‘The Mindy Project’ Is Back for a Second Chance at Love on Hulu

The Mindy Project - Season 4
John Fleenor/NBC
THE MINDY PROJECT -- "While I Was Sleeping" Episode 402 -- Pictured: (l-r) -- (Photo by: John Fleenor/NBC)

After being dumped by Fox last May, The Mindy Project is getting another shot at romance thanks to new suitor Hulu. And it was love at first sight when creator/executive producer/star Mindy Kaling sat down with the streaming platform’s head of content, Craig Erwich. “The meeting was so eye-opening to me because he had seen every episode of the show and was quoting lines from it,” Kaling says. “That was a feeling I had not had in a long time.”

Less than two weeks after Fox’s cancellation, Hulu ordered a 26-episode fourth season, which premieres September 15 (new episodes will be available every Tuesday). Because the series no longer has to adhere to strict broadcast standards, the episode run time has increased by a few minutes and the writers can include more colorful language. “When I stub my toe, I say ‘Goddamn it,’” Kaling says with a laugh. “So it’s actually not raunchier, but it feels a lot more authentic because these characters can speak in a more natural way and seem more vulnerable and honest.”

Kaling also praises Hulu executives for giving the writers full creative control of the stories, which in Season 4 include homages to the films Sliding Doors and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. “It’s become the show that I would create in a perfect world,” Kaling says. “They say, ‘Do the show you want to do; don’t change anything.’ That’s an incredible feeling.”

The cast will also welcome a new member, as Kaling’s alter ego, New York-based ob-gyn Mindy Lahiri, gives birth in the second episode. “Motherhood has sharpened certain aspects of her personality and softened other ones,” Kaling says. “She is just as confident and shallow about certain things, but now she really loves something more than she loves herself.”

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Mindy’s relationship with baby daddy Danny (Chris Messina) also takes an unexpected turn after he visits her parents (Ajay Mehta and Sakina Jaffrey) in India. However, Kaling warns viewers that Messina will not showcase his impressive dance moves anytime soon. “We’re going to give him a little respite,” she says. “It’s the thing that everybody wants from him the most, but for one season, he’s not going to have to memorize a lot of choreographed dances.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uwanee-lS4

The Mindy Project, Season premiere, Tuesday, September 15, Hulu