Hulu sets 'Mindy' premiere

BEVERLY HILLS--Hulu has set a Sept. 15 premiere date for The Mindy Project. The streaming service picked up a 26-episode fourth season last May after Fox cancelled the low-rated cult comedy.

Hulu's content chief Craig Erwich made the announcement at the Television Critics Association Sunday, outlining a fall slate that also includes the return of Seth Meyers' animated superhero series The Awesomes (Sept. 8) and Casual (Oct. 7), a new 10-epsiode comedy produced by Jason Reitman about a newly divorced woman (Michaela Watkins) who moves in with her bachelor brother, coaching each other through the treacherous world of dating.

Difficult People, a new comedy starring Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner and produced by Amy Poehler, began streaming last week. And next year's plans include miniseries 11/22/63, about the Kennedy assassination, based on Stephen King's book. J.J. Abrams produces the project, which stars James Franco.

Unlike Netflix and Amazon, which mostly release their series all at once, Hulu parcels them out in weekly installments, like a traditional TV network.

The service, jointly owned by the parent companies of NBC, ABC and Fox, has been bulking up on both original and acquired series, including older HBO series and the entire run of Seinfeld, which became available last month. Within the first few days, Erwich says, "thousands" of viewers binged on the entire 180-episode run, back to back.

The service also features episodes of Fox's Empire, FX's The Strain, Tyrant and (soon) Fargo. AMCs upcoming Fear the Walking Dead will also be available, along with the Adult Swim library. And Hulu has extended its deal to stream Comedy Central's South Park.