Actress, writer, comedian, and producer Mindy Kaling boasts an impressive career, having worked on some of the best comedy series of recent years. Her journey in the industry was shaped by great shows, such as Saturday Night Live, Dr. Katz, Frasier, and Cheers, which influenced her to attend Dartmouth College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in playwriting. Her first gig was an internship on Late Night with Conan O'Brien at the age of 19, and from then on, she kept working. Her breakthrough would come only in 2005, when she joined the American version of The Office as a writer and actress, portraying an amusing character named Kelly Kapoor. At the time, she was the only woman writer on the team, and was selected by Greg Daniels after reading a spec script from her. Eventually, her role in the series expanded: she became an executive producer and even directed a few episodes.
While working on The Office, Kaling made her film debut with a small role in the comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and went on to perform in several productions. Among her most notable films are Inside Out, Despicable Me, Ocean's 8 and Late Night, in which she also served as writer and producer. She was also involved in series such as Sesame Street, The Morning Show, and Monsters at Work, and is set to star in the upcoming adult animated series Velma, based on the Scooby-Doo character, streaming on HBO Max in 2023. For her work as a writer, Kaling has earned a number of awards and nominations, including several Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Writers Guild of America Award. In recent years, she has been working in television, creating several shows that have proven to be very successful. Let's take a look at them all.
5 Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a rom-com miniseries created by Kaling and Matt Warburton. It is inspired by the 1994 film of the same name, directed by Mike Newell, and is made up of 10 episodes. The show follows Maya, Craig, Ainsley, and Duffy, four friends who are brought back together after a few years for a wedding that doesn't turn out the way they expected. A confession at the altar turns their lives into a year-long turmoil that is bound to take its toll on their relationships. The series stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Nikesh Patel, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Brandon Mychal Smith, and John Reynolds. Four Weddings and a Funeral was released in July 2019, and was met with mixed reviews. The performances and diversity of the cast were praised, but some were critical of the excessive use of rom-com clichés and considered that it did not live up to the original film.
4 Champions
Anders Holm, Andy Favreau, and Josie Totah star in Champions, the 2018 series created by Kaling and Charlie Grandy. Holm is Vince, a man living the life that any single guy would want to have: he owns one of the best gyms in Brooklyn, lives with his brother, and goes out with women non-stop. But that all changes when Priya (Kaling), his former high school sweetheart, drops off his 15-year-old unknown son Michael at his door so that he can attend a prestigious performing arts school. Michael Alan Spiller helms this comedy TV series, which, upon its release, garnered rave reviews for the script and the cast's performances. That said, the TV series struggled to find its core, and perhaps that is why it ended up being canceled after just one season.
3 The Mindy Project
In November 2012, the TV series The Mindy Project, created by and starring Kaling, was released with a run of six seasons. In it, the actress stars as Mindy Lahiri, a prestigious gynecologist that has lost control over her own life. Mindy is self-confident and has a rising career, but she is constantly getting into trouble and is unable to discern the men who are right for her from those who are not. But everything changes after her ex-boyfriend's wedding, during which she makes a fool of herself and ends up in jail. Now that she has reached the lowest point in her life, Mindy finally decides to focus on improving the things she doesn't like about herself. But it is not so easy to get rid of old habits, and along the way she finds herself caught up in some crazy adventures and love stories. This series is inspired by Kaling's own mother, who was also a gynecologist.
2 The Sex Lives of College Girls
Kaling and Justin Noble created this hit series, drawing inspiration from their own experiences as college students, and put together a writing team that comprised mostly women of different ages and backgrounds to ensure a diverse perspective when building the characters. The Sex Lives of College Girls stars Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Reneé Rapp, and Alyah Chanelle Scott as Kimberly, Bela, Leighton and Whitney, four very different teenagers who eventually become roommates at Essex College. The four quickly strike up a friendship and share their day-to-day lives as they explore their newly found reality as college girls, uncovering new sides of love, sex and their freedom. This show was a hit among critics and viewers, with a second season due in November of this year.
1 Never Have I Ever
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan stars in this brilliant Netflix series created by Kaling and Lang Fisher that awaits its fourth and final season next year. Never Have I Ever follows Devi, an Indian-American Tamil girl who is an excellent student with a very big problem: her social status is not as high as she would like it to be. As if that wasn't enough, the past year was by far the worst one of her life: her father passed away, and as a result of this, Devi was unable to walk for several months. Once recovered, she sets out on a quest to improve her popularity and get a boyfriend, but these tasks are not going to be as easy as she thinks. Supporting Ramakrishnan in the cast are Poorna Jagannathan, Ramona Young, Lee Rodriguez, Richa Moorjani, Darren Barnet, and Jaren Lewison. For this series, as outlined by Screen Rant, Kaling drew inspiration from her own childhood and teenage years.