TV Review: Mike & Molly (2010)

Basic Plot: A Chicago cop and school teacher, both of whom are on the plus side, start a relationship

Review: If this sitcom succeeds, it will be on the strength of its lead characters (played by Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy), who I thought were likeable and charming. McCarthy's character is realistic as well – she has the body type of a real "regular person," not the trim and manicured version normally seen on TV and movie screens. Both of them have comedic chops as well. One of my laugh-out loud moments was when Mike was telling Molly's class why he became a cop. His delivery, not just what he said, made it funny.The selling point of the show is that the two main characters are fat, but the humor is geared so the audience laughs with, not at, them. At least in the pilot, Mike and Molly's efforts to lose weight are referenced in the script in an organic way as part of the characters' daily lives. In a world where audiences are trained to point and laugh at anything fat just because it's fat (e.g. Family Guy), that's a nice change of pace.

My big problem with the show involves something that shouldn't be problematic when watching sitcoms, which is the show's "realness." Because I live in Chicago, I could not help but notice how little the show's sets looked like placed you would find in Chicago. At one point Mike and his cop partner are talking in a diner that looks like it came straight from Barney Miller. Chicago actually has very few genuine diners, and the ones we have are much more spacious and well-lit than those of our East-Coast friends.

One character who stuck out (in a not-good way) was Molly's sister, who was dressed like one of the hookers from Night Shift. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who looked like that in Chi-Town, even in Lincoln Park or Cicero.

Also, I'm almost 100% sure that Mike could not serve on the Chicago police force at his size, not as a beat cop. At best he would be behind a desk, not patrolling neighborhoods. Another minor detail – Chicago cops are required to wear bullet-proof vests on the job.

All that being said, I like the tone and humor of this show, and I'll be adding it to my TiVo list to see what happens next.

My Rating: 6/10 ("Liked It")