Agonising aunt
Crazy, common Aunt Mickey gets an instant family and loads more in The Mick
The Mick Season 1 Thursdays (from 6 April) FOX (*125) 20:10
Trailer-trash humour isn’t everyone’s polystyrene cup of cheap fizzy wine, but The Mick (2017current) is picking up right where My Name Is Earl (2005-2009) left off. It’s crude, it’s rude, it’s dirty and it has a lead character so bad she’d make Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa (2003 and 2016) movie character green with envy.
Trashy Aunt Mackenzie aka Mickey (Kaitlin Olson – Sweet Dee in comedy show It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, 2005- current) is dropped in the deepend at her posh sister Poodle’s ( Tricia O’Kelley) party. Poodle and her hubby disappear in the middle of a raid by law enforcement and they go on the run for fraud… leaving Mickey now in charge of her unapologetically offensive teen niece Sabrina (Sofia Black-D’Elia) and crazy nephews Chip and Ben (Thomas Barbusca and Jack Stanton) in upper- class Connecticut. At least she has help from her boyfriend Jimmy (Scott MacArthur) and the kids’ crazy maid Alba (Carla Jimenez).
“Oh, she [Mickey] is absolutely horrible,” says Kaitlin. “I’ve always admired people who’re comfortable not being liked because I’m the opposite of that. I really admire that Mickey doesn’t care what people think about her.” But just like My Name Is Earl, even the worst of the worst is loveable – Mickey’s fight to get the kids in line will resonate with parents and there are lessons to learn. Like in episode 5 (4 May), where Mick tries to set a good example for impressionable Ben by quitting smoking – and forcing Sabrina to do the same. Instead, the girls end up bonding while hiding in the bathroom for a secret puff.
Just remember to tuck the kids away – The Mick is nothing like the wholesome humour in sitcoms like Modern Family (2009- current; see more on p67).
MICKEY THE MOM
Kaitlin almost passed because she didn’t know if she’d have time – she is still working on It’s Always Sunny. “My hubby [Rob] works from home, so one of us is always there in the morning and at night. My boys [Axel and Leo, 6 and 4] are my priority.”