''Mo'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

streaming television series that premiered on August 24, 2022 on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. The series stars

Mo Amer Mo or MO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories (2001 TV series), Horrible Histories'' TV series * Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke * Mo, in the ...

as the titular character. The series is loosely based on Amer's own life as a

Palestinian refugee Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war ( 1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exo ...

living in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. It is co-created by

Ramy Youssef Ramy Youssef ( ar, رامي يوسف; ; born March 26, 1991) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director of full Egyptian descent known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the Hulu comedy series '' Ramy'' (2019–present), for whic ...

and also stars Farah Bsieso, Omar Elba, Teresa Ruiz and

Tobe Nwigwe Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (born March 8, 1987) is an American rapper, singer and actor. As of 2022, Nwigwe co-stars in the Netflix television series '' Mo'' and received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 65th Grammy Awards. Persona ...

. In January 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a second and final season.

Premise

''Mo'' follows a Palestinian refugee living in Houston, Texas, who is currently seeking asylum and citizenship in the United States.

Cast and characters

Main

as Mohammed "Mo" Najjar, the protagonist ** Ahmad Rajeh as young Mohammed "Mo" Najjar * Farah Bsieso as Yusra Najjar, Mo's mother * Omar Elba as Sameer Najjar, Mo's brother * Teresa Ruiz as Maria, Mo's girlfriend *

as Nick, Mo's childhood friend * Michael Y. Kim as Chien, Mo's tattooist and

lean Lean, leaning or LEAN may refer to: Business practices * Lean thinking, a business methodology adopted in various fields ** Lean construction, an adaption of lean manufacturing principles to the design and construction process ** Lean governmen ...

dealer *

Lee Eddy Lee Eddy (born May 12, 1979) is an American stage actress, comedian and writer best known for her work on '' Red vs. Blue'' and ''Camp Camp''. Early life and career She was born in Shreveport, Louisiana where as a child she was a member of The ...

as Lizzie Horowitz, the Najjars' immigration lawyer * Cherien Dabis as Nadia Robinson (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Najjar), Mo's sister ** Mariah Albishah as young Nadia Najjar

Guest

* Paul Wall as a court room security guard *

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...

as a Catholic priest listening to Mo's confession * Bassem Youssef as Abood Rahman, mobile store owner

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The series has received critical acclaim for being one of the first major American television shows to portray a Palestinian-American refugee as the protagonist. It currently holds a 100% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, with the critic consensus on the site being: "Frequently hilarious while possessing an absorbing sense of place, Mo is a thoughtful depiction of the immigrant experience that is light on its feet.".

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Official screenplay of series premiere
{{Netflix original current series 2020s American comedy-drama television series Palestinian-American culture 2022 American television series debuts Arabic-language Netflix original programming English-language Netflix original programming Spanish-language Netflix original programming Television series about immigration Television shows set in Houston Television series by A24 Works about refugees Works about immigration to the United States