Mike & Molly


Mike & Molly is an American television sitcom created by Mark Roberts on CBS. It premiered on September 20, 2010, and aired 127 episodes and six seasons. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the eponymous Mike and Molly, a couple who meet in a Chicago Overeaters Anonymous group and fall in love.
The 13-episode sixth season began airing on January 6, 2016. On January 12, 2016, CBS announced that Mike & Molly would be canceled after the sixth season ended, electing not to renew the series for a seventh season with its licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Television. The series came to an end on May 16, 2016.

Cast

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.
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 show of May 20, 2013. 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 canceled sitcom, We Are Men. Following the breakout feature film success of McCarthy, Lorre intended for the show to more prominently feature her 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.
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. The fifth season began airing December 8, 2014.
On March 12, 2015, CBS announced the sixth season renewal of Mike & Molly.
On January 12, 2016, it was announced that the series would be cancelled and it was rumored to be replaced by 2 Broke Girls and the final episode aired on May 16, then after the series was cancelled during CBS Upfront presentation, it will replaced by Kevin Can Wait and Man with a Plan.

Casting

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 eponymous Molly.

Reception

Ratings

Critical reception

Mike & Molly has received moderately positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show holds a rating of 69% with an average rating of 5.46/10, based on 29 reviews. The consensus reads: "Mike & Molly is a conventional sitcom that's able to mine some big laughs, thanks to the immensely appealing central performers". On Metacritic it has a score of 62 out of 100 based on 23 reviews, 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.

Controversies

Controversy arose 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 for her comments, stating that she "sorely regret that it upset people so much".
In the season 3 episode "Molly's New Shoes", the Peggy character reacts to her fiance'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 by the Native American Journalists Association, among others, for an apology.

Accolades

Broadcast

The series airs in Canada on CTV, CTV Two, City, and M3 from September 20, 2010. In the United Kingdom it aired on Comedy Central UK from October 4, 2010 and reran on Channel 4 from September 10, 2018. In Ireland

Syndication

The off-network rights to Mike & Molly have been sold to FX, which began airing the series in 2014.
The series begin airing in off-network syndication on the NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, The CW, MyNetworkTV, and Independent stations across the country in the fall of 2014.

Home media

In the United States, the first season of Mike and Molly was released on both DVD and Blu-ray. All subsequent seasons have only received a DVD release. On October 11, 2016, the sixth and final season was released, as well as a complete series collection. In Australia, the first four seasons have been released on DVD, and in the United Kingdom, only seasons one and two have been released.