How do you feel as you wrap up your show?

Today is actually our last table read. I’m not an overly sentimental person, and I had this specific kind of stress, which was, “This show has made a profound difference in my life, and I love it, but will people think I’m a sociopath if I don’t cry?” But this morning my alarm went off and I started brimming with tears, so luckily my sentimentality came surprisingly easily.

Where do we find Mindy now?

She has a marriage so short that it would rival a Liza Minnelli-Kim Kardashian marriage. But the cool thing is Mindy abandoning what she thinks is a childish pose of “my life can be a romantic comedy,” and having a sad, weary, cynical take. That’s how we kick off the season, and by the end I want the audience to be rooting for her to take that back.

“Mindy” was conceived as a homage to romantic comedies. Any thoughts on the state of the genre?

I keep trying to predict trends. But what I’ve come up with after eight years is that there seems to be nothing. You have a singular voice, like Kumail Nanjiani of “The Big Sick,” which was beautiful and original, and Reese [Witherspoon] has “Home Again,” which I’m sure I’ll love. Whenever they say it’s dead, you have these great scripts and fresh casts, and it’s fine.

You’re a pioneer as a show creator of color. What do you think of those who’ve followed, like Issa Rae, Aziz Ansari and Donald Glover?

I am such a fan of their work. A lot of times when you ask artists what inspired them, they talk about people who were alive 40 years before them. And I was inspired by people younger than me. Sometimes people have a hard time admitting that because it’s hard on their ego. But I watch their shows and take away lessons. And I’m so impressed. In fact, when I started at “The Office,” I probably couldn’t have named two sitcoms with women that I liked, and now the only shows that I like either star a woman or a minority.