I love it when TV writers write hot love interests to each other

Abbott Elementary School‘S The Valentine’s Day episode treated us to an almost Shakespearean mix-up that – for a moment – poured gas on the slow-burning workplace romance between teachers Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams). Janine learns from another teacher, Jacob, that Gregory may or may not have a crush on her. (Jacob overhears Janine talking about one of her second grade students professing his love for her and mistakes it for Janine talking about Gregory.)

Of course, Janine and Gregory’s feelings for each other are pretty much known to everyone but them at this point; The writers aren’t even subtle about what’s happening. The Valentine’s Day episode ends with Janine and Gregory exchanging gifts with their respective dates ridiculously misaligned. The contrasts instead suggest how perfect Janine and Gregory would be for each other instead. And Naturally there we go! In addition to starring, Brunson wrote and created dept– Why wouldn’t she pair up with the character played by Williams, an absolute smoke show of a man?

When we think of fanfiction writers, the tween users of Wattpad and Archive of Our Own inevitably spring to mind. But many TV writers also write their own fanfiction – it’s just their own lives: they draw from lived experiences and insert versions of themselves into their scripts. Male authors certainly are no strangers to itbut in recent years, some of the most successful, innovative, and/or popular television shows have featured women who have embraced this approach and are bold Protagonists who are avatars of themselves and get very perky with some very handsome men (because of the story, of course!). I have to respect their art, their vision and above all their horniness.

In dept, the mockumentary-style sitcom set in a disadvantaged Philly elementary school, is many things (including an indictment of the lack of resources being invested in public education). But at its core, it’s an ode to workplace romance, and I just live for Brunson’s decision to cast an aggressively hot man like Williams as her co-star.

Before Brunson, many horny foremothers blazed a trail in tasteful(-ish) sitcom smut before her:

• Tina Fey as 30 rocks‘S The charmingly nerdy Liz Lemon brings together a host of hot male love interests throughout the show’s seven seasons – like Dean Winters’ possibly psychopathic Dennis Duffy or the repulsively hot Dr. Andrew Baird, played by Jon Hamm (damn it – of course) or literally James Franco himself;
• Lena Dunham as Hannah Horvath in Girl is dating Adam Driver’s Adam Sackler for a good chunk of the series. Their fundamentally different characters don’t carry their relationship through, but of course Dunham still gets a chance to do plenty of sex scenes with Driver;
• In Season 2, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s title character is in fleasack– who constantly breaks bridges and self-destructs in her relationships (romantic or otherwise), meets and falls in love with the Hot Priest (Andrew Scott) who lives up to his internet name. Waller-Bridge wrote, created and acted fleasackand while it’s not clear to what extent the show is based on her life, the casting of a very hot man (with whom she has banana chemistry) to represent her lover and spiritual support system a choice, and a delightful one at that.

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Which brings me to Mindy Kaling, whose work is notoriously self-promotional: from her on- and off-screen romance with BJ Novak onwards The officeto the string from all white love interests with which her character invites Mindy Lahiri The Mindy ProjectKaling’s stories follow a pattern: a South Asian protagonist who is ashamed of something unique to her (her heritage, her body, her intelligence), and a conventionally attractive white male love interest who usually covers Kaling’s avatar pretty awful – which of course only makes her fall harder. (See: Kaling and veep Alum Reid Scott in the film late night in 2019, which Kaling wrote and starred in.)

Kaling’s recent offerings, College Girls Sex Life And I have never, follow college/high school-aged South Asian protagonists. At sex lives, Amrit Kaur plays what a version of Kaling’s college self: her character, Bela, is an aspiring comedy writer and constantly hooking up with men who are either conventionally hot white hunks or thinly veiled Novak lookalikes. In I have neverDevi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a teenage version of Kaling, is trapped in an eternal love triangle with the dreamy Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) and the slightly less dreamy but admittedly very charming Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison).

Legitimate criticism Aside from many of Kaling’s writing choices, I have to say that I deeply respect the openness with which she very often designs each project as a fanfiction storyboard of her life and her most shameless and intimate desires. Each of her shows is a blank slate through which she seems to live out various deeply chaotic romantic fantasies.

For me, at least, there’s something cathartic about seeing women on screen who might not be the most conventionally attractive (read: white, tall, gauzy) — or maybe aggressively nerdy and awkward — getting together with very hot men. Sure, at the end of the day it’s just TV, bBut it’s undeniably cathartic and fun – both for female audiences and I would hope sothe women Authors and creators bringing all of this to life.

Season 2 is burned into my brain College Girls Sex Life Scene where Bela in the middle of intercourse with her comedy rival lover (and Novak lookalike), Eric, seems to drift towards the two threatening to derail each other’s careers. For months I’ve wondered if this really happened between Kaling and Novak — or just a fantasy by Kaling. Either way, color me slightly uncomfortable but wildly entertained. Horny women Writers, please keep doing your thing.

Read the rest of Jezebel’s Horny Week 2023 stories Here.