938 replies to this topic

[Lord Seth]

Well, couldn't find a thread for this (which I find odd given that it premieres tomorrow), so I'll make one. Thoughts or impressions of it? I think it looks like it has some promise as long as they don't overdo the fat jokes.

[MsRusty]

It's something I want to watch even though I don't know how good it is going to be. I'm thinking it's time slot is going to help it though.

[McKay]

I'm still not clear why this is supposed to be some revolutionary sitcom. It sounds pretty standard, except this time the wife is also fat.

[braggtastic]

I might have given it a chance if it were in a more empty timeslot for me, but not where it currently is. I liked the actress who plays Molly on Samantha Who? very much, and it seems like a novel concept to have a fat dude with a fat chick for a change instead of a size 2 (Roseanne being the one exception 20 years ago).

[smwurr]

Good call on the Roseanne comparison. Except Roseanne was more about class issues and blue collar family life than the fact that the two leads happen to have been fat. That is what annoys me about this show, even the premise (that they meet at Overeaters Anonymous) is hung on the notion that zomg! like 50% of America, they are fat.

It's like, who cares? I don't think Sookie's weight was mentioned even once during the entire run of Gilmore Girls, and I adored them for that. Because while it is something that comes up now and then as a fat woman myself, for the most part I'm just living my life. It's not aaalll about being fat.

[LADreamr]

Just chiming in to agree, really. I don't know why there can't be shows with different (normal) sized people, and have them just be people, and not ridiculed or treated like they are less worthy of love and life just because they aren't anorexic - or I should say women, because men have always been allowed to look normal, whether in weight or looks, and still expect gorgeous women to fall at their feet, and nothing less than gorgeous, by the way. I love Melissa McCarthy, so I'll definitely give it a try, but if it overdoes it on the weight issue (and being that it's a Chuck Lorre show, I'm already unsure), I'm outta there.

[gingersnap45]

I'm going to give it a try; as a fat woman I would love to see more shows about people that look like me, especially with a romantic premise. But if it turns out to be all about laughing AT the fatties, I'll be tuning out.

[sordidheart88]

Not bad. I find Melissa Mccarthy extremly likeable and the guy "Mike" wasn't too bad either. I feel like there were some genuinely sweet moments (the story Mike told to the class about his Dad and Mike's first attempt to ask Molly out) that the show ruined by taking a little too far with its idea of humor: the hooker story, and the gross finger accident. But overall it ended on a genuinely sweet note and I'm willing to give it a chance.

Edited by sordidheart88, Sep 20, 2010 @ 9:02 PM.

[suzyq8017]

Holy crap! Could they possibly fit more fat jokes into 20 minutes?? I tried it because I adore Melissa McCarthy, but I'm out.

[ChocolateCherry]

If this show could move away from wall to wall fat jokes it would be watchable. I liked the scenes at the school, the pothead sister and Swoosie can do no wrong, but this show needs help. Most importantly, death to the stand-up sessions at the OA meetings.

[NolieBlue]

It was better than I expected. I'm not a fan of those CBS sitcoms with the awful laugh tracks, but this one surprised a few more laughs out of me than I expected.

[Lord Seth]

The fat jokes were definitely overused but I think the show has great potential if they move away from that; some of the fat jokes were genuinely funny but there were just too many of them. Still, the characters are likable and even if it wasn't as funny as some other shows, it still had enough jokes to entertain me. I think I'll have to see the next few episodes to see what direction they plan to take the show in.

Edited by Lord Seth, Sep 21, 2010 @ 12:03 AM.

[writebabe]

The only part I actually liked was the look on his face during her OA share. And that was the only part. The rest of the time I cried for Melissa McCarthy. She deserves so much better.

[OerbaDiaVanille]

Lord Seth
The fat jokes were definitely overused but I think the show has great potential if they move away from that; some of the fat jokes were genuinely funny but there were just too many of them.

Frankly, the fat jokes were my favorite part of the show.

[Artistictype]

Meh, that was pretty bad. And I wanted to like it.
I remember reading an interview with the producer and he was insisting it was going to be a show that just happened to feature two plus sized people. And that it would not rely on 'cheap fat jokes.' So surprise, here come all the fat jokes. And good Lord, the laugh track was enough to deafen you. That's usually not a good sign.

