Launching on Netflix today is The Sex Lives of College Girls, with all three seasons of the HBO Max series available in the U.S. as part of a licensing deal between Netflix and Sex Lives producer Warner Bros. Television.
On Netflix, The Sex Lives of College Girls, co-created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, joins another coming-of-age comedy co-created by Kaling, Never Have I Ever, a Netflix original which ran for 4 seasons.
Sex Lives‘ Netflix debut comes just days after Kaling’s latest series, ensemble comedy Not Suitable For Work, was canceled by Hulu after one season. Like Sex Lives, it is produced by Warner Bros. Television, which had been looking for a new home, so far unsuccessfully.
The timing is curious as the three shows are linked in the Mindy Comedy Universe as part of a trilogy loosely based on her life, starting with Never Have I Ever, which chronicles the teen experience through high school, followed by The Sex Lives of College Girls, influenced by Kaling’s time at Dartmouth, and completed by Not Suitable For Work, about work-obsessed twenty-somethings in New York, for which Kaling drew upon her own early 20s in the city.
The strong connection between the three series could make the case for them belonging together, which a few months ago did not seem feasible as they all had been ordered by three different streamers.
But with Sex Lives now licensed to Netflix (on a non-exclusive basis, all three seasons remain on HBO Max), and NSFW available, the prospect is not that far fetched anymore.
Netflix picking up a second season of NSFW is considered a long shot; I hear the streamer, along with another platform leaning heavily into YA, Prime Video, are among those who have passed.
It is extremely rare for a canceled streaming series to find a new home on another platform. (Some streamers, like Netflix, ban that altogether with lengthy and draconian exclusivity windows for their original series.) Peacock’s Girls5eva made the move to Netflix upon cancellation after two seasons but its quick demise at its new home does not bode well for future transfers.
Licensing the completed season is probably more realistic. It would require a negotiation between WBTV and Hulu, which has exclusivity, but there is usually wiggle room under such circumstances.
Likely helping the cause is the longtime relationship between Kaling and Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria who, as President of Universal Television, championed Kaling’s The Mindy Project and its move to Fox when NBC passed on the pilot. The Mindy Project was on Netflix for years, and the streamer has another Kaling original series, Running Point, which has been renewed for a third season.
