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
