'The Mindy Project': Here's what viewers will see in season four
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
The fourth season of the sitcom 鈥淭he Mindy Project鈥� is almost here, with new episodes of the show debuting on the streaming service Hulu on Sept. 15.聽
The day the new season debuts is the same day that series creator and star Mindy Kaling releases her new book of essays, 鈥淲hy Not Me?鈥�
鈥淧roject鈥� centers on OB/GYN Mindy Lahiri, who on the show is currently pregnant with the child of her boyfriend and fellow doctor Danny (Chris Messina). The show was canceled by its previous home, Fox, last year and Hulu picked it up for a new season.聽
The previous season ended with Danny traveling to India to visit Mindy鈥檚 parents, unbeknownst to Mindy. A new trailer for the series showed Danny with them and聽also includes a glimpse of a new character 鈥� Jody Kimball (鈥淗and of God鈥� actor Garret Dillahunt), who works at Mindy鈥檚 practice while she鈥檚 on maternity leave.
The new season will also include appearances by actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Freida Pinto, who will pop up in an episode that envisions what it would be like if Mindy and her boyfriend Danny had not gotten together.
鈥淢indy鈥� is the newest comedy to be canceled by a network channel and be picked up for new episodes by a streaming service. Fellow Fox show 鈥淎rrested Development鈥� and the NBC show 鈥淐ommunity鈥� went to Netflix and Yahoo Screen, respectively. What is the advantage for these streaming services?聽
鈥淧eople see value in programming that already has an identity,鈥� Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture at Syracuse University鈥檚 Newhouse School, says of streaming services deciding what to pick up for new episodes. For a show like 鈥淢indy,鈥� which already had three seasons worth of promotion by its network, 鈥測ou鈥檝e already got the fan base.鈥�
In the streaming world, those behind 鈥淢indy鈥� made an intriguing decision by deciding to put one episode online a week. That鈥檚 a different model than that embraced by, for example, competitor Netflix, which is famous for putting whole seasons of a show online at a time.
There can be a downside to that in our binge-viewing world, Thompson says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e really got this sense of entitlement,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e almost angry that there鈥檚 not another one to watch.鈥澛�
But this can be a positive decision financially, he says. Filming a whole season at once requires a bigger monetary commitment than filming episodes over a longer stretch of time. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 always afford to do what Netflix has been doing,鈥� he says.聽
But 鈥淢indy鈥� and other shows being saved from cancellation by streaming services represents a big shift in TV thinking.
鈥淐ancellation is not a terminal diagnosis,鈥� Thompson says.
