This is one of the few episodes of Mike & Molly that I feel was an absolute letdown. So Molly, who was always portrayed as an over-spender, drags Mike the frugal spender, into risky adventures around town:
They *magically* get away with this immature behavior, though they have what truly is only a minor misfortune on their way back home seeing the gravity of their actions (they have to walk down 70 levels, by the stairs). Once home, they gaze at each other's eyes, ecstatic about how much fun they had. Mike goes on to say how happy he is that Molly somehow "pushed" him to do new things...
Ok - let me define what I call pushing me to do "new things": encourage me to try golf, invite me to race karts, talk me into tasting a new type of cuisine.
Pushing someone to abuse businesses around town by sneaking into their buildings, using their utilities and laughing your way back home is in no way my definition of "pushing me to do new things". Unless you consider taking the actions leading to being arrested and going to prison some type of incredible fun. I don't, I'm weird like that.
Which leads me to my next question: what kind of scenario for a comedy show episode is that? Who thought that it would be a good idea to write a 20 min episode on these 2 main events? Someone terribly uninspired, obviously.
Not only was it not funny (it'd be a disastrous bore if it wasn't for the likability of the excellent actors who play Mike & Molly), it pretty much was some sort of passive promotion for immaturity and disrespectful behavior towards hard-working people looking to do their work properly without needing to have adults abusing their time and service (the car dealer could have sold a car or stayed back in the office without wasting his time with faux characters, the hotel maid could have actually finished cleaning the room, etc.)
On top of that, Mike is a cop! It seems like this type of behavior would be believable from characters with less scrutinized jobs where being immature would not necessarily lead to big career damages. I mean, come on, where is the realism in that? If you're going to forgo any and all sorts of realism, then at least add some absurd twists to your storyline.
A comedy show like "Malcolm in the Middle" was capable of taking such a bland plot and turn it into a comedy masterpiece. I remember that episode where Dewey essenially got lost around town, then a hilarious series of complete strangers picked him up at different spots and dropped him back at other places until he returned home safe, without anyone noticing he was absent for that long and had gone through such an extraordinary ordeal the entire day.
So yes - "Mike & Molly's Excellent Adventure" felt like a lazy and uninspired scenario, compared to absolute gems in previous seasons and even in season 4.
What I've grown to notice is: whenever supporting characters are not overly present in a Mike & Molly episode, you can be sure the scenario is going to be weak.
- they test a Rolls Royce car by pretending to be wealthy folks to the car dealer
- they cheat a hotel maid out of a 5-star hotel bedroom to sneak into the room she was cleaning and use it.
They *magically* get away with this immature behavior, though they have what truly is only a minor misfortune on their way back home seeing the gravity of their actions (they have to walk down 70 levels, by the stairs). Once home, they gaze at each other's eyes, ecstatic about how much fun they had. Mike goes on to say how happy he is that Molly somehow "pushed" him to do new things...
Ok - let me define what I call pushing me to do "new things": encourage me to try golf, invite me to race karts, talk me into tasting a new type of cuisine.
Pushing someone to abuse businesses around town by sneaking into their buildings, using their utilities and laughing your way back home is in no way my definition of "pushing me to do new things". Unless you consider taking the actions leading to being arrested and going to prison some type of incredible fun. I don't, I'm weird like that.
Which leads me to my next question: what kind of scenario for a comedy show episode is that? Who thought that it would be a good idea to write a 20 min episode on these 2 main events? Someone terribly uninspired, obviously.
Not only was it not funny (it'd be a disastrous bore if it wasn't for the likability of the excellent actors who play Mike & Molly), it pretty much was some sort of passive promotion for immaturity and disrespectful behavior towards hard-working people looking to do their work properly without needing to have adults abusing their time and service (the car dealer could have sold a car or stayed back in the office without wasting his time with faux characters, the hotel maid could have actually finished cleaning the room, etc.)
On top of that, Mike is a cop! It seems like this type of behavior would be believable from characters with less scrutinized jobs where being immature would not necessarily lead to big career damages. I mean, come on, where is the realism in that? If you're going to forgo any and all sorts of realism, then at least add some absurd twists to your storyline.
A comedy show like "Malcolm in the Middle" was capable of taking such a bland plot and turn it into a comedy masterpiece. I remember that episode where Dewey essenially got lost around town, then a hilarious series of complete strangers picked him up at different spots and dropped him back at other places until he returned home safe, without anyone noticing he was absent for that long and had gone through such an extraordinary ordeal the entire day.
So yes - "Mike & Molly's Excellent Adventure" felt like a lazy and uninspired scenario, compared to absolute gems in previous seasons and even in season 4.
What I've grown to notice is: whenever supporting characters are not overly present in a Mike & Molly episode, you can be sure the scenario is going to be weak.
