While We Mourn the Loss of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Let’s Also Pour One Out for The Mick
As we sit here mourning the loss of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and hoping for its rescue, we can’t ignore the other comedy cancelled by Fox, one that I’m incredibly sad to see go: The Mick.
When The Mick was first announced and the first trailers aired, it looked like Fox had just taken Kaitlin Olson’s character from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and dropped her straight into a family sitcom scenario. But while the characters may be similar in some ways–the crudeness, drunkenness, and Olson’s now-trademark vocal and physical mannerisms, mostly–the show ended up being something totally unique. It was also one of the funniest shows on television.
There are some types of characters consistently lacking from the entertainment landscape. Among them are morally ambivalent or flawed women, women doing physical comedy, and female comedy leads in general. Kaitlin Olson’s Mickey was all of these. (She also executive produced the show.) Every week, she dove headfirst into antics that swung hard and fast between slapstick and heartfelt and she did so spectacularly.
If you never caught an episode, the show centers on Mackenzie (Micky) Molng, a lifelong slacker who ends up having to care for her sister’s children after that sister and her husband are arrested for tax evasion and fraud. Mickey basically takes on the role of guardian because it means she can move into her sister’s mansion, with the children being an afterthought, or, often, not a thought at all. Incredibly, her callousness in that regard has maintained over two seasons. Sure, she formed bonds with the children, but in the cases of the older two, Chip and Sabrina, their love/hate relationship is more like tolerate/hate, with a deeply buried foundation of love that often felt far more complex than anything you’d expect from a network sitcom.
The supporting cast of The Mick was an incredibly talented, well-utilized ensemble. The youngest, Ben (Jack Stanton) is an incredible child actor, just vomitously cute but with a strange, detached sort of darkness that bubbles up at perfect moments. I liked the show fine from its pilot, but it was episode 4, which centered around Ben and his birthday party that really won me over. Episode 11 allowed Ben to explore issues of gender fluidity, and did so with care but also humor, and it felt natural and exciting for the character.
The other two siblings are fascinating. Chip (Thomas Barbuscais) one of the most despicable characters on TV, an entitled mini-MRA in the making. Sabrina (Sofia Black-D’Elia) is equally entitled and narcissistic. The fact that I love watching both characters’ arcs is amazing.
Olson isn’t the only woman doing extreme physical comedy on the show, either. Carla Jimenez has spoken in interviews about being a Latina actress in Hollywood and getting cast nearly exclusively as maids. As a fully-formed character with an amorality somehow even stronger than Mickey’s and the children’s combined, plus incredible physical comedy skills, Alba subverts the typical maid role. She and Mickey are a dark, debauched Lucy and Ethel and I will miss them so much.
The Mick took a few episodes to find its footing, but in its two seasons, any episodes that I’ve watched and haven’t felt were as funny as the show usually is have always been undeniably adventurous, exploring and expanding the characters, pushing them to explore themselves. For a show that initially looked like it was just a retread of an established character, the show turned out to be one of the bravest, most unique comedies on television.
So while we’re all hoping someone *coughHulucough* will save Fox’s cut comedies, don’t sleep on The Mick. It deserved better than we gave it.
(image: Fox)
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