John P. Fleenor/FOXThe world needs more Danny and Mindy like the world needs oxygen and water. Period.
This was never more clear than after last night's incredibly crafted The Mindy Project finale, in which not only did Danny Castellano introduce the world to #DannyScruff (quick, everyone hide Chris Messina's razor til the end of time), but one of Mindy Kaling's trademark amazing grand gestures: Danny flew all the way to India to prove he loved her.
So what are Mindy's chances of a season four at Fox?
Precisely…50/50, according to multiple insiders.
The show's ratings have never been anything to write home about, sadly, but the critical praise and sincere love among Fox's top brass could keep it afloat once more. The decision is also contingent on how Fox's new pilots turn out.
The upside? Mindy is expected to get picked up somewhere. The show is produced by NBC Universal, so if Fox passes and does not pick it up for a fourth season, the studio has the right to pitch it anywhere. A likely new home could be Hulu, which is also owned by NBC Universal.
Mindy on demand? We'd take it. We'd take our Mindy anywhere we can get it, quite frankly.
When Mindy Kaing herself stopped in to our E! Studios, she was cautiously hopeful about the chances of a season four at Fox.
"I'm so proud of the show," she told us. "There's nothing really that I would do differently in the way that we've built the those in the last couple of years, and I love our relationship with Fox and I would love for it to just continue."
The Mindy Project's many strengths include not only an insanely talented cast, but funny and grounded writing, and a truly realistic love story that gives the show the feel of an epic rom-com, all in each tightly produced 22 minute episode.
"I would love for that to be the legacy," Kaling told us, "that it was a breeding ground for insane talent and for people to watch it and be like, 'This was a great love story over the course of how ever many seasons for the first time between two realistic people falling in love, that didn't shy away from stuff that was real that was a on network…which I don't know that we're going to see that many more of those kind of shows on networks."
Fox has until early-May to decide the fate of the series.
Fingers crossed we get more Mindy…somewhere.
And more #DannyScruff. Just sayin'.
—additional reporting by Tierney Bricker