Mike & Molly is an American sitcom created by Mark Roberts which premiered on CBS on
September 20, 2010. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the titular
Mike and Molly, a couple who fall in love after they first meet in a Chicago Overeaters
Anonymous group. On March 13, 2014, CBS renewed Mike & Molly
for a fifth season.
Cast
Billy Gardell as Officer Michael "Mike" Biggs, a Chicago Police officer attempting to lose
weight. He is humorous and good-hearted, though he doesn't appear to be a deep thinker. He
often caves in to his mother's demands, much to Molly's dismay, but his relationship with
Molly has made him much more independent. Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn, a fourth-grade
teacher at Walter Payton Elementary School, also attempting to lose weight. She is sweet,
happy, intelligent and caring. She is the rational member of her family, but is known
to have a quick temper and has built up a lot of debt from lavish shopping and traveling.
Many students still refer to her by her maiden name, Miss Flynn. She quits her teaching job
in season four to become an author. Reno Wilson as Officer Carlton "Carl" McMillan,
a Chicago Police officer and Mike's partner and best friend. He tends towards self-pity
and because his mother abandoned him he lived with his grandmother for a long time until
she made him move into his own apartment. He struggles in relationships with women and
is depicted as lonely. He also is a big fan of soul and gospel music and openly dislikes
bluegrass. He begins a steady relationship with Christina, a single mother with a young
son, in season 2. This relationship proved to be short-lived when Christina broke up
with Carl in order to try and work out things out with James, her famous football player
ex-husband and the father of her son, in season 3. As of the end of season 4, he is in a relationship
with Victoria. Katy Mixon as Victoria Flynn, Molly's dimwitted,
kindhearted, party girl sister who is often high on marijuana. She is employed as a beautician
at a funeral home. She likes to have fun and sleeps around, frequently with married men.
However, as of the end of season 4, she is in a relationship with Carl.
Swoosie Kurtz as Joyce Moranto, Molly's mother. She is a widow who began dating Vincent Moranto
in Season 1. She attempts to stay in her youth and is very modern, while she also drinks
heavily and has a hair-trigger temper. As of the Season 3 episode "Thanksgiving Is Cancelled",
she is married to Vincent. Nyambi Nyambi as Samuel, a sarcastic waiter
at the restaurant where Mike and Carl eat. He is also a close friend to Mike, Carl, and
eventually Molly. He is from Africa and often refers to the suffering in his home country
of Senegal. As such, he does not sympathize with the "petty" problems of his restaurant
patrons. In Season 3, he and Carl become roommates. Louis Mustillo as Vincent "Vince" Moranto,
Joyce's on and off boyfriend and Molly and Victoria's step-father. He is a widower and
tends to be very flirty, chauvinistic and sarcastic. He is also a high school dropout
and is not very intelligent, but cares deeply for Joyce. He has occasionally shown a father's
care towards Molly and Victoria. He once married a much older and very unpleasant woman from
whom he fled after borrowing $2,000. He didn't officially end the marriage until the truth
came out, leading Joyce to toss him out of her house until Mike convinced his "wife"
to sign the divorce papers in exchange for $5000 and a sharp kick in the nuts.
Rondi Reed as Margaret "Peggy" Biggs, Mike's mother. She is very controlling and traditional,
as well as grumpy and cranky. She often refers to her ex-husband, Jack, leaving her and running
away to Florida with a prostitute. Peggy is also very fussy over her dog "Jim", who she
treats more like a son than a pet. In season 2 Peggy begins working as a lunch lady at
the elementary school where Molly teaches. In Season 3, she started dating a CPD Captain
who is Mike's supervisor. Cleo King as Rosetta McMillan, Carl's grandmother.
She is very traditional and has professed deep love for her grandson, but is outwardly
annoyed by Carl's behavior and made him move out in Season 3, saying she still loves him
and looks forward to him visiting but wants him to finally become a responsible adult
on his own. She has a big heart and treats Mike, who calls her "Nana", like a second
grandson. She often gives Mike and Carl advice. She once recalled that when Carl was young
he could quote the entire speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as every episode
of The Dukes of Hazzard. David Anthony Higgins as Harry, a friend of
Mike and Molly's, who attends the same Overeater's Anonymous meetings. He is a nice, very socially
awkward man who tends to say whatever he is thinking even though many of his thoughts
make him seem pathetic. He was shown to have an almost obsessive crush on Victoria, until
she finally kissed him in Season 3, bringing him to the realization that he is gay.