[lgrant2001]

Nice to know the set to Roseanne didn't go to waste. I kept waiting for DJ to come downstairs.
I'm not really sold on the show yet. I thought the laugh track was grossly overused and distracting. At this point I think the acting outshines the writing but I'll give it a chance, see if it settles into itself. It does seem almost hopelessly formulaic right now, and character development at this point is basically "blatant stereotype", but part of me is hoping they'll find their own rhythm and voice and things will improve. I'll give it a chance because I thought the actors performed well with what they were given but was disappointed with the writing.

[dirtybubble]

I kinda liked this show. I LOL'ed at alot of the jokes and Mike's partner on the force is hilarious! I agree with previous posters, if the show uses nothing but poor pitiful me I'm fat jokes too much then it will get old real quick but so far I'm happy with the show.

I will definatly watch next week.

[MrsMVM]

Deleted upcoming shows from my DVR. I didn't enjoy this, and I'm sad because I love Suki. Too much with the fat jokes, the sister was horrible, Swoosie is NOT in her best form... but they really lost me with the stupid broken finger thing. Well, I tried!

[Yvaughn]

I enjoyed reading all the comments, because I did NOT watch M&M. I saw the extended preview on CBS.com, and didn't enjoy it. BUT, I hated the pilot for TBBT and only learned it could be a pretty good show during the 2nd season, from the buzz, so went back to check it out

I'll glance back at M&M, too.

But here's what disturbed me from the previews. First: a qualifier. I'm fat (grew up skinny as a rail and learned bad eating habits because I could, then hit 30 and... oh well). I know that being fat is unhealthy, so I try to exercise/eat right. But that's as far as my concerns about being fat are. It doesn't dominate my life, and I definitely don't feel lesser for it.

The few scenes I saw the on preview--they're at Overeater's Anonymous, meaning they want to stop being fat. Molly's working out on a treadmill and trying to deny cake at home. They were all about these characters not wanting to be who they are. To me it's similar to what I often dislike about Leonard on TBBT... he doesn't like what he is and tries to hide it from others for external validation. Not fun (although, again, I get that being a genius is far healthier than being overweight).

Anyway, thanks for giving me validatin about missing the show!

[LauraAnn]

Melissa McCarthy is so adorable, but this show is so boring. The banter between Mike and his partner was unbelievably dull. The sister smoking pot just seemed weird. I could feel the stale punchlines coming a mile away. Maybe I've just gotten too used to the non-standard sitcoms with single-cameras, no laugh tracks, and dialog that doesn't set up the jokes so obviously, but I don't know. This just seemed really bad. A few of you guys mentioned Roseanne as the last time the two leads were large, and what's sad is this pales so bad in comparison. Even the very early episodes of Roseanne were hilarious and all of the characters sparkled in their own, weird way. I really wanted to like Mike, but I felt like he just spit out his tired lines, as if him being fat was the real punchline. John Goodman so rocked as Dan Connor -- he was big, but he was agile and intense and funny. I don't really remember them acknowledging Roseanne and Dan's weight in the entire series nearly so much as this show did in one episode. And Roseanne and Dan were fat over twenty years ago, when America was at least a little bit slimmer and it wasn't as standard to be so big. This was just the pilot, so who knows how the rest of the season will be, but I kind of doubt it's going to veer too much from where is it right now.

[Wackadoo82]

Well, Molly's driving force behind getting healthier is that she doesn't want to die in the same way her father did (he was also obese). She is fine with who she is but she wants to be healthier for her future. She doesn't seem to be pining away for some guy to notice her either. Mike is scared that his size will leave him alone in the end. I'm sure Mike is supposed to be the type of guy that has always been nervous around rejection either due to rejection or just the thought of it. Both of them seem to be good people, so that helps. No one is really mean-spirited on this show actually. Mike partner obvious cares about him through all of their banter. Mike give him as much as gets anyways. Molly's family is the type of family that likes her the way she is and doesn't see need for her to change (which is nice).

I think the show is much more than just fat jokes. There weren't many fat jokes lobbed at Molly (none at all actually) and the jokes at Mike's expense are just the sort of things men do sometimes. It's obviously meant in jest between the two. There is a heart here that is missing from shows like Two and a Half Men. I'm going to keep watching.

