Are There Benefits To 'Mindy' Moving Online?

If only the world could always be this wonderful. A little less than two weeks since its cancellation on Fox, The Mindy Project has officially been renewed on Hulu for a 26-episode Season 4. Personally, I could not be happier. Sure the series had its fair share of problems in Season 3, especially with some of the story lines involving Mindy and Danny's relationship. But overall, the series is still, in my humble opinion, smart, sweet and hilarious. Though it's bittersweet to think the show will no longer be on network television, now that the show is definitely making the move over to Hulu for a super-sized new season, I actually think making the move to an online streaming service benefits The Mindy Project in quite a few ways.

Think about it this way. Can you imagine what a show like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black or even Daredevil would look like if it were on network television instead of their streaming website home, Netflix? There can be certain limitations to a series when it's on a network versus if it's on a cable channel or a streaming website. And I truly do believe that even if Mindy Kaling and her production team had fewer limitations than most, there's still more freedom for this new future of the show.

1. More Freedom To Explore Different Material

Personally, I'd love to see the show really explore story lines that may not have been fully accepted on Fox. We can't know for sure what kinds of stories they could and could not explore on the network, but if there were some no-go story lines on Fox, they may work out on Hulu.

2. More Opportunities To Be A Bit More Taboo

Remember The Mindy Project episode "I Slipped," which dealt with consent and anal sex? Sure, that episode didn't fully realize the message I think Mindy was trying to address — but maybe if it were done on Hulu versus Fox, we could have a little more of a frank, obvious discussion about what happened. Perhaps Hulu will allow Kaling and co. to tackle a wider, and more risqué variety of topics. And, maybe we can get some swear words guys? It just feels weird without them, but maybe that's because I curse like a sailor.

3. Less Commercials (Hopefully)

Sure if the series had been picked up by Netflix, there would be no commercials to deal with in each episode, and binge-watching would be easier — but the show was picked up by Hulu, a site that does feature commercials. However, they're still not as long as network television commercials, so it's a definite upgrade.

4. More Episodes

Fox would have never given The Mindy Project 26 episodes for one season — after all, the most they gave was 24 in the first season, and the numbers diminished each year. We'll see how this affects the material and how the story lines progress, but, I gotta say...more Mindy is always my preference.

Images: John P. Fleenor/FOX; Giphy (4)