Mike Tyson Mysteries is an American adult animated television series, and the first to be produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Adult Swim. It premiered October 27, 2014. The series features Mike Tyson solving mysteries, in the style of , Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, and Mr. T. On December 10, 2014, Adult Swim renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 1, 2015. A third season premiered on May 14, 2017, and the remaining Season 3 episodes aired from March 4, 2018 to May 13, 2018. During a May 2020 interview, writer Larry Dorf revealed the show had not been renewed and the fourth season would be its last.
Premise
The show follows the fictional misadventures of boxer/actor Mike Tyson, the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry, Tyson's adopted daughter, and an alcoholic talking pigeon, as they solve mysteries around the world. The style of the show borrows heavily from the 1983–86 Ruby-Spears produced Mister T featuring actor/wrestler Laurence Tureaud as himself as well as 1970's Hanna-Barbera productions such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Funky Phantom. Targeted at a much older demographic than those children-oriented cartoons, the show contains adult language and concepts in the manner of Family Guy, South Park, and many other Adult Swim shows. While each episode involves a mystery as a framing device, they are often ignored entirely while the plot takes a completely different direction as the mysteries are rarely solved and episodes sometimes end on cliffhangers that are never resolved.
Characters
Main characters
Mike Tyson – The title character of the series, Mike Tyson is a retired boxer who now solves mysteries. He is portrayed as being wildly out of touch with reality, confusing a chess Grandmaster with the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, or Elon Musk with Elton John, thinking a binary code spells out 'Ooo', and eating junk food without realizing he's on a diet. He has a reputation for doing unusual things like taking an oatmeal bath with cooked oatmeal, owning a pet grizzly bear, and using mosquitoes to help him sleep, along with pronouncing the names of many other characters incorrectly, even by calling his own daughter Yang or Yee instead of Yung.
Pigeon – An alcoholic, sexually depraved, sarcastic pigeon. He is a former human who was turned into a pigeon by his ex-wife as a curse for cheating on her. His real name is revealed to be Richard, although everyone still calls him Pigeon. Pigeon is disliked by Marquess and Yung Hee, but Tyson is seemingly oblivious to his obnoxious nature. Pigeon is Yung Hee's biological father from a one-night stand, although Pigeon keeps this information to himself after observing how close Mike and Yung Hee are.
Yung Hee Tyson – Mike's adopted daughter. Born in 1998, she was left by her birth mother on Mike's doorstep when she was a baby. A running gag in the series is Yung being repeatedly mistaken for a boy.
Marquess of Queensberry – The deceased real life father of modern boxing, the Marquess of Queensberry, is an alcoholic, narcissistic and flamboyant ghost who provides Mike with intellectual advice. The Marquess portion of his name is pronounced "Marcus" and rendered as if it is his actual name, instead of a title.
Terry – The good-natured Australian who tends Mike's swimming pool.
Maxine - The owner of the Don’t Judge a Book antique store, and a confidant of Marquess's.
Delvin - The mild mannered manager of Munn's Supermarket.
Harold Feder - Mike's attorney and Yung's godfather.
Episodes
Reception
The series has received mostly positive reviews from critics. The show currently holds an 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews, with its consensus being: "A dizzying whirl of lowbrow and high-concept, Mike Tyson Mysteries should more than satisfy fans of Adult Swim's signature blend of animated silliness." On Metacritic, the show has a score of 75 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Cancellation
In a May 2020 podcast interview, writer Larry Dorf confirmed that the fourth season would be its last, although Davidson, Ramras, and Dorf would continue working together on a new project for Warner Bros.