Oh and in terms of the laugh track. I have not ever and still don't care about laugh tracks one way or the other. All laugh tracks are by nautre, intrusive on the comedy. But, it's all the same to me. If there comes a day that I don't watch laugh tracks, I just wont watch multi-camera comedies. They are all the same to me laugh track wise. None is more annoying than the others. Just my opinion.


ETA: I also don't and can't compare this show to Roseanne. The two shows are light years apart. Tone wise, acting wise, etc. It's just different. The two leads on both shows are obese but that's not enough for me to start drawing comparisons.

Edited by Wackadoo82, Sep 21, 2010 @ 11:55 AM.

[zoey1996]

I liked Mike and Molly, thought the partner was funny, thought the counter guy in the diner was hilarious! Swoosie and the cake was very funny, didn't like the sister. Lots of cliches and stereotypes, true. So, we'll see. Considering how gross the lead-in is (2 1/2 Men) - and I only watched the last minute or so while waiting for M&M and come on - this seemed quite refreshing. But we'll see - could get better, might get worse. But so far, I liked it.

[Rhettwoods]

I recall a few episodes on Roseanne that were about their weight -- one where Roseanne was trying to lose weight and her sister told her to walk 2 miles a day, which she did, and then she fit into the jeans she wanted to fit into. The other episodes were about Dan's heart attack and the need for him to change his eating habits. As an ample-sized person myself, I did watch M&M to see what was going to happen. It was nice to see an overweight guy who didn't think that the world owed him a size 2 hottie (the ultimate of that being when "Doug" in "King of Queens" decided that his wife needed to work out more), as we have seen in so many shows -- The Honeymooners, King if Queens, Life According to Jim, etc. The actor playing Mike (who I recall from "Yes, Dear" and a few other sitcoms) seems to have gained some weight over the years, so I hope that actually losing some weight might be part of the show because I do fear for his health at the weight he is. He reminds me a little of John Candy, but he is not yet near the actor that John Candy was. I'll give this show a few more tries. I didn't like 2-1/2 Men the first time I watched it, and I didn't like TBBT the first time I watched it, either, and now TBBT is my favorite show.

[amroyo]

I know alliteration makes a show title easier to remember but could they have come up with something other than two 'M' names? Reading all these posts about M&M makes me yearn for a big bag ol' M&M candies.

Now on topic - I was at first excited to see Swoosie Kurtz but her character was annoying. The sister made no sense either. She was more cartoon-like than real. I'm willing to give it another try.

Edited by amroyo, Sep 21, 2010 @ 1:03 PM.

[chicagofan]

amroyo - ITA with you on the mom and sister. Swoosie didn't bug quite as much, but the sister's character can disappear - she won't be missed by me. I really want to like this show since it's set in Chicago, but don't know if Mike and Molly can carry it for me.

[Arnold Robinson]

Mike, Molly, and, to a lesser degree, Mike's partner all seemed like real, normal human beings. But Molly's mother and sister were just complete cartoonish buffoons. It struck me as odd that they inhabited the same universe.

[i heart food]

I only half watched the show last night, but from what I saw, I thought it was funny. Other posters didn't care for the fat jokes, but I didn't think they were all that bad. But like I said, I was half watching, so I don't really know how many jokes there were. I liked Mike's partner, he seemed to really care for Mike, like when Mike ordered some unhealthy thing at the cafe or wherever they were, and the partner walked up and basically took it away from him and ordered him something else that was healthy, because he didn't want Mike to ruin his diet.

All in all, not too bad of a show, I will check it out in full next week. Like others, I did not like Big Bang Theory when it first came out, but a few seasons later it is now my all time fave, even more than when Friends was on *gasp*! Plus, I loved Melissa McCarthy in Samantha Who?, I think she is cute as a button.

[ticklemebutta]

I too liked Mike and Molly. I hope that it continues. I think it will improve over time. The table scene was hilarious.. maybe it just caught me off guard... but I got a real good belly laugh off that. The term chub club tickled me....

[Yvaughn]

No one is really mean-spirited on this show actually. Mike partner obvious cares about him through all of their banter.

Thanks for the alternative perspective, Wackadoo. I'll admit--characters who aren't mean-spirited do make the show sound more attractive.

[JadziaDax]

What was with the gay jokes? They seemed to stick out as being very offensive, maybe because they just weren't funny. That, the annoying sister and cop partner, and the broken finger thing just turned me off completely from this show.