Fox Rolls Out 'The Mindy Project,' 'Ben & Kate' And Free 'New Girl' Episodes Online
by Sean Comer
Fox figures that one hit comedy's good turn deserves a couple more.
With the earliest of fall season and series premieres advancing rapidly, the network will once more let debuting comedies get a couple hooks into audiences early with broad online rollouts, The Hollywood Reporter has announced. This season, it's freshman comedies "Ben & Kate" and "The Office" alum Mindy Kaling's "The Mindy Project" becoming available online Aug. 27-Sept. 9 via Yahoo!, Hulu, AOL, MSN, Fox.com, Xfinity and other platforms.
Both debut officially Sept. 25.
It's a proven move. Last season, Fox built buzz for Zooey Deschanel's debuting comedy "New Girl" with a similar preview period right up until the night it hit Fox's airwaves for the very first time. The hype built up and audience familiarity was probably no small reason it garnered a Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy nomination, as well as a Best Actress-Television Series Musical or Comedy nod for Deschanel herself.
Oh, speaking of the saucer-eyed cutie's returning success story: throughout August, six episodes per week from the critically acclaimed first season's 24-episode run will arrive for free, unlimited streaming via Yahoo! TV at www.addtothejar.com - a reference to the oft-used "douche bag jar."
Once everybody's gotten settled in online, the three shows will be joined by the returning "Raising Hope" as a marquee Tuesday-night comedy block this fall.