Pilot View: CBS’ new comedy, ‘Mike & Molly’

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Editor’s Note: We offer you our first impressions of the original pilots for fall shows. Keep in mind that these are not reviews, and that the networks may make significant changes to these shows before they air. We reserve the right to love them or hate them more later.

“Mike & Molly” is a sitcom about a couple that finds love at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. Mike Biggs is a Chicago cop; Molly Flynn is a fourth-grade teacher. Carl McMillan is Mike’s wise-cracking partner on the force. Victoria is Molly’s sexy sister, Joyce is their mother, and rounding it out is Samuel, a Senegalese waiter at the diner that Carl and Mike frequent.

Who’s in it: Billy Gardell (“Bad Santa”) as Mike; Melissa McCarthy (“Gilmore Girls”) as Molly; Reno Wilson (“Crank”) as Carl; Katy Mixon (“Eastbound and Down”) as Victoria, Swoozie Kurtz (“Pushing Daisies”) as Joyce; and Nyambi Nyambi as Samuel.

Who made it: Created by Mark Roberts (“Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory”), it is executive produced by Chuck Lorre, a.k.a The Reigning King of Sitcoms.

Thumbs up: We laughed, which is always good. Gardell and McCarthy are incredibly likable and believable as a falling-in-love couple. Wilson is hysterical as the wacky partner.

Thumbs down: Nyambi is charming but his Senegalese-tinged jokes got tiring. Fat jokes could be controversial.

Verdict: A comedy trifecta for Chuck Lorre and company is probably on its way.

--Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video Credit: CBS

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