Devi is angry at the world – for taking her dad away from her, for replacing him with her annoying cousin from India, and for making her an “unfuckable nerd.”
Title: Never Have I Ever
Creators: Mindy Kaling, Lang Fisher
Streaming service: Netflix
Format: Live-action TV series
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama
Release date: 2020
Rating: TV-14
Starring: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar
Plot summary: Devi Vishwakumar, a 15-year-old Tamil American girl, lives in Sherman Oaks, California with her mom and older cousin from India, who moved in after Devi’s dad suddenly passed away. Losing her dad – and then the sensation in her legs – made freshman year a traumatic one for Devi, but she’s determined to have sophomore year be a major improvement. The first step is acquiring boyfriends for her and her two best friends, Eleanor and Fabiola, known as “the UN” (the Unfuckable Nerds) to the rest of school, thanks to Devi’s academic rival Ben, who created the nickname.
But in the pilot, when Devi discovers that Eleanor already has a boyfriend – and Fab helped keep it a secret – she explodes, frustrated by her friends’ pity towards her, and her own self-pity over her complete lack of romantic experience. So, in an impulsive moment, she asks her longtime crush Paxton if he’d ever consider having sex with her… and to her surprise, he agrees!
About the creators: Lang Fisher (she/her) was previously a staff writer for The Onion and contributed to the TV comedies Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, and 30 Rock prior to co-creating Never Have I Ever with Mindy Kaling (OnWriting, 2021). Kaling (she/her) wrote, acted in, and helped produce the beloved sitcoms The Office and The Mindy Project, and has co-created and written two young adult dramedies: Never Have I Ever and The Sex Lives of College Girls. She has also appeared in several movies and has authored two memoirs (Bauer, 2023).
Critical review: The show has a high production quality, with seamless camera work and distinctly different sets for Devi’s home, school, and therapist’s office. The “look” of the show is consistently bright and colorful, which helps to convey that it is mostly a lighthearted comedy, despite some heavier themes. Although most of the principal cast features lesser-known or debut actors, their comedic performances are excellent.
Like Devi, I was also a South Indian teen raised Hindu in a California suburb, and for that reason this show has been recommended to me on several occasions. However, I think part of me feared that I would cringe too much. I’m very selective about the comedies I watch! While it’s true that some jokes on the show didn’t quite land with me, and that I did cringe, I mostly cringed because the awkwardness of high school was very relatable. And some of my cringes were for unnecessary slang that I thought would date the show. But overall, I had a great time. I thought the banter between Devi and Ben was realistic, thought Devi’s friends were especially charming, and I love Niecy Nash as the therapist! The characters really make the show, and I think teens would be excited to see their storylines develop further.
Related programming ideas: We could run a “Never Have I Ever” challenge at the teen center, such as this one, to encourage exploration of our collections and programs. However, the different tasks could be more closely tied into elements of the show, such as… “Never have I ever read a book with a South Asian protagonist,” or “Never have I ever attended a Diwali program at the Library.”
Brief trailer: Devi is angry at the world – for taking her dad away from her, for replacing him with her annoying cousin from India, and for making her an “unfuckable nerd.” Okay, that last one was an unfortunate nickname given to her by Ben, her academic rival and sworn enemy. But it’s the start of sophomore year, and she’s going down swinging. She asks Paxton, the hottest guy in school, to have sex with her and, to her surprise, he agrees!
Actual trailer:
Potential challenges: The frank language and even slang around sex (i.e., “railed,” “fuckable,” “banging”) and the depiction of teens who are or wish to be sexually active could be challenged by caregivers with more conservative values.
Reason for inclusion: The show is sure to be funny and relatable to any teen curious about sex and relationships. It may be especially powerful as a mirror for viewers of color and/or children of immigrants.
References:
Bauer, P. (2023). Mindy Kaling. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mindy-Kaling
OnWriting (2021). Episode 58: Lang Fisher, Never have I ever. https://onwriting.libsyn.com/episode-58-lang-fisher-never-have-i-ever
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