{ "id": "ep0e5h4nb8", "slug": "mike", "title": "Mike", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "label": "Historical and period drama", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Mike is Hulu's 2022 eight-episode unauthorized limited series about boxer Mike Tyson, created by Steven Rogers, starring Trevante Rhodes, framed by Tyson's Undisputed Truth stage show, with a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score.", "snippet": "Mike is Hulu's 2022 eight-episode unauthorized limited series about boxer Mike Tyson, created by Steven Rogers, starring Trevante Rhodes, framed by Tyson's Undisputed Truth stage show, with a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "markdown": "# Mike\n\n**Mike** is an American eight-episode biographical drama miniseries about the heavyweight boxing champion [Mike Tyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-tyson), created by screenwriter Steven Rogers and released as a Hulu Original in 2022. It stars [Trevante Rhodes](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevante-rhodes) as Tyson, with [Harvey Keitel](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-keitel) as his trainer Cus D'Amato, Russell Hornsby as promoter Don King, and Laura Harrier as Tyson's first wife, Robin Givens.[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/mike-287e77d7-7178-4685-8322-745c7006248a) The series was made without Tyson's participation or payment, and he publicly denounced it.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Eight-episode limited series, Hulu, TV-MA drama/biography, 2022[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/mike-287e77d7-7178-4685-8322-745c7006248a) |\n| Release | First two episodes August 25, 2022; two new episodes each Thursday; finale September 15, 2022[3](https://www.hulu.com/guides/boxing-movies-shows) |\n| Key creatives | Creator and writer Steven Rogers (I, Tonya); showrunner Karin Gist; director Craig Gillespie[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/mike-287e77d7-7178-4685-8322-745c7006248a) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review) |\n| Lead cast | Trevante Rhodes (Mike Tyson), Harvey Keitel (Cus D'Amato), Russell Hornsby (Don King), Laura Harrier (Robin Givens)[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/mike/) |\n| Authorization | Unauthorized; Tyson was not consulted or compensated and called it Hulu's \"slave master take over story about my life\"[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/) • [6](https://time.com/6208412/mike-review-hulu-tyson/) |\n| Reception | 41% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (34 reviews) and 41% Popcornmeter; 6.9/10 on IMDb[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/mike/s01) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14181914/ratings/) |\n| Episode length | About 30 minutes per episode[9](https://www.epguides.com/Mike/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Structure and story\n\nThe series covers roughly 40 years of Tyson's life, from an impoverished childhood in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, through petty crime and a stint in juvenile detention where he learned to box, to his rise under trainer [Cus D'Amato](https://www.edgepedia.org/cus-damato), his championship career, his marriage to [Robin Givens](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-givens), his association with [Don King](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-king), and his 1992 rape conviction.[6](https://time.com/6208412/mike-review-hulu-tyson/) • [13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/24/mike-review-tyson-biopic-hulu-trevante-rhodes)\n\n**Framing device.** The story is told largely from Tyson's own perspective through a fictionalized version of his real one-man stage show *Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth*, performed before an audience in Indiana in 2017; Rhodes's Tyson narrates in voiceover and frequently breaks the fourth wall.[14](https://www.looper.com/1011369/what-mike-gets-wrong-about-the-true-story/) • [11](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/mike-tv-review-2022) The opening episode echoes Martin Scorsese's *Raging Bull*, with Tyson throwing punches at a dressing-room mirror before going on stage.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review)\n\n**The \"Desiree\" episode.** The fifth episode, directed by Tiffany Johnson, departs from this structure by handing narration to Desiree Washington, the 18-year-old [Miss Black America](https://www.edgepedia.org/miss-black-america) contestant who accused Tyson of raping her at the Canterbury Hotel in [Indianapolis](https://www.edgepedia.org/indianapolis) in the early hours of July 19, 1991. On February 10, 1992, Tyson received convictions on several counts, rape among them, and drew a six-year prison term; he walked free in March 1995 and still insists he did nothing wrong. Executive producers Karin Gist and Samantha Corbin-Miller said the episode drew on news reports, public records, and court transcripts to reexamine the case from Washington's perspective.[15](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-09-15/hulu-mike-tyson-desiree-washington-rape-trial-conviction) Onscreen text at the episode's end states that Washington has lived anonymously since the trial and never sold her story.[6](https://time.com/6208412/mike-review-hulu-tyson/)\n\n## Development and production\n\nHulu ordered the series in February 2021 under the working title *Iron Mike*, from 20th [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television), describing it as covering the \"wild, tragic and controversial life and career\" of Tyson. Steven Rogers created it, and Karin Gist served as showrunner.[10](https://www.nexttv.com/news/hulu-orders-series-about-mike-tyson) Rogers had previously written *I, Tonya*, the film about figure skater [Tonya Harding](https://www.edgepedia.org/tonya-harding), and several of that film's producers joined the project; [Craig Gillespie](https://www.edgepedia.org/craig-gillespie), who directed *I, Tonya* and *Pam & Tommy*, directed and served as an executive producer.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review) • [11](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/mike-tv-review-2022) The executive producer roster also included Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Brett Hedblom.[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/mike/)\n\nThe production does not include the participation of the real Tyson.[12](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-hulus-mike-dramatizes-the-life-of-boxing-heavyweight-mike-tyson-180980632/) In a statement, the executive producers said the series draws on \"factual accounts, interviews, footage of real-life events\" and aims to go \"beyond the sound bites and tabloid headlines,\" portraying Tyson as neither hero nor villain.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/)\n\n## Themes\n\nHulu's promotional material frames the series as an examination of class in America, race in America, fame and the power of media, misogyny, the wealth divide, and the promise of the [American Dream](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-dream).