Mindy Kaling revealed this week that BJ Novak actively discouraged her from saving The Mindy Project when Fox canceled it, and she admitted years later that he was probably right.
Kaling made the comments on the Las Culturistas podcast, hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, according to The Wrap. The show ran three seasons on Fox before it was dropped, then moved to Hulu for an additional three seasons starting in 2015.
Kaling described the atmosphere during the Fox years as consistently anxious. "The show was never a hit, we were always waiting with bated breath to see if we were going to get picked up. Every year," she said. "Then we got canceled."
When Hulu came up as an option, Kaling said she went to Novak, her former Office co-star who had written, produced, and guest starred on The Mindy Project. His advice was blunt.
"I remember, and B.J. would corroborate this," Kaling said. "I was like, 'B.J., I think we're going to go to Hulu.' He was like, 'I don't — what even is that? Maybe it's classier to just let it die instead of going onto this other thing.'"
Kaling said she understood his reasoning but could not bring herself to walk away. "And that would've been the classier thing," she admitted, "but I was like, I've gotta just keep doing this … I don't want them to win by canceling it. So we did it, and then all the writers stayed and that was such a huge risk. But it never felt like it was a success during it. It was always a slog."
She also told Rogers and Yang that the show faced persistent public scrutiny throughout its run, both over her appearance and over how the series handled representation. She said some of that criticism landed and some did not.
"Bowen, I don't know if you feel this way, but there was always endless scrutiny about representation," she said. "And some of it, looking back at it, I was like, 'Oh, that was good, I should've done that differently.' And then some of it was like, 'Why are you picking on me again?'"
She added that despite the complicated feelings, hearing that the show had made an impact on the hosts was meaningful. "I sound so needy, but it's so nice to hear it made an impact on you guys," she said.
Kaling currently has projects across multiple streamers, including Running Point and Never Have I Ever on Netflix, The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max, and the new Not Suitable for Work on Hulu.
