Mike Tyson Mysteries

When I heard of this show I knew I needed to see it. It's a spoof of Hanna-Barbera shows like Scooby Doo but this one starring Mike Tyson himself. And it is absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible.

Mike Tyson plays himself but as a guy who drives around in his Mystery Mobile along with his adopted Asian daughter, a gay ghost and a talking pigeon solving mysteries. That right there was enough for me to take notice but then I watched the first episode and couldn't stop giggling.

Mike of course is played like an idiot but one that means well and wants to help people. He can't speak properly, misunderstands everything and solves his problems by punching them.

His daughter is the voice of reason, the gay ghost provides exposition and the pigeon drinks and acts snarky. What's not to love?

I don't think I've ever been as surprised by a television series as I am by "Mike Tyson Mysteries," a show that I thought was bound to be one of the dumbest shows ever. It turns out that while, yes, the show is dumb--often very, very dumb--it's also endlessly entertaining and always hilarious. Upon first glance, it would be easy to assume "Mike Tyson Mysteries" as just a one-joke "Scooby-Doo" spoof, but although there are certainly some "Scooby-Doo" staples present (the mystery van in particular), the show transcends its goofy premise by having each episode have a vastly different mystery every week. Although the show is definitely not about great plotting or genius storytelling, the writers seem to strive not to make the show repetitive from week to week. One episode may take place in space while the next episode will be about werewolves, or something equally as silly and ridiculous. The show never forgets that its a cartoon made for adults that don't mind juvenile, immature, or random humor.

The biggest surprise of "Mike Tyson Mysteries" is Mike Tyson himself. Tyson is clearly 100% in on the joke, and seemingly puts no limitations on what aspects of his life he'll make fun of. This is as funny and amusing as Mike Tyson has ever been, a far cry from the rageaholic image that Tyson has had in the past. Tyson is clearly invested in the material, and has far better comedic timing than anyone might expect. As funny as Tyson is here, he can't compare to Norm MacDonald as Pigeon, an alcoholic, profane, sarcastic pigeon that lives with Tyson. This is the perfect role for MacDonald, who has better deadpan delivery than any comedic actor working today. Pigeon could easily been a super annoying and unbearable character, but MacDonald instead manages to make him the highlight an already fantastic comedy.

"Mike Tyson Mysteries" is not high art, or even that ambitious of a television series. Each episode is simply fifteen minutes of silly, occasionally nonsensical, and vulgar laughs. The show easily could have been a terrible waste of time, yet somehow it's ended up being far better than it has any right to be. There are tons of people that will view the series with absolute disdain based on either either how they feel about Tyson himself or about the general absurd nature of the show. This isn't for everybody, though for me, "Mike Tyson Mysteries" is hands down the funniest series on television right now, and one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Highly recommended for fans of adult cartoons. 9/10

Love this show, so funny and unpredictable. Mike is hilarious! I really like his little clips at the end of the episodes. I hope they make more episodes cause it's a cool show.

People who don't like this show are simply taking it too seriously. Mike Tyson is intentionally portrayed as a complete moron and it's REALLY funny. Norm McDonald is also hilarious and you can tell they let him write a majority of his own lines as most of his dialogue matches what his old standup feels like.

The animation here is great throwback style like you'd see from Johnny Quest, Sealab 2020, Scooby Doo, and other somewhat outdated Cartoon Network stuff. However, this attributes to the shows greatness, as it's done classically yet in a contemporary fashion. As a plot seemingly appears into the third episode, I am becoming more and more drawn to the show and it's backgroundless characters. Mike Tyson is a doof, but ultimately comes off as a slapstick genius, occasionally beating helpless and innocent people often times fatally usually over a simple miscommunication, misunderstanding, or just stupidity and yet the balance of justice remains in his favor as he continues his metaphysical quest to solve the ultimate mystery. It's not just slapstick though, if fact, it's not a majority of the much much humor found within the witty word play and throwback references, as well as the dark black humor of the pigeon, who is played so perfectly by Norm McDonald. Over all you kind find several good pauses of silence, followed by a delayed bursting out of laughter. The best thing exhibited in this show however is the voice work. Jim Rash, Norm McDonald, and Mike Tyson are a triple threat. And props to Rachel Ramras who thankfully grounds the show to reality by being one of the most sensible and at the same time sarcastically humorous that winds oft winds up being a kick in the funny bone.