Mindy Kaling on Making a Show About the 'Famously Dysfunctional, Extremely Wealthy' Family That Owns the Lakers

Mindy Kaling Credit - Ari Michelson

Mindy Kaling, one of TV's most prolific showrunners, is debuting yet another comedy on Netflix, this one loosely based on the life of real-life Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. Kate Hudson plays the owner of a fictional NBA team who must contend with a host of problems: infighting between her spoiled brothers, athlete egos, and her own past as a reformed party girl and tabloid star.

Running Point, out Feb. 27, will inevitably be compared to Succession because it riffs on the reputation of a real-life billionaire family. Some might also reference feel-good sports dramedy Ted Lasso because the story centers on the athletes as much as the owners and coaching staff. But it also inevitably echoes the humor of Mindy Kaling's many other successful comedies, from The Mindy Project to Never Have I Ever to The Sex Lives of College Girls.

As if Kaling weren't busy enough, she took a day off from her recent maternity leave with her third child to appear on Meghan Markle's upcoming Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. "I think a misconception about Meghan is that she’s in any way fussy or has expectations of fanciness," she says of her friend. And she is developing a series called Not Suitable for Work for Hulu about the Manhattan neighborhood populated by dive bars and finance bros. "I thought it would be so funny to tackle this neighborhood that’s so overlooked and kind of dissed," she says, with a laugh.

Kaling spoke to TIME about Markle, adapting to losing Reneé Rapp on Sex Lives of College Girls, and her new shows. Plus, she offered an update on the long-awaited threequel Legally Blonde 3, which she co-wrote.

The new series is about a family running an NBA team, with Kate Hudson playing a version of real-life Lakers president Jeanie Buss. Where did that idea come from?

It was actually Jeanie Buss who reached out because she liked The Mindy Project and The Office. So many people write about her and make shows where she’s a tertiary character. She was like, “I run this. I want to be a producer on a show about my own life.”

Did Jeanie Buss put any guardrails on her life story?

She is so open. We consult her for real-life details all the time. There have been very specific players or very specific people in her personal life where she’ll say, “Maybe we won’t touch upon that,” but she says that far less than any other person I’ve ever known. She really gave Ike Barinholtz, Dave Stassen, and I carte blanche on her life because she wanted it to be funny. And she knew the realer it gets, the funnier it will be.

The family in Running Point has shades of Succession.

I mean, love Succession. But the great news about the Buss family—if you’ve read Jeanie’s book [Laker Girl] or read any stories about the Buss family—is that they really are a famously dysfunctional, extremely wealthy Los Angeles family.

Did you get to riff on Kate Hudson’s real-life persona as a 2000s rom-com queen?

Kate Hudson and other rom-com stars—like Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock—are the type of people who can say tough things, and you don’t dislike them for saying it. We’re really stealing that for her in this boss role because she's a tough employer.

Also, Kate is so iconically L.A. She’s from her own Hollywood dynasty. She has known Jeanie since she was a kid. She has been going to Lakers games since she was little. She is really involved in that L.A. world.

Do you think you’ll ever star in one of your own shows again?

Thank you for asking. I always feel flattered when people remember that I’m a performer since it’s been such a long time. Every show that we’ve done, I’ve been tempted. Never Have I Ever was literally about an Indian-American family living in Southern California. If I can’t cast myself in this world, I don’t know when I will. But nobody was writing, “Where’s Mindy? Why isn’t she on the show?” Maybe it’s better to not be in them. Right now I have three kids under the age of 7, but I miss it. I would like to return to screen in the next couple years.

Hulu just bought your show Not Suitable for Work, which is about 20-somethings in finance living in Murray Hill. For those who did not spend their early 20s in New York, can you explain why you're setting a show in that neighborhood?

When the announcement came out, I called Murray Hill “the sexiest neighborhood in Manhattan” or something. And people online were like, “Mindy doesn’t understand New York at all!” That was funny because I thought it was so obvious that Murray Hill was not sexy.

There’s movies and songs and short stories written about every other part of Manhattan except Murray Hill. I love movies that romanticize the Upper West Side like You’ve Got Mail. I filmed a show set in Tribeca and the West Village. I’ve had a number of heroines run through the Empire State Building. And then Murray Hill has the reputation as the charmless finance bro area with some good Indian restaurants. It’s not trendy. The best thing you can say about it is that it’s a hub for young professionals. So I thought it would be so funny to tackle this neighborhood that’s so overlooked and kind of dissed.

I got to go to New York and walk around Murray Hill for a few days, which is such a funny thing to do considering all the places I’ve been in this world, to be like let’s take notes on this subterranean tavern with a bunch of frat guys pouring out of it. That was really fun.

How did you come to appear on Meghan Markle’s new show?

I was on maternity leave with my daughter in March and April, and Meghan texted me that she was doing a show where she was going to cook for her friends. Would I want to come to Montecito and have her cook for me? I wanted to get taken care of in that moment of my life. That was a fun maternity leave field trip.

And I left with a basket of fresh produce and homemade jam and hot sauce because she knew I loved hot sauce. She’s a very generous woman who knew I needed a break.

Did you pick up any hosting tips?

Spoiler alert: I did. The theme was throwing a party for children. I love cooking, but I’m really not good at entertaining. I don’t know anything about how you’re not supposed to use overhead lighting when people come over. You’re supposed to use little lamps. But Meghan just knows how to do that stuff. For kids’ parties I usually just go to the party supply store and get paper things, which I don’t judge and neither does she. But it was fun to learn simple ways to do a homemade kids’ party.

I think a misconception about Meghan is that she’s in any way fussy or has expectations of fanciness. She really is a down-to-earth person who knows a lot of fun tricks to make entertaining and cooking easier.

Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 just wrapped. Obviously, Reneé Rapp left partway through the season. How did you guys change the plot to accommodate the departure of one of the show’s stars?

Having done this for 20 years, starting on almost every show I've ever done, cast members have left to pursue other opportunities. I have a lot of experience writing around that. So we look at these instances as opportunities to explore new characters and write stuff for the characters that we already have on the show and love.

What's the status of Legally Blonde 3, which you co-wrote?

I’m so glad you asked. I don’t have any power here. It’s an MGM, Amazon, and Hello Sunshine thing. Dan Gore and I wrote a draft that we really like. We hope it sees the light of day. At least with TV, I have slightly more power. But with this one, we’ll see what happens. I’m always low-key working on it. It’s like writing fan-fic except it’s the actual three-quel.

Also Jennifer Coolidge, since the time we started this project, has had this renaissance with The White Lotus. If you put Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Coolidge in a movie right now, I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t run to the theaters to see it. And they’re already the two stars of Legally Blonde? That’s fantastic. So that is one of the nice things of being in a long development process on a film is the fortunes of the actual actors have changed. There’s a huge new fanbase for Jennifer. Next it’s going to be the guy who plays Warner who blows up: my dream that he’s cast in [Succession creator] Jesse Armstrong’s next show.

Write to Eliana Dockterman at [email protected].