Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Fans of The Office often confuse Mindy Kaling with her character Kelly Kapoor, believing them to be the same person. Kaling draws many distinctions between herself and her character. She would not, for example, pretend to be pregnant to gain attention from a man.

Kaling signed a contract to write and act in six episodes after an initial meeting with the show’s creator, Greg Daniels. She was nervous about the meeting and her lack of experience, but Greg had watched her play Matt & Ben and liked her work.

Working in the writer’s room was an important education for Kaling. She and the other writers frequently argued over creative choices. During one heated argument, Greg reprimanded her: “If you’re going to resist what I’m doing here, you can just go home, Mindy” (114). She stormed out of the room and drove to the nail salon. When her manicurist consoled her for being “fired,” the seriousness of what had happened rushed over her. Kaling drove back to work and re-entered the writer’s room quietly.

Kaling addresses the questions that many people ask her about the show. She confirms that everyone is kind and that the show has no divas. Steve Carrell is so nice that Kaling finds it off-putting. Kaling’s experience of fame on the show was not what she expected. The gift bags at awards shows were not as impressive as she had been led to believe, and she and her coworkers, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, were turned away from a party for not being famous enough.

The American show The Office was a reboot of a British television series of the same name. In this chapter, Kaling explains that the writers wanted to honor the original series by making a good show. However, many reboots are poorly done. Kaling notes that many of these projects, such as the film The Dukes of Hazzard based on the show from the 1970s and 80s, are highly profitable despite their low quality. She considers a few films she would like to bring back, including a remake of A League of Their Own and Van Helsing. She pitches the film Ocean’s Five, arguing that the franchise’s other films have too many lead actors.

Kaling also envisions a new Ghostbusters film, featuring four women including herself. However, she asserts that the film would face backlash: “I know the demographic for Ghostbusters is teenage boys, and I know they would kill themselves if two ghostbusters had a makeover at Sephora” (126).

Between the first two seasons of The Office, Kaling was offered the opportunity to work as a guest writer on Saturday Night Live (SNL). She did not realize at the time that guest writers were often considered for full-time writing positions and expected to bring material.

During her time on the sketch show, only one of Kaling’s bits made it into the show. After one of her pitches received no laughs during the read, Kaling was ready to quit the show early. Amy Poehler stopped by Kaling’s office and encouraged her to join the other writers that evening for dinner. Although Kaling’s next pitch was also unsuccessful, Poehler’s kindness made the young writer’s time on SNL meaningful.

Kaling does not enjoy roasts and finds them needlessly cruel. They make her uncomfortable, and she feels that they do not express how good many of the comics who perform at them really are.

Kaling has always been obsessed with listing her favorite things: When she was a kid, she kept an index card listing all her favorite foods in her wallet. This chapter lists her favorite comedic moments, including scenes from Will Ferrell’s performance in Anchor Man and Tina Fey’s portrayal of Liz Lemon in 30 Rock. Other SNL performers and writers make the list. Kaling admires Chris Farley for playing Matt Foley and Amy Poehler’s character Kaitlin on SNL.

Other performances Kaling notes are Paul Rudd’s character in Wet Hot American Summer, Ricky Gervais in the original version of The Office, and Melissa McCarthy’s career-changing role in Bridesmaids: “You don’t often hear the words captivating and gross used to describe the same character in a movie, but Melissa McCarthy managed to evoke both” (139).

Kaling bought a house in The Grove in Los Angeles in 2007 during the writer’s strike. She decorated a beautiful office but prefers to write in bed while wearing a sweatshirt: “When I write, I like to look like I’m recovering from tuberculosis” (141). Music and the Internet are both distractions from the writing process. Kaling enjoys working with a team of writers for socialization, but writing is a solo activity that requires discipline and focus.

While “out on script” at The Office, a term that describes working from home while finishing a script alone, Kaling visited a cupcake shop four days in a row. The manager of the bakery noted her frequent visits and offered her a free cupcake if she would write about the bakery on Twitter. Kaling was annoyed to have her indulgence in cupcakes brought to her attention and vowed to stop eating cupcakes from that day forward.

Kaling argues that all television writers dream of one day working in film. While working at The Office, she attended a pitch meeting where she described a low- budget romantic comedy. The film executives told her that they were seeking scripts based on board games because viewers had an interest in this genre: “For the rest of the meeting we talked in earnest about if there was any potential in a movie called Yahtzee! I made polite suggestions and left" (148). Kaling lists movie titles that she thinks executives like the ones she met with might be interested in, including Bananagrams 3D and The Bear from Those Toilet Paper Ads Movie 3D.