5 Reasons We Need Mindy Kaling on TV

I read with dismay last night that The Mindy Project has been canceled, and then read just seconds later that it is being saved by Hulu! Woo-hoooooo!

I’ve been watching The Mindy Project from the very beginning, because she made me laugh so hard on The Office, and then wooed me with her hilarious and wonderful book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). She wooed me with her brilliance and her comedy and her attitude and her ability to be cool and make fun of herself at the same time. And I am grateful to her, because she has made me laugh, out loud, through some very dark times. Mindy, I salute you. And Hulu, I salute you for keeping this awesome woman on television. Nothing’s final yet, but they’re already talking about two more seasons. Cable, schmable!

Here are 5 reasons we really need Mindy Kaling on TV:

1. She’s brilliant (and that has made her successful).

There aren’t that many people out there who can create, write, produce, direct AND star on TV shows, and the handful that can swing it are usually white dudes. Her TV career started with a writing gig on The Office, and her next big TV job was a show with her name in the title. People hire her because she’s great at what she does, period.

2. She’s funny. She’s very, very funny.

The best way to prove this is just to let her talk. Unless stated otherwise, all the Mindy quotes heading your way are from her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns).

“I say if you love something, set it in a small cage and pester and smother it with love until it either loves you back or dies.”

“It’d be great to be so famous that if I murder someone, I will never, ever, ever serve any jail time, even if it’s totally obvious to everyone that I did it.”

“What? I have a cold. Don’t get a look of terror on your face. The worst that could happen is that you’ll get a cold, too. You don’t have to theatrically Purell a thousand times a day and look all panicky every time I come into the room.”

“Listen, my body is attracted to your body but when you speak it makes my brain angry.” (Said to the skateboarder she briefly dated on The Mindy Project, played by Timothy Olyphant.)

3. She actually enjoys being a woman.

I’m not into fashion and make-up at all. I don’t own a purse, I don’t wear high heels, and my standard dress code is jeans & sneakers. I don’t read fashion magazines and my favorite outfits at the Oscars are the outrageous ones that Cher and Bjork used to wear. But Mindy Kaling loves all that stuff. She loves fashion designers, and accessories, and fancy make-up, and all the primping and preening that goes along with her on-camera career. And somehow, when she does it, she makes it all look like so much fun!

4. She’s not like other people, and she celebrates it instead of hiding it.

“Nothing gives you confidence like being a member of a small, weirdly specific, hard-to-find demographic.”

“…write your own part. It is the only way I’ve gotten anywhere. It is much harder work, but sometimes you have to take destiny into your own hands. It forces you to think about what your strengths really are, and once you find them, you can showcase them, and no one can stop you.”

“Ultimately, the main reasons why I will be chubby for life are (1) I have virtually no hobbies except dieting. I can’t speak any non-English languages, knit, ski, scrapbook, or cook. I have no pets. I don’t know how to do drugs. I lost my passport three years ago when I moved into my house and never got it renewed. Video games scare me because they all seem to simulate situations I’d hate to be in, like war or stealing cars. So if I ever lost weight I would also lose my only hobby; (2) I have no discipline; I’m like if Private Benjamin had never toughened up but, in fact, got worse; (3) Guys I’ve dated have been into me the way I am; and (4) I’m pretty happy with the way I look, so long as I don’t break a beach chair.”

5. She is like other people, after all.

“You might also see that some of my playlists are simply two songs on repeat fifteen times, like I’m a psycho getting pumped up to murder the president.”

“In psychology (okay, Twilight) they teach you about the notion of imprinting, and I think it applies here. I reverse-imprinted with athleticism. Ours is the great non-love story of my life.”

“In high school, I had fun in my academic clubs, watching movies with my girlfriends, learning Latin, having long, protracted, unrequited crushes on older guys who didn’t know me, and yes, hanging out with my family. I liked hanging out with my family! Later, when you’re grown up, you realize you never get to hang out with your family. You pretty much have only eighteen years to spend with them full time, and that’s it.”

And finally, we need her because while the articles flew across the Internet last night about the show being canceled, the plot lines left hanging in the season finale, and the possible Hulu pick-up, this is what she posted on Instagram: