A question we were pondering just two days ago has been answered: Fox has not renewed The Mindy Project for a fourth season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But, as in any rom-sitcom, it may be darkest before the dawn, as hip young upstart Hulu has swooped in to possibly rescue The Mindy Project by offering new episodes online. THR continued that Universal Television is “now in talks with Hulu for a multiple-season renewal,” though Hulu and Universal Television (the show’s production studio, which conveniently owns a stake in Hulu) declined to comment.
Always on the cancellation bubble, The Mindy Project has been creatively uneven but inspired. Still, as Marah Eakin reported in November, “the show draws big after the fact with women ages 18 to 34, who have collectively DVRed the show hard enough to make it one of their top five live-action comedies,” making the Fox news a bit of a surprise—but offering a valid reason for Hulu to pick it up. At this point, the Hulu talks offer a faint hope to bereft fans who may never know what happens when Danny meets Mindy’s parents in India, the season-three cliffhanger.
With the future of her show always iffy, Kaling could have wrapped up with a more solid season-ender. But as the steadfast Kaling told THR, she refused to “create under the assumption of failure,” and had already talked with Universal Television’s Bela Bajaria about what a fourth Mindy Project season could hold in store. Kaling said, “I do think there’s more to tell, and I think fans would be disappointed not to see more adventures with these characters.”