Kaitlin Week: 'The Mick' Makes It a Happy New Year for Kaitlin Olson

On New Year’s Day, the party is just getting started for Kaitlin Olson. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star rings in 2017 with the debut of her new sitcom The Mick on FOX, then parties at Paddy’s Pub for the Season 12 premiere of FXX’s It’s Always Sunny on Jan. 4. “We’re basically calling it Kaitlin Week,” she says. “It’s totally crazy. It’s going to be so much fun.”

In The Mick, Olson plays Mackenzie “Mickey” Murphy, a rough-edged, hard-living woman who suddenly becomes temporary guardian to her wealthy sister’s three entitled, overindulged kids. Mickey makes the best of it by freely spending her sister’s money, bingeing on her fine wine and making life difficult for the two oldest kids.

“What we’re really going for is a woman who’s thrust into this situation and is definitely taking advantage of it selfishly, but you see little cracks in her,” Olson says, assuring us that there won’t be a big “mushy” scene and that Mickey and the kids won’t end up singing in the Salzburg Festival. “I think she definitely loves and cares about Ben [the youngest], because in her opinion, the other two are already ruined. She can still fix Ben. It’s just that her way of parenting and fixing him is totally ludicrous and inappropriate. Ultimately, you’ll realize that these kids are probably better off with Mickey because at least she’s paying attention. It’s just her way of getting them to toughen up and learn to take care of themselves in the world is much different than anything you’d read in a parenting book.”

Olson also serves as co-executive producer on The Mick, which was created by Dave and John Chernin, who’ve both worked as writers and producers on It’s Always Sunny. The Mick is its own show, but there’s still a lot that fans of It’s Always Sunny will appreciate. “I love It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It’s the funniest show I’ve ever seen. I hope that we remind people of that,” Olson says. “I wanted to really do a very funny family show on a network that felt like it should belong on cable, and FOX has been really brave about letting me do the show that I want to do.”

The Mick premieres on FOX Jan. 1 at 8pm ET/PT, then airs Tuesdays at 8:30pm ET/PT beginning Jan. 3.