Catching up with Mindy Kaling, in Atlanta again for SCAD aTVFest

This year, she didn't make any social media references to where she ended up eating but she indicated to me on Saturday she was angling for Korean barbecue.

Last spring, Fox cancelled her comedy after three seasons but Hulu picked it up. The streaming service aired her first 13 episodes last fall in traditional weekly fashion, which she prefers over the Amazon Prime/Netflix model of throwing an entire season out at the same time. She is currently shooting the second half of season four, which will air in the spring on Hulu.

"I feel like at Hulu we are allowed to make the show creatively closest to what my vision is and what Matt's vision is," referencing co-creator Matt Warburton, she said. "Current network television shows are 21 and a half minutes long. It's really hard to tell a really complete story and a B story. What's wonderful is that our show gets to breath more."

Indeed, the Christmas episode screened for the SCAD audience Saturday was 27 minutes long.

"We get to put in tonally we weren't allowed to do at Fox," she said. For instance, in that Christmas episode, there is a long, poignant scene where Mindy's character just cries in her apartment in a way that probably would have been trimmed down or changed on Fox.

On Fox, Kaling knew where her show stood every week thanks to Nielsen ratings. With Hulu, she knows almost nothing beyond generalities from management that all is fine.

"I'm happy with that," Kaling said. "I have to say it's nice on Wednesday mornings not to have to wait for ratings and have that hanging over my head and affect our mood for the day or the week."

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Kaling is also a big fan of "The Walking Dead," appearing on the post-show "Talking Dead" last season.

She said the producers presumed she was just a huge fan of Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln and didn't know the show that well but she said she has seen every single episode. She doesn't believe Daryl Dixon will ever die but is worried for her favorite character Glenn (played by Steven Yeun). Last fall, the producers toyed with the viewers by making them think he may have died when in fact he survived.

She only teased one guest star on "The Mindy Project": Ross Marquand from "The Walking Dead." She did say nice things about Lauren Cohan but only this week did it leak out she will guest on the show.