Not everything can last forever.
When Mindy Kaling co-created Never Have I Ever, which dropped its third season on Netflix Aug. 12, she knew it could only run for four seasons. After all, the show is largely about the experiences of high schooler Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her friends—and that's a story with a very specific shelf life.
The series recently wrapped production on its upcoming fourth and final season, but given its success, we couldn't help but fantasize about the idea of Never Have I Ever: The College Years.
"When you launch a show, it's really hard to figure everybody out. Once you have them, you're like, '40 episodes? That's it?,'" Mindy exclusively told E! News. "I love the character Devi, I love her family, I love her friends. I love this actress so much. I would do the show until she was a grandma."
If that makes it sound like Mindy has had a change of heart—brace yourself for heartbreak.
"Unfortunately, young people grow up and you can't be 17 forever," Mindy said. "I'm really happy with where we ended with the stories and with the characters' growth. It was a very emotional finale. I truly love this world and what the actors brought to these characters. It made it one of the best creative experiences of my life."
According to Mindy's co-creator Lang Fisher, conversations were had about bringing back the show at a later date—but they learned their lesson from ghosts of television's past.
"We did talk about it, but that's a hard jump to make," Lang told E! News. "With the teen shows that have done it in the past, it's always a little hard. It's hard to introduce a whole new world. It's hard to get people to care about them as much as you cared in the first iteration. It just felt like if we ever wanted to come back to these characters again, we would just have to start with a whole new show. It just felt a little tricky to make that leap."
While parting is such sweet sorrow, Mindy gained some appreciation for a certain former co-star when Never Have I Ever wrapped.
"I am very bad at goodbyes," she said. "I always remember that when Steve Carell finished The Office, when it was his series wrap, he did a bit instead of giving a speech. He just sprinted off to his car and ran off. It was a joke, but looking back, it's like, ‘Oh, now I understand.'"
Hey, at least we have an entire season still ahead of us.
The first three seasons of Never Have I Ever are available to stream on Netflix.