A working class Chicago couple find love at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting in "Mike & Molly" on CBS (Art Streiber/CBS)

The series introduces us to Molly Flynn (Melissa McCarthy) who is trying to lose weight and improve her life. While at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting, she hears Mike Biggs (Billy Gardell), sharing about his struggles with being overweight and is immediately smitten. She asks Mike, a police officer, to share with her 4th grade class, and the spark of comedic romance ensues.

Set in Chicago, the writing on the show still retains the slight crass stylistics reminiscent of past successful Lorre shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men”. Yet, despite the pilot episode exhausting many easy fat jokes to drive home the subtext of the show, “Mike & Molly” does have a charming feel in the same vein of the classic ABC sitcom “Roseanne”.

It is evident that the writers and producers are trying to portray a sitcom to which common Americans can relate. It will be interesting to see how this series plays out through the end of the first season. The cleavage-bearing big sister Victoria Flynn (Katy Mixon), coupled with the impossibly thin-looking mom, Joyce Flynn (Swoosie Kurtz), are an interesting play off of the main character, but, especially in the case of the Victoria character, come off a little one dimensional and somewhat predictable, while the Joyce character is very reminiscent of the Evelyn Harper character from “Two and a Half Men”.

“Mike & Molly” has some definite potential. While the show had some funny moments, it is mostly carried by the charm of the main characters, and the chemistry they develop. It is refreshing to see two lead characters that are not disturbingly pretty and thin, but it also remains to be seen whether this series will be and endless stream of banal fat jokes, or another brash, but hilarious addition to the CBS arsenal.

“Mike & Molly” airs Mondays at 9:30 on CBS.

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