Media: December 2024 • Chicago “Hearts” Billy Gardell
Billy Gardell became a household name while co-starring with Melissa McCarthy in the (2010-2016) sitcom Mike & Molly, but he’s certainly not a one-hit-wonder. He followed that with another five-year sitcom hit, Bob (heart emoji) Abishola.
If you’ve ever wondered how to pronounce that correctly, you’re not alone.
“It’s not Bob loves,” Billy explains. “It’s Bob hearts. Bob Hearts Abishola because it’s got a heart right in there. That stupid emoji caused us a lot of grief on the internet early on.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve got a second chance to catch it on weeknights on WCIU-TV (8 pm and 8:30 pm). Billy offers a little primer on the show.
“My guy has a heart attack,” he says, “and when he wakes up, there’s a nurse there from Nigeria, and he falls in love with her. And, you know, it’s just a show about love knowing no bounds. Also, it’s about when you marry someone, you marry their whole family. The blending of those cultures was a lot of fun to explore and experience, and we found a lot of heartfelt comedy in it. We did five seasons. So, six and a half seasons on Mike and Molly and five on Bob Hearts Abishola. I’ve been really, really lucky.”
It didn’t hurt that legendary TV producer Chuck Lorre (Big Bang Theory, Two & A Half Men, Young Sheldon, The Kaminsky Method) was at the helm of this one.
“Yeah, I think Chuck’s gonna make it,” Billy says with a chuckle. “Me and Chuck. We’re gonna keep at it till we’re successful. He just, he changed my life for the better, man. And I’m incredibly grateful for everything that happened.”
Having watched **Mike and Molly, which takes place in Chicago (Billy plays a Chicago cop), and costars Chicagoan Melissa McCarthey, I always assumed Gardell was from Chicago. He’s actually from Pittsburgh.
“Well, you know, the cities are very similar,” he explains. “It’s very Midwestern, you know, blue collar, the same kind of hard-working people, sarcasm with a little bit of love underneath. And so I slipped right into that. Also, I did live in Chicago for a couple of years as a comic before I moved out to Los Angeles. I have an affinity for this city without question. I moved out to LA for more acting opportunities.”
The transition from comedian to comic actor was a gradual one. “My goal was to do stand-up at first, and I started when I was 17, and then my drive was to use my stand-up to get to a sitcom. I’m a big television lover. I loved watching that stuff with my dad, my grandmother, like, that was our thing. And so that was always my pursuit. It was my goal. And I just happened to, after 25 years, get in front of the right guy, Chuck Lorre. And so, after 25 years, I was an overnight success.”
Not every comic can make that transition, but Gardell has flourished.
“I think the reason I’m a good sitcom actor is most of those shows are based on relationships, and I’ve been married for 23 years. That helps. And so it kind of fits. That’s what my stand-up is about, too. I talk about being a father and what it’s like to have a 21-year-old now. I’ve always written about what was happening in my life. So now I’m an empty nester, and me and my wife are alone in the house again; we’re trying to find new things to do, and I just try to write about that experience. The only difference between the sitcoms and my nightclub act is I swear a little bit in my nightclub act. That’s it.”
He’s on tour right now through the end of February. It is not stopping here this time, but Billy was in Chicago when we spoke and has a whole routine when he comes here.
“Last night, I was at the Green Mill, and we had dinner at Gibson’s. When I lived here (’1994-’95), I was working at the Improv, the Funny Firm, Zanies. There was a tradition here in Chicago, the Second City guys, and the stand-ups, we all kind of, everybody did their shows, and then we would all meet at a bar called Burton Place on Wells. It was like the bar from Star Wars by the end of the night. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of, and it was a really creative part of my career. And the food here. Man. So good. I’m hitting Portillo’s today. The fat guy is **still in there, even if he can only have a couple bites.”
Gardell has lost much weight since his **Mike & Molly days, thanks to a 2021 bariatric surgery. How much? 170 pounds. He has discovered that the weight loss didn’t only improve his health. It gave him something else.
“Yeah, it used to be recognized just about everywhere I went, but since the weight loss, hardly anybody recognizes me until I speak, and then they hear that car horn that is my voice, and they know. But it kind of gave me some anonymity back. And I gotta tell you, I don’t mind.”
Bob Hearts Abishola airs weeknights at 8:00 and 8:30 on the U, WCIU-TV.
-Rick Kaempfer
