Last May, CBS announced a bold move, to take their hit The Big Bang Theory off of the Monday night schedule and shift it to Thursdays, to take on NBC’s traditional night of comedy. In its place, the programmers put another show co-created by Chuck Lorre, the creator of Two and a Half Men. On paper, it sounds like a brilliant move. Now that the Mike & Molly’s premiered, how do things look?
Mike & Molly follows Officer Mike Biggs (Billy Gardell) and Molly Flynn (Melissa McCarthy), a fourth grade teacher. They meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and soon fall for one another. Others in the cast are Reno Wilson, Nyambi Nyambi, Katy Mixon, and Swoosie Kurtz.
The new sitcom debuted to a 3.9 rating in the prized 18-49 demographic and 12.2 million total viewers. That was enough to tie with NBC’s The Event for second place in the demo and have the second most number of viewers.
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Historically, the CBS sitcoms who get the post-Two and a Half Men timeslot have done very well. CBS has high expectations however and has ended up cancelling several sitcoms that performed okay on this night. While the sitcom has good initial numbers, it’s not a positive sign that Mike & Molly lost 20% of the lead-in’s demo audience. Last year, Big Bang Theory was building on the lead-in and frequently outperformed Men in the demo.
There was a loss of about 7% of the audience midway through the Mike & Molly first episode so its seems likely those people won’t be back next week. It remains to be seen how many people will. This is a show whose fate will likely be decided over the next several weeks. Right now, things could go either way. Some critics and viewers have wondered how long it will be before the show runs out of material.
What do you think? Is Mike & Molly worth watching? Did you find the fat jokes offensive? Would you cancel or keep it?
Image courtesy CBS.
I LOVED Mike & Molly and everyone else on the show. And I rarely enjoy sitcoms .. too much laugh track and very little humor.
But this show was very tastefully done. I know many and am myself overweight, and I know it’s hard to get out there and socialize. I’m feeling more hopeful after watching this show.
Mike & Molly so far is a fun show with a definite message. And no, the fat jokes were not too much. Please give it a fair shot.
yep. was hilarious. loved the jokes 😉
Yeah it was funny but what’s up with glorifying obesity come on ppl put the cheeseburgers down.
Loved it. Give it a chance CBS!
LOVED this show…it was well done – cute, good laughs…but it also had heart.
It was well balanced – they could have gone for laughs without substance, which wouldn’t make people care enough for it to last…but I think they did a good job sketching out what each character is about and making you care about the main characters – Mike & Molly…and the love story between them. It also had a fantastic cast with a lot of talent.
Finally, a funny sitcom about real people in love. I hope it lasts.
Officer Mike Biggs is adorable and his partner is hilarious! I hope this show stays around for a while because I love it!
Wasn’t expecting much but my wife and I loved it. Liked the scenes in the meeting where they came across as doing a stand-up comedy act. As long as they can keep the level of laughs up I think they’ll do just fine and hope they do.
LOVE THIS SHOW!!! KEEP IT!
I loved the show. I am so sick and tired of these itty bitty tiny women dominating the sitcoms. I was so relieved to see a real woman of more realistic (American) size heading up the show. Although, her sister doesn’t help me out much. I am about the size of Molly and watching all those tiny women just make me feel like crap about myself so I don’t end up watching anymore of them. I think I have finally found a show I can be mostly comfortable with watching that relates to more realistic problems America has in general.… Read more »
I loved the show. Finally, something real and that I can relate to. I thought it needed a bit of refining but overall, very funny.
I love this show! The fat jokes were laid on a little thick (no pun intended), but it’s the kind of show that appeals to a wide audience. It’s a show about people. That’s what makes it so wonderful. No gimmicks, no spies, no mystery, just people. I can’t wait to see more!
This is a brilliant, human and hilarious show. I think it’s going to do great. It touches the heart of America and I think Billy Gardell is a genius! He’s the reincarnation of Jackie Gleason! How long we’ve waited for such a sensitive and hysterical actor all rolled into one.
I thought the show was fantastic. Great script and excellent casting.Should be a keeper.
I had the pleasure of watching Mike and Molly this week. There were times where I was greatly offended by the comments on them being fat. I understand that the show is based on them being overweight and going to the support group. also it is about them finding love with each other it appears. I like the idea behind it, but the jokes feel flat to me. I will be giving the show a few more watches, but I am hoping they don’t make the entire show about making fun of those that are fat. It would be great… Read more »
Loved the show!