Yes, I know there are plenty of mysteries involving Mike Tyson. The biggest one is how he could just put his jaw out there and let Buster Douglas become famous.
But I digress.
Somehow, over time, the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” has transformed his image from an ear-biting, woman-assaulting convicted felon into a goofy, malaprop-spitting ex-boxer. Even today, I still look at the travels Mike Tyson has taken and wonder to myself how that man isn’t dead or living in Sing Sing.
And the latest transformative piece of his career, a Saturday morning cartoon spoof called Mike Tyson Mysteries, premiered on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim late-night block last evening.
I blogged about this cartoon way back in May 2014, and even then I wasn’t sure if this was a joke or a one-shot cartoon or if this program would ever reach the airwaves.
Well, last night, it did. The premiere edition of Mike Tyson Mysteries, an episode called “The End,” aired at about 10:30 p.m. last night. Yeah, probably not going to watch it with a bowl of Cocoa Krispies, but still…
In the episode, Mike Tyson receives a message (of course, the message is tied to the leg of one of his racing pigeons) that celebrated author Cormac McCarthy is having trouble finishing one of his novels, and needs the celebrated pugilist and his Scooby gang to help write an end to the novel. And sure enough, Mike Tyson, his adopted daughter Yung Hee (who keeps pestering Tyson about wanting to attend college), his ghostly friend the Marquess of Queensbury (yeah, yeah, I know, Funky Phantom, I know), and a magical pigeon who once a human – yeah, they probably won’t address that on this show for a while – get into their minivan and drive to the Old West to solve the mystery.
And all the way along, Mike Tyson (who is providing the voice of the animated Mike Tyson) has fun with this show. He can barely pronounce Cormac McCarthy’s name (and apparently there’s some involvement with a chupacabra, which Mike can’t pronounce either), and in the end, Mike’s fists help solve the mystery and all is happy at the end.
In fact, if you’re a fan of Cormac MacCarthy’s books, there’s a couple that get name-checked in the episode. And apparently there’s a subplot involving writer John Updike. Umm… Updike? What’s next, should we start seeing references to Thomas Pynchon and J.D. Salinger? Is this a Scooby-Doo satire or is the show infused with the same type of pop-culture sensibility reserved for The Venture Brothers and Aqua Teen Hunger Force?
Anyways, the show goes by pretty quickly – 11 minutes, almost like one of those 1960’s Hanna-Barbera two-episode 30-minute shows – and the overall look of the show does pay tribute and homage to those creepy-looking haunted house backgrounds in the Scooby-Doo episodes.
The show does have a bit of charm about it, and yeah it is a bit profane at times. Nothing like hearing Mike Tyson singing “Ain’t Got No Time For Bird Sex.” Yes, he sings that song. Apparently it was a hit a long time ago. So sayeth Mike Tyson. I may not want to argue with him, he might suddenly have a flashback and treat me like he treated Mitch “Blood” Green.
If you want to see the pilot episode of Mike Tyson Mysteries, “The End,” you can view it at this link. Hope you enjoy. Oh just be aware that this show was supposed to air at late night; there is some NSFW language in the episode.
Chuck The Writer 