Mindy Kaling is Comedy Rich but 'House Poor'

Hordes of Americans may be standing outside their foreclosed houses with their furniture sitting on the sidewalk, but TV’s Kelly Kapoor has the exact opposite problem – a big house with nothing to put in it. What’s a girl to do?

So the star of House Poor isn’t really the chattering scourge of Dunder Mifflin, it’s the actress who portrays Kelly, Mindy Kaling, and in this Strike.TV series she takes on the role of slightly fictionalized version of herself. Suffice to say, the show features plenty of faux-reality humor that fans of The Office will recognize (Kalin is a writer for the NBC show and she co-writes House Poor along with Lester Lewis). But clocking in at three and a half minutes, House Poor has a slightly better ratio of laughs to program length.

In the first episode, Mindy explains she recently bought a new house from another Office writer who had to skip town on account of some human trafficking charges (It’s a true story, btw. Who she bought her house form. Not the trafficking charges.). The owner of a dream abode that’s slightly out of her price range, Mindy sets about furnishing her empty home by faking a pregnancy in order to throw herself a baby shower and squeeze some gifts out of her friends. What could possibly go wrong?!?

The actresses portraying Mindy’s baby showerers give loose and believable performances. They’re also real-life friends of the creative team, including Busy Phillips of Freaks and Geeks fame.

The episode is over in a flash, but it’s a heartily satisfying piece of comedy. It’s a simple production executed wonderfully. Like all the other shows popping up on the web with indoctrinated Hollywood talent – you can tell this series is made by media professionals.

Jamison recently sat down with one of those professionals – Mindy’s co-writer Lester Lewis – to discuss House Poor and Strike.TV in general:

The fact that House Poor was concocted during the Writers Strike means that it feels a bit behind the times. You may find yourself waiting for a housing crisis joke that never comes.  But this is only episode one, and future installments promise to find Mindy coming up with new ways to scam free furniture.

I’d be great to see this series continue into a second season, far past it’s Strike roots, and catch up with the present day for some topical humor. By the time those episodes hit the web, we’ll either be able to look back and laugh about the depressed markets or be in dire need of some comic relief.

Check out Mindy Kaling’s House Poor on Strike.tv.