell of a long time ago now.

Glad to see desis are gradually achieving greater visibility in American shows these days.

While its not favorable to be a 7-11 clerk, cab driver or tech nerd, those are the roles that are available, and its bloody hard to get any work being desi.

I know this wasn't tongue-in-cheek but this is funny.

Tamasha:

We must be on the same wave-length: "choke-a-lingam" was my first thought, too!
(and I don't think my mind is in the gutter, but I did find the name rather "odd.")

"Kelly likes Zach Braff",

now you tell me, he's like a desi sex tool. i can get the tool part - but sexy!??.
i swear - i will NEVER understand the female mind.

hairy_d:

i think zach is dreamy, swoonworthy, and super stellar.. dunno.. the dork factor contributes to it ;)..

Grade: C-...plus she never really explained what diwali is...coming from experience, most Indian-mericans can't succintly explain it either and just give a vaguely stock answer that doesn't really mean much...by the way what's up with the goddess Kali mentions?

Diwali like halloween?? WTF? That tells me that the writer has either thought so OR she probably actually heard some ABD making such a statement in real life.

Or maybe she's poking fun at people who think like that? I didn't love the episode, but it's satire, folks.

I think the best part was the sisters saying something in Hindi to the guy. That was very real. And the dancing - the dudes did the get the curvy hand motion pretty good.

Rest was predictable, another dumbed down version of what could have been.

I would have loved to listened in on the re-writes.

by the way what's up with the goddess Kali mentions?

and what was up with Kamasutra? Satire? yeah very bad satire!!

OMG the LORD OF THE RINGS COMMENT??!??!? i cried i was laughing so hard.

yeah it was predictable, but i LOVE THE OFFICE!!!! YAY DIWALI EPISODE!!

Glad to see desis are gradually achieving greater visibility in American shows these days

There was a desi on 30 Rock, too. A very small part.

Diwali like halloween?? WTF? That tells me that the writer has either thought so OR she probably actually heard some ABD making such a statement in real life.

C'mon you guys! THAT WAS THE JOKE: Michael was like, "Oh let me explain Diwali to you because Kelly can't: It's like Halloween!" That was the joke: Michael, as usual, was ALL WRONG. As exemplified later when he and his date showed up wearing Halloween costumes and no one else was in costume. He tried pointing out to his(v. annoyed and embarassed) date, "She's dressed in a costume," and his date said, "No, she's dressed in a sari." You might have caught that if you were paying attention and not busy getting pissed off and offended.

I, for one, loved it. I really, really liked how Kelly on the show was like, we get together, wear pretty clothes, and have a big party, except it's a Hindu holiday and not a Christian one! Does everything have to be a lecture?

Here's the full episode from YouTube.

To Jai Singh: #41

LOL, LOL. He's just a good ol' boy. Never meaning no harm...been in trouble with the law since the day he was born.

He's just a good ol' boy. Never meaning no harm...been in trouble with the law since the day he was born.

But enough about me. *ahem*