Mindy Kaling on the 10th anniversary of The Mindy Project: ‘the most fun six years’


The Mindy Project, which doesn’t even need an explanatory comma since its creator/star is so prolific, is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its premiere this week. The Mindy Project is one of my favorite shows and also one of my comfort shows. I’ve re-watched it more times than I should probably admit and it remains hilarious and so good. Mindy Kaling marked the anniversary occasion with an Instagram post describing her inspiration for the show and noting that she plans to share more throughout the week.

Mindy Kaling is looking back on The Mindy Project in celebration of its milestone anniversary.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, Kaling, 43, shared a montage of scenes from the series that ran from 2012-2017, commemorating its 10-year anniversary.

“This Sunday marks the 10 year (!!!) anniversary of the premiere of The Mindy Project. I love this show so much,” the post began. “The cast, crew and writers room remain some of my favorite and most important people in my life today. I wanted to play a woman who was basically a good person, but also very insane, and had tons of stuff she needed to work on. Coming from The Office, I wanted the show to be packed with jokes, but also, like You’ve Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally, really romantic and made you want to live in New York City.”

Kaling shared that when coming up with the idea for the show, she wanted to be sure the main character, played by her, showed a different type of female lead than what was usually seen on television.

“In addition, I wanted to wear head-to-toe amazing designer fits even though I wasn’t (and still am not) a size 2,” she wrote. “I think we accomplished that! It will always be the most fun six years (117 episodes!) of my life!”

The Office alum said she would be sharing some of her favorite “moments and scenes” from the series throughout the week.

The Mindy Project first premiered on Fox in 2012. The series ran for three seasons on the network before Hulu picked it up, where it continued for three more seasons before its finale in 2017.

The show, created by and starring Kaling, centered around Mindy Lahiri, a lively doctor working in New York City, and her colleagues at an OB/GYN office.

[From People]

I watched the first season when it aired and watched the show in its entirety on Hulu in 2019. Mindy really accomplished all she set out to do with her zany, fashionista character. The character was, at her core, a good person, but also a bit of a jerk at times. A lovable a-hole, in the best way. The show turned a lot of rom-com tropes on their head, while still remaining a rom-com at its core. For example, Mindy’s long-running list of random physical ailments (like sharp toenails) was to poke fun at the perfect women usually portrayed in the genre. And the political satire in the later seasons is pretty funny. I liked what she said about the fashion and body positivity in her post. The Mindy character wears such great clothes throughout the series and the fashion isn’t size-dependent at all. The character talks about her body and what she wishes it was occasionally throughout the series, but is extremely confident in herself, her personal, and her professional life, as she should be. It’s really such a funny, clever, and heart-warming show and it looked incredibly fun to film, so I completely believe Mindy when she says it was “the most fun six years of [her] life.” I wish it were still on and I wish Mindy acted in more stuff, but she seems very happy writing/producing her many successful series.

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18 Responses to “Mindy Kaling on the 10th anniversary of The Mindy Project: ‘the most fun six years’”

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  1. MoBiMom says:

    Ah, Mindy Kaling….. I love you and I loved this show. That is all.

  2. Saba says:

    I adore this show and have also comfort watched it more that I can count.

    It’s incredibly funny. Not at all what you think it will be. And the writing is the opposite of lazy and obvious.

    Mindy, Ike Barinholtz and Chris Messina are phenomenal.

    I think Mindy doesn’t get the credit the deserves.

    • Moonstone says:

      Am I the only one who thought her relationship with Danny Castellano was deeply controlling, abusive and toxic? I really wish she didn’t end up with him, he was horrible.

  3. Seraphina says:

    Love Mindy and wish her continued success and happiness. Her character on The Office is one of my favorites.

  4. dina says:

    love this show!! i’m gonna rewatch it soon

  5. KrystinaJ says:

    Literally one of the only shows I wish had never come to an end. I loved it <3

  6. Jess says:

    I love all of Mindy’s shows but this is the one I rewatch the most. And her character was so unique and fabulous and funny.

  7. Owlsyn says:

    I love Mindy Kaling. Like, I like how she conducts her personal life with grace and privacy and humor. I think she is hilarious as a writer and actress. Even like her voice acting. But for some reason I just couldn’t get in to The Mindy Project. I really would like to like it but it just didn’t click with me.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      I am now wishing that I had watched it!! I absolutely adore Mindy Kaling, but I am curious what kept you unable to get into the show??

      Though I have watched Late Night at least four times!! Though I do adore Emma Thompson since the ‘80’s. In no was an I attempting at slamming Mindy though!

      Now I am mad that I cancelled my Hulu account.

      It would piss me off constantly as it would never automatically play the next episode…….🤬

      • Owlsyn says:

        The humor just didn’t land with me, and that’s entirely on my own personal taste. I watched the first and maybe part of the second episode and was bored. I am wondering if it’s a little bit like Parks and Recreation where the first episodes might not be the strongest for what turns out to be a great show?

  8. Abby says:

    I love the Mindy project so much!! Such a gem of a series.

  9. Sid says:

    I was rather “meh” about Mindy, but listening to her on the Archetypes podcast made me see her in a whole new light and put some of her past comments in perspective. I wish her even more success than she has already achieved.

  10. Debbie says:

    She says that she wanted to make sure the main character, played by her, showed a different kind of female lead than was usually shown on television. It’s interesting how the male lead, or leads since I can’t tell whether white guy in the pictures is the same or different people, fits the same kind of demographic that’s usually on tv.

    • lucy2 says:

      I know there’s been a lot of discussion about that over the years, but I wonder if there was some network pressure to have a white guy as the lead opposite her.

      I think I only watched to season 3, it’s one I will have to go back to and watch in its entirety at some point.

  11. Lolamd says:

    I loved this show. And I especially loved the confidence her character exuded. The Santa Fe episode is my favorite. I always cry laughing when rewatching that one.

  12. Moo says:

    Love love this show! Is Hulu the only place to watch it? Definitely worth rewatching the series!

  13. Juju says:

    I loved TMP, especially that even though her character was kind of a mess, she cared about her career and was really good at it. The moment in the pilot when she de-glams herself and preps for surgery as they play MIA’s “bad girls” is one of my favorite scenes ever.

  14. jferber says:

    Mindy looks amazing. The plaid suit and black dress are KILLER.