Episodes
Development and production
In December 2009, CBS placed a pilot order for Mike & Molly. Mark Roberts wrote the pilot,
which was directed by James Burrows, with both Roberts and Burrows serving as executive
producers alongside Chuck Lorre, Don Foster and the production companies Warner Bros.
Television and Chuck Lorre Productions. Casting announcements began in February 2010,
with Katy Mixon and Reno Wilson being the first actors cast in the series. Mixon portrays
the role of Victoria, Molly's sister, while Wilson portrays Carl, Mike's partner. Billy
Gardell was the next actor cast in the series, as the titular Mike. Swoosie Kurtz then joined
the series as Molly's mother, Joyce. Following Kurtz, Nyambi Nyambi boarded the series as
Samuel, a regular waiter at Abe's Hot Beef, where Mike and Carl frequent. Melissa McCarthy
completed the cast when she signed on to play the role of the titular Molly.
On May 13, 2010, CBS placed a series order on Mike and Molly. On May 15, 2011, Mike and
Molly was renewed for a second season. On March 14, 2012, CBS renewed Mike & Molly for
a third season, which premiered on September 24, 2012. CBS pulled the third season finale,
titled "Windy City", from its May 20, 2013 showing. The episode featured a tornado descending
on Chicago, and would have been broadcast the same day as the 2013 Moore tornado. The
episode was rescheduled for May 30, 2013. On March 27, 2013, CBS announced that Mike
& Molly would return for a fourth season during the 2013–2014 television season. On May
17, 2013, Mark Roberts stepped down from showrunner duties to focus on other projects. Al Higgins
replaced him for Season 4. The series received a 22-episode order from CBS for its 4th season.
The show's fourth season premiere took place on November 4, 2013 at 9:00 pm ET/8:00 pm
CT, in the time slot vacated by 2 Broke Girls when it moved to 8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm CT,
replacing the cancelled sitcom, We Are Men. Following the breakout feature film success
of McCarthy, Lorre intends for the show to more prominently feature Molly in season 4.
In promos leading up to the season 4 premiere, CBS billed the series as The New Mike & Molly.
Though the cast and setting remains essentially the same, the "new" refers to Molly quitting
her teaching job and pursuing a career as a writer.
The off-network rights to Mike & Molly have been sold to FX, which began airing the series
in 2014. The light bar on the top of Mike's police
car is blue, red, and white. Official Chicago Police vehicles have a blue and white strobe
bar. Red is reserved for the Chicago Fire Department.
On March 13, 2014, CBS announced the fifth season renewal of Mike & Molly. CBS did not
place the show in a timeslot when it unveiled its initial 2014-15 schedule, so it will likely
make its debut either after the coverage of Thursday night NFL football ends or another
half-hour comedy is cancelled. Reception
Critical reception The show has received mixed to positive reviews
from critics. It achieved a score of 63 out of 100 on the review aggregator site Metacritic,
indicating "generally favorable reviews". Critic Randee Dawn gave the show a negative
review, stating the cast is likable, but the jokes are old and bland.
Ratings Controversies
There was a controversy in 2010 around a Marie Claire blog post written by Maura Kelly, in
which she refers to the actors on the show as overweight. Show creator Mark Roberts spoke
out regarding Kelly's blog post, calling the comments "very high school". He also stated,
"This wasn’t about the show, this wasn’t about the writing, this wasn’t about the
acting. This was about someone’s hateful response to how these two human beings look."
Billy Gardell also addressed the matter when he appeared on the daily talk show The Talk
on November 1, 2010. Marie Claire has stood behind the blog. Kelly
has since apologized regarding her comments, stating that she "sorely regret[s] that it
upset people so much". In the Season 3 episode "Molly's New Shoes",
the character of Peggy reacts to her fiancée's plans to retire and move to Arizona with the
line: "Arizona? Why should I go to Arizona? It's nothing but a furnace full of drunk Indians."
This prompted calls for an apology by the Native American Journalists Association, among
others. Awards and nominations
Broadcast The series airs in Canada on CTV, City, and
M3 from September 20, 2010. In the United Kingdom it airs on Comedy Central UK from
October 4, 2010. In Ireland | Comedy Central UK began showing it also on October 4, 2010.
February 9, 2011 is the premiere for Nine Network in Australia. New Zealand's TV2 started
it from April 29, 2011. In South Africa M-Net started it from April 8, 2011.
References
External links Official website
Mike & Molly at the Internet Movie Database Vanity cards archive for Mike & Molly