Like my neighbor, I'm obsessed with Mindy Kaling, the comical powerhouse long before her work on The Office and The Mindy Project, but I've never been as giddy as I am about her upcoming series on Netflix. While not much is known about Kaling and Lang Fisher's (Fisher is responsible for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," so there are bound to be some big laughs) coming-of-age story "Never Have I Ever," an important fact about Kaling's latest quest to other fans is my mission.

During the Troubles (quarantine), Kaling once again proved that she is a rainbow in the midst of the biggest storm of her life. On her Instagram, the actress announced that the 10-episode show would be joining the Netflix queue on April 27, and posted a little teaser video for us.

In the clip, the protagonist prays on her first day of school that she will go to a party filled with hard drugs and alcohol, that the hair on her arms will thin, and that her boyfriend will joke that she can even be a dumb jock.

She's so much like Kaling that I rewatched the clip over and over because I missed the character Kaling writes. It's a "Mindy Project" vibe.

In an interview with Variety (opens in new tab), Kaling explained how the show came about. 'Netflix approached me about doing a series about a young Mindy. I told them I wasn't really interested in doing a period piece about an Indian girl growing up in the '80s, but I told them I would love to do a show about a 15-year-old Indian girl." [And so the show was born, Never Have I Ever, about the main character Devi, a high-achieving high school sophomore who recently lost her father. She has a short fuse and is unable to put herself in the best possible situation.

The show may be somewhat about Kaling, but she told Entertainment Weekly (open in new tab) not to expect fans to see her on the series." She said, "I love acting, but I also really love not acting, and between 'The Office' and 'The Mindy Project,' I was acting for years straight, and there was no break in between."

"I also think having a baby has allowed me to focus more on creating new material and, frankly, finding new talent."

In the coolest, most 21st century way ever, Kaling posted on her social media that she was looking for a South Asian American woman for a new Netflix show.

In conversation with Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu for Variety Studio: Actors on Actors series, Kaling said that in order to find the perfect cast for the show, he used his I explained why I used social media platforms." I looked at the top four or five agencies and thought the pool was too small." I just posted on Twitter and Instagram, with the help of Netflix and Universal, which are paying for the show, "Hey, if you're an Indian-American girl between the ages of 15 and 22," and to my mother and older cousin, "write to this email."

After Kaling posted the news on social media, more than 15,000 people (open in new tab) emailed the tape in an attempt to win a role on the show; in July, it was announced that Canadian newcomer Maitrey Ramakrishnan would play the lead character Devi. Ramakrishnan said she decided to apply for the role after a friend showed her Kaling's submission and told her she would be perfect for the role

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The up-and-coming star told TODAY (open in new tab) what he learned from getting the role. She said, "I feel like if you can't find what you're looking for in the media or in the public at large, you should go out there and occupy that space and be that change." 'Be what you want to see and others will respect you.'

The series (open in new tab) also features Benjamin Norris, Adam Shapiro, and Ramona Young. Richa Shukla plays Kamala (opens in new tab), Devi's cousin from India, who is pursuing her PhD at Caltech. Paulana Jagannathan (of "Big Little Lies" fame) will play Devi's mother, Nalini.

In a conversation with Refinery 29 (opens in new tab), Jagannathan spilled that she found herself more emotionally invested in the character than she thought she was.

"After getting a few scripts from Lang, I found that I parented and actually parented in much the same way that Nalini does. For example, South Asians are very casual and threaten violence. My mother grew up saying, 'If you drop a cookie on the Persian carpet, I will break your limbs and throw you out of the house. So this character lives in the world I grew up in"

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Did we also mention that tennis legend John McEnroe narrates the story? Kaling's parents were big McEnroe fans. In Late Night with Seth Meyers, McEnroe explained how he got the role. "I got a call out of the blue and met Mindy. She said, 'Would you like to be the narrator for this series?'

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