Fox’s The Mindy Project, one of this fall’s better new sitcoms, is only nine episodes in, but the show has already gone through more changes to its central cast than most sitcoms do during their entire runs. The Mindy Project is being retooled for midseason, and another casting change, the addition of actress Beth Grant, was just announced late last week. This is all getting a little messy, so here’s a complete list of The Mindy Project’s casting changes so far, although it will probably be out of date by this time next week:
Stephen Tobolowsky replaces Richard Schiff as Dr. Schulman after the original pilot. Tobolowsky appears in reshot scenes for the final pilot, but Schiff is still in a a scene in the finished pilot too.
Amanda Setton is added to the cast after the original pilot and appears in reshoots in the finished pilot.
Ike Barinholtz is added as a recurring character beginning in the second episode.
Stephen Tobolowsky disappears two episodes in and doesn’t pop up again until Episode 8, via voice only, in a telephone call explaining that his character is leaving his medical practice (and Tobolowsky is leaving the show).
Regular cast member Anna Camp is downgraded to a recurring role at midseason, and Amanda Setton is written off the show entirely at this point.
Beth Grant, who played a nurse in an early episode, joins the cast as a regular beginning midseason, with Mary Grill coming onboard in a recurring role at this point too.
So, to sum up, since the original pilot, the show has seen four cast members leave or have their roles downgraded (Schiff, Tobolowsky, Setton, Camp), five cast members added (Tobolowsky, Setton, Barinholtz, Grant, Grill), and only four performers stay on the show for its whole run (Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Zoe Jarman).
