https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UZygx3HFoo
Tonight at 8:30p, Mike & Molly celebrates its 100th episode on CBS.
A big reason why this sitcom is reaching this magic number is because of the chemistry between the cast. Was it there from day 1? Recently I was at the Warner Bros TCA Winter Press Day Event, and Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell talked about just that. Molly said that the whole cast hit it off immediately. Then she added, “We had a feeling after the first show that we’d been together about three years.”
That is how they felt when they all started filming the pilot, but for the two leads it happened even earlier. They knew as soon as they tested for the roles. Melissa explained that she was very pregnant at the time and she “waddled in” to meet her potential onscreen lover. Gardell took it from there, “We had each read with the other Mike and the other Molly, and then we read together.” Then he added, “Look, they found me in a comedy club in Houston. But I knew nothing about casting television, but I knew when we read it there was just you can’t wish for that. And you can’t just go, I want that to happen.”
That happened time and time again when the other cast members like Reno Wilson, Swoosie Kurtz and Katy Mixon read for their parts.
Gardell concluded the question by saying, “We stayed that way through five years, and I think it comes through. We all get along, and we really love each other.” A love you can see when you tune in every Monday a 8:30p.
