Let the fall TV season begin!
Although many network TV shows have yet to return or debut, this week did give us the premieres of some NGN favorites. Dancing with the Stars returned on Monday with some disappointing performances but also a few standouts (especially Alfonso Ribeiro). Tuesday was a night of season premieres for FOX comedies, with New Girl finding a new energy that was refreshing after a subpar third season, and The Mindy Project living up to the hype with a premiere that continued the streak of confident writing and acting that made last season’s finale a success. Wednesday featured a battle between Nyesha and Jennifer on Top Chef Duels, and plenty of shows (from Scandal to Saturday Night Live) aired reruns of some of their most recent or most popular episodes to get ready for another wave of premieres this coming week.
In a move that will surprise absolutely no one who knows anything about me or my taste in TV shows, my pick for the best of the best in the world of television this week comes from The Mindy Project. The final five minutes of “We’re a Couple Now, Haters!” solidified exactly why this season has the potential to be something truly special. The emotional revelations Mindy and Danny shared on the fire escape were a beautiful testament to the idea that a stable relationship between a show’s main characters can allow both characters to grow and deepen in ways they simply couldn’t if the “Will they?/Won’t they?” continued. And that beautiful moment of emotional intimacy was followed by a different kind of revealing scene, as Diamond Dan showed his moves to Mindy, and Chris Messina made us all feel some very special feelings.
Because FOX apparently wants to make it as difficult as possible for all of us to relive Diamond Dan in all his glory, here’s a link to Vulture’s video of the closing moments of the episode.
And because I will NEVER be over this moment, here’s a gif:
What was the best thing you saw on TV this week?
Nerdy Girl Notes 
It’s a great moment. Hands down, no competition. That said, I am going in another direction entirely. I have two this week.
1) The Ken Burns Roosevelt’s Documentary. Yes it’s Ken Burns, yes we’ve come to expect the exceptional when he is involved. But this is truly a masterpiece of film making and a comprehensive look at the unbelievable influence, impact and and trajectory that the Roosevelts had on our country and history. 14 hours of documentary cinema is an endeavor for sure and I am only half way through but for me it reminds me of when Planet Earth debuted, There is nothing that has given us this level of comprehensive expanse on arguably the most influential family in American history . In the doldrums before the TV season kicks up in earnest this was a shining gem.
2) Tuesday 2:30PM, the moment when my day gave way to audio commentary and extras for the Castle DVD. There are many many wonderful things to be had – Deep Cover with Susan Sullivan and James Brolin I could listen to everyday. But was was truly marvelous and probably the best thing I saw this week, was the DVD extra that offered cast member’s favorite things from seasons past. It was a great insight to the actors take on the world they create and a truly wonderful way to embed the much anticipated and talked about extra scene from Always. I adore Castle unabashedly. This vignette made me adore it even more.
1.) I was actually just talking about The Roosevelt documentary tonight at dinner with my parents. I only caught bits and pieces of it this week, but what I saw was phenomenal, and I learned so much in just the short time I watched. My father couldn’t stop talking about how much he adored it.
2.) This was the first season of Castle I didn’t buy on DVD (because now I have Netflix), but your thoughts on the bonus features are making me reconsider. I happened to see that feature on the cast’s favorite things (something good to come out of Tumblr), and it brought me so much joy.
That’s so funny about Castle. I hadn’t bought any of the seasons because of TNT’s regular airings and because I had Netflix. But then I found my DVR was overrun in episodes. So after ordering s6 I just bought the whole set and cancelled the DVD portion of my Netflix account.
What is up with Fox hiding all the good stuff? Don’t they know it makes us love their shows and want to watch them MORE if we can share clips and relive the good bits?!
This week was all about that hour of Fox comedy for me too, and not just because nothing else was new. New Girl was fun and more like the old days, and even got me to laugh out loud really hard (Winnie and the salt and pepper holes, and not just because I was thinking about how happy certain people on tumblr would be with that plot line).
But Mindy was just great. Danny Castellano is my favorite and I hope the show continues on this wonderful path. My favorite moment was every one where Mindy and Danny were alone together onscreen – all the little bits in their respective apartments, on the fire escape, and of course the striptease and subsequent fumbled glasses on, glasses removed, kiss and butt grab were the very best of the best. Which makes me realize I need to buy a couple of Mindy episodes to watch over and over – last season finale and this season premiere for starters. 🙂
FOX and NBC are the absolute worst when it comes to sharing the good stuff with the Internet so we can watch things again and again.
I definitely support buying some Mindy episodes to watch whenever you’re in the mood. Both of your choices are perfect. I’ve gotten so much use out of my S2 DVDs already, and I just got them a few weeks ago.
I couldn’t agree with you more about last week’s Mindy. 🙂
I feel like we’re all still smiling from the joy that is Diamond Dan. 😉
Katie! Did you read this amazing Vanity Fair piece about Diamond Dan?http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/09/chris-messina-striptease-mindy-project?mbid=social_twitter
I’m obsessed. With everything he has to offer my life.
I read it, I loved it, and I will continue to love it forever.
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