THE MINDY PROJECT: PALEYFEST 2013 by Marques Wayne

Last night was overcast and cloudy and there was some light rain, but it didn't stop fans from piling into the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills to see the producers and stars of Fox's The Mindy Project talk about the show.

The red carpet wasn't dampened by the rain at all.  The stars came in upbeat and laughed the whole time.  Each of the actors has a great sense of humor, as one would imagine, and they were a blast to hang out with before the panel started.  The most animated and hilarious was Ike Barinholtz, who may not be as weird as his character Morgan in person, but is just as funny.

Barinholtz, also a writer on the show, answered off the wall questions about his character's wackiness and questions about the upcoming episodes with equal aplomb.  Beth Grant, who plays Shirley, a vastly under-qualified nurse, was excited to announce that she was picked up as a series regular even after character was fired from Dr. Lahiri's (Mindy Kaling) private obstetrics practice.  Grant told me that she likes to reveal the mystery of her character each week and is surprised with each new script.  We'll soon find out that she has quite the colorful past.

The panel was in good spirits, in part, because it was just recently announced that the show has been picked up for a second season.  Executive Producers Matt Warburton and Kaling discussed how the show evolved into a more of an ensemble and what kind of guest stars they look forward to having in the future.  Danny McBride, Barinholtz's Eastbound and Down co-star, is high on the list.

Many of the fans in the audience were women and the ones that got a chance to speak all mentioned how inspiring it was to see Kaling executive producing and starring in her own prime time series.  Kaling was thankful, but demurred when asked if she had any sort of 'master plan' to take over television.  She said she was simply a nerdy kid who worked hard and didn't party.  When asked about her long hours working in various capacities on the show her answer was perfect, "When you're literally living your dream, you don't wanna sleep."

Special thanks to Samsung Smart TV for sponsoring my coverage of PaleyFest 2013. Make sure to like Samsung TV USA on Facebook for an insider look at red carpet photos, video highlights, recaps from the day's events and more. Also, don’t forget to follow @PopCultureBeast on Twitter for live updates during the screenings and panels.