Hulu is all-in on The Mindy Project: The streaming network today will announce it has renewed Mindy Kaling’s former Fox comedy for a fifth season. Insiders tell Vulture the order is for 16 episodes. The relatively early pickup — a little more than halfway through Mindy’s fourth season — is a big vote of confidence for the show, and a sign Hulu is satisfied with its performance among subscribers. (Hulu, like all streaming services, doesn’t release specific viewership metrics for its programming.) The Mindy renewal is one of several programming announcements Hulu is making today as part of its annual upfront presentation to advertisers in New York: The service has additionally greenlit a second season of its Aaron Paul drama The Path, as well as a second election-themed special starring Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. Hulu is also launching a new unit devoted to producing and airing documentary films, which will debut first on the network after theatrical runs. First up: Eight Days a Week, an already-produced Beatles doc from director Ron Howard. Hulu, which says it has grown its subscriber base by 30 percent over the last year to 12 million, confirmed Tuesday it’s in the early stages of planning for a new premium service that will allow customers to stream live programming from both broadcast and cable networks.