[1](https://www.hulu.com/series/mike-287e77d7-7178-4685-8322-745c7006248a) Reviewers noted that the show dramatizes how systematic racism and poverty shaped Tyson's life, but several argued it stopped short of interpreting its material. Time criticized the series for making Tyson the narrator of his own story and for retreating from interpretation just when perspective was needed, particularly around the treatment of the women Tyson hurt.[6](https://time.com/6208412/mike-review-hulu-tyson/) The Guardian similarly wrote that the series fell into the trap of reducing a complicated life to \"an alternating series of hills and valleys.\"[13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/24/mike-review-tyson-biopic-hulu-trevante-rhodes)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe series premiered on August 25, 2022, with two episodes, followed by two more each Thursday through the September 15 finale.[3](https://www.hulu.com/guides/boxing-movies-shows) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 41% Tomatometer from 34 reviews and a 41% audience score; the critics consensus calls it \"undeniably ambitious as it weighs the legendary boxer's many contradictions, but it ultimately punches itself out with uneven execution.\"[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/mike/s01) IMDb users rate it 6.9/10 from about 5,500 ratings.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14181914/ratings/)\n\nCritics were broadly positive about Rhodes's central performance. The Guardian called his casting \"the closest thing to a knockout punch,\"[13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/24/mike-review-tyson-biopic-hulu-trevante-rhodes) and RogerEbert.com credited his \"undeniable star power\" while judging that eight half-hour episodes were not enough to dig deeper than the facts.[11](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/mike-tv-review-2022) The Washington Post found the series entertaining but \"not illuminating,\" calling it a split decision that never weighs in on which version of Tyson the audience should root for.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/) Common Sense Media described it as a \"skewed and rather superficial look at the boxer's life\"; the series received an NAACP Image Award nomination.[16](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/mike)\n\n## Tyson's response and related works\n\nTyson, who was not consulted or compensated, denounced the project on Instagram before its premiere, writing that Hulu had \"stole my life story and didn't pay me.\"[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/) He had previously told his own story in two autobiographical books, the one-man show *Undisputed Truth* (directed by [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee) and filmed as an HBO special), and the podcast *Hotboxin' With Mike Tyson*.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review)\n\n*Mike* is the second biographical drama devoted to the fighter, after the 1995 television film *Tyson*.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review) A separate four-part Netflix documentary series, *TYSON*, directed by Floyd Russ and featuring interviews with Tyson and his inner circle, was announced for release on October 13.[17](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/mike-tyson-documentary-series-release-date?inapp=true)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Mike, Hulu series page](https://www.hulu.com/series/mike-287e77d7-7178-4685-8322-745c7006248a)\n2. [Helena Andrews-Dyer, \"'Mike' is an entertaining but not illuminating look at the embattled boxer,\" The Washington Post, August 25, 2022](https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/08/25/mike-tyson-hulu-series/)\n3. [\"Everything You Need to Know About Hulu's Mike Tyson Series,\" Hulu Guide](https://www.hulu.com/guides/boxing-movies-shows)\n4. [\"How 'Mike' on Hulu gets story of boxer Mike Tyson wrong,\" Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2022](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-25/mike-tyson-miniseries-hulu-review)\n5. [\"Mike - Hulu Miniseries,\" TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/mike/)\n6. [\"Hulu's Pointless Mike Does a Disservice to the Women Tyson Hurt,\" TIME, August 25, 2022](https://time.com/6208412/mike-review-hulu-tyson/)\n7. [Mike: Limited Series, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/mike/s01)\n8. [Mike (2022) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14181914/ratings/)\n9. [Mike, a Titles & Air Dates Guide, epguides.com](https://www.epguides.com/Mike/)\n10. [Michael Malone, \"Hulu Orders Series About Mike Tyson,\" Broadcasting+Cable, February 25, 2021](https://www.nexttv.com/news/hulu-orders-series-about-mike-tyson)\n11. [Brian Tallerico, \"Trevante Rhodes Captivates in Hulu's Mike but the Show Loses the Fight,\" RogerEbert.com, August 25, 2022](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/mike-tv-review-2022)\n12. [\"The Real History Behind Hulu's 'Mike',\" Smithsonian Magazine, 2022](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-hulus-mike-dramatizes-the-life-of-boxing-heavyweight-mike-tyson-180980632/)\n13. [AA Dowd, \"Mike review - Tyson biopic series struggles to pack a punch,\" The Guardian, August 24, 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/24/mike-review-tyson-biopic-hulu-trevante-rhodes)\n14. [\"What Mike Gets Wrong About The True Story,\" Looper, 2022](https://www.looper.com/1011369/what-mike-gets-wrong-about-the-true-story/)\n15. [Max Gao, \"She was pilloried for accusing Mike Tyson of rape. A new TV show tells her side of the story,\" Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2022](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-09-15/hulu-mike-tyson-desiree-washington-rape-trial-conviction)\n16. [Mike, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/mike)\n17. [\"TYSON, the 4-Part Mike Tyson Documentary Series, Premieres Oct. 13,\" Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/mike-tyson-documentary-series-release-date?inapp=true)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Historical and period drama*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mike", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mike.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Mike\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mike. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Mike](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/mike](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Mike\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mike. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Mike is Hulu's 2022 eight-episode unauthorized limited series about boxer Mike Tyson, created by Steven Rogers, starring Trevante Rhodes, framed by Tyson's Undisputed Truth stage show, with a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score." }