Outlander, both the book series by Diana Gabaldon and the Starz Network show, is a sweeping epic. As the books’ second life got translated onto the screen in 2014, the series has collected a growing fan base with each season, and it includes Mindy Kaling. In fact, she revealed her love for the series after Season 7 wrapped on the 2025 TV schedule, specifically praising its complex and excellent world-building ability.
With the upcoming eighth season marking the end of Outlander’s run, Kaling’s comments are well-timed. The newest and notable addition to the fandom talked about her love and appreciation of Outlander’s addictable qualities with Swooon. The Office alum noted how even though this isn’t a typical genre for her, she couldn’t quit the series, saying:
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was so amazing, and I don’t usually read those kind of historical romances. They’re not usually my jam. But I love the series so much.
Kaling’s surprise adoration for the time-traveling historical romance is much appreciated. As a fan of The Sex Lives of College Girls showrunner, I’m intrigued by the book-turned-show but may have never even thought of committing without her hype. It’s always cool to see people in Hollywood outwardly praise other projects, especially those in starkly different genres.
Now, I’m curious to know more of her thoughts, and I’m sure fans of both parties would love to learn more about her feelings regarding Season 7’s book to show variations if she’s caught up.
While we didn’t get her thoughts on the show specifically, The Mindy Project star did gush about Gabaldon’s ability to build this incredible world. She weighed in on how hard world-building is for her when creating a show, mentioning many of her projects are based on real-life experiences, sharing:
World-building is so hard to me. I do a lot of shows about experiences that I’ve directly had. My mom was a doctor. I’ve worked in an office, I’ve been to college, I’ve been to high school. So when somebody can create this world and there’s time travel? To me, that’s so impressive.
Again, her compliments of the Outlander world are very cool, to me, and motivate me to pick up the first book or season. While a more realistic premise, like Kaling’s, is more than okay for any medium, she isn’t wrong when she says that great and fantastical world-building is an undeniable and impressive feat.
The comedian’s recent writing for HBO saw great success with the SLOCG S3 finale because of the intentional decision not to have a dramatic cliffhanger. It’ll be interesting to see what she’ll do with her new show, Running Point which you can stream with a Netflix subscription starting February 27. While it won’t feature time travel like Outlander, I’m sure we’ll get more rich characters and fun settings that show her ability to build a world.
Regardless of how Mindy Kaling’s creative abilities manifest in the worlds she creates, it’s great to know that she’s hyping others like Outlander. And although the show is coming to an end quickly, it seems like a new fan (me) may be time-traveling back to the story’s inception.
If you’re looking to catch up or get on the Outlander bandwagon, and don’t have Starz, the first six seasons are available on Netflix. Then, make sure to keep an eye on the 2025 TV schedule for updates about Season 8.