Hulu Cancels ‘Not Suitable for Work’ After Failing to Become Overnight Phenomenon and Make Cast Household Names with 9 Episodes
Not suitable for streaming.
From a bush outside of Hulu HQ in Santa Monica, I can now confirm that Mindy Kaling’s Not Suitable for Work has been canceled after only one season on the streamer. Hulu exec, Tommy Costa, went into details about the cancellation earlier this week in an open letter to fans of the show.
“The Murray Hill gang just didn’t have the staying power of their sitcom forefathers,” Costa wrote before admitting a few lines later that he was struggling to remember most of the characters’ names from the show. “We wanted AJ to be the next Jerry Seinfeld or the next Ted Mosby. Hell, we would have taken AJ being the next Jimmy Hughes, but the show just couldn’t find its footing in 9 episodes. It’s a shame.”
Costa hates to see the show go, but states that he doesn’t think a second season would really move the needle.
“Ughh, if we did a second season, we’d have to put in some effort and market it,” Cost continued in the letter. “We hate marketing. Sure, every streamer has ads now, so we can easily find our viewers, but we like not marketing and letting folks find out about shows on their own. We love it when we hear, ‘Whoa, a second season? I had no idea this was happening.’ The more in the dark everyone is, the better for our pocketbooks.”
Kaling was disappointed with the recent news, but vows to find the show a new home.
“The writers have barricaded themselves in the writers’ room and have refused to come out until we can find a new streamer for the show,” Kaling said in an exclusive interview from outside of the writers’ room. “I feel for them. You used to get 22 episodes to find and establish characters. These goobers have to do it in less than half of that. Oh well, I guess it’s time to call Netflix and see if they have any money left over from greenlighting The Grey Man 2.”
At press time, Hulu premiered another comedy sitcom and then promptly canceled it. The bush I hid in for this piece was a Huluweed.
Not suitable for streaming.