{alltv} The small things in life are big enough for Billy Gardell

"Halftime is where I'm at in my life," says Billy Gardell, explaining the title of his one-hour special airing on Comedy Central tonight at 9 ET/PT. "I'm 40."

Actually, Gardell is 41, although the past year has been so busy that he hardly noticed another birthday flying by. After spending the first half of his life honing his timing, the plus-size comic has suddenly found fame as police officer Mike Biggs in the CBS sitcom, Mike & Molly.

It's a goal he has harbored since he confided to his grandmother back when he was nine, "'I'm going to be a comedian on TV,'" he recalls. "She said, 'You can do it if you work hard.'"

At the time, Gardell was enthralled by Jackie Gleason and his classic series The Honeymooners. Even then, he was on the chubby side. "I've always had a little gut on me," he admits. At one point he hit 350 lbs.

But his size is an asset on Mike & Molly, a comedy about two people — Gardell and Gilmore Girls actress Melissa McCarthy— who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.

"It's about two people trying to fall in love and trying to keep it together," Gardell says. "No matter where that takes you, it's always an interesting situation.

"In most sitcoms you have a couple meet and for four years you're praying they're going to get together. This explores two working class people who find each other in a place where they're trying to better themselves, and they go for it right away. It's a look at all the firsts — the first kiss, the first date, the first fight, the first Christmas."

And, the first media storm about overweight actors in romantic situations. A few months ago a blogger for Marie Claire magazine captured headlines when she wrote about being repulsed by romantic scenes featuring overweight people.

"I went on talk shows and addressed that," Gardell says. "We have no hard feelings. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. The thing that I love is that the support we got for the show was tremendous.

"What I love is that Melissa's and my characters are actually the two people on the show who have it together the most. The mother (actress Swoosie Kurtz) is a train wreck. My partner (Reno Wilson) lives with his grandmother (Cleo King), and he's a grown man. If people don't identify with me or Melissa, they identify with them."

Gardell sees similarities between Mike & Molly and Roseanne. "There are definitely tinges, especially the early years of Roseanne," he says. "And they've also added this wonderful Honeymooners vibe, in which I get to be moronic and in my own way say, 'Baby, you're the greatest.' People root for that."

Gardell does not seem overly sensitive about his size. "On Mike & Molly, there are no rules for us," he says. "Sometimes you do good on your diet, sometimes you don't. It's just like real life. We're trying, but sometimes the cake wins."

And, it's not like he doesn't want to slim down a bit.

"I would like to drop a few pounds over the summer, just for my knees, just to feel a little healthier. I'm not worried about getting into any swimsuit competitions. It's time to really face it down.

"Actually working on the show and having scenes in Overeaters Anonymous definitely makes you take a look at yourself, an honest look, which is not an easy thing to do."

Gardell is more concerned about feeling better than conforming to Hollywood standard.

"Being healthy is the key. Taking that journey is going to be great fun. If you do the homework and come through the other side of it, I think you feel proud of what you've accomplished. I'd like to get my weight under control. Would I like to be 180 lbs.? Not really. Would I like to drop 50 lbs.? Absolutely."

Gardell is more worried about losing perspective now that people recognize him. "I want to learn some humility," he says. "I feel humble to be alive."

It all goes back to his working-class Pittsburgh roots, which will be the basis of his Comedy Central special. "I got to perform in my hometown in front of a bunch of Steelers fans," Gardell says. "I have a very blue-collar, common-sense theme to my act. It's just about trying to keep it together.

"I talk about being crazy when I was young and trying to be uncrazy now that I'm an adult. Actually, I'm an adult maybe three days out of seven," admits Gardell who has a 7-year-old son, Will, with his wife Patty.

"In the special I talk about growing up in my family and growing up the way I did," he says. "I think I'm the last generation that was told, 'Suck it up. You gotta work.' I don't think that's around any more. I think people identify with it a little bit these days.

"You can't really blame the generation coming behind me for ADD. Everything's blinking and only lasts for 20 seconds. There's something to be said for following through."

Gardell spent his first decade in Pittsburgh. After his parents' divorce, he moved to Florida with his mother and younger brother and sister, returning to Western Pennsylvania only in the summers.

"I started working in a warehouse when I was 15," he says. "I worked in the receiving area, unloading trucks and stacking pallets."

That could have been his life had he not had ambitions to be a comedian. "I was around 17 when I started doing stand-up comedy," Gardell says.

He began on a dare. "The guys I was working with made a small bet with me. If I didn't do an open mic night, I couldn't cover the bet. I was running my mouth that I would do it. They bet me I wouldn't.

"They drove me down to my first open mic night. It was Dec. 28, 1987. I snuck into the (Orlando) club and got on the list. I did pretty good, and I've loved it ever since."

Once he began succeeding at stand-up, he began to travel the comedy circuit. Soon he was opening for Dennis Miller and George Carlin.

Eventually he landed recurring roles in such TV series as Yes, Dear, My Name is Earl and The King of Queens. He also appeared in films like You, Me, and Dupree and Bad Santa.

"I just never stopped," Gardell says. "Talent can keep you in the game, but perseverance is what leads you to success. You have to be willing to not stop."

Even so, Gardell was just scraping by. Before Mike & Molly came along, he admits, "I was about a year away from leaving Los Angeles and maybe getting into radio, something where I could drive home every night. Being on the road (with his comedy act) was getting too much for me to handle. When you're away five days a week, it's hard to be connected to your family."

Family is a recurring topic. "Being a dad is my favorite job," Gardell says. "My favorite thing is hanging out with my son," he says. "I'm hoping to be done with all of this by the time he's 15 or 16 so I can follow him around like that crazy dad who's a fan of everything his kid does.

"I think you should take your chips away from the table when they reach their highest."

He's got his goals mapped out: "a retirement fund, a college fund for my kid, maybe a house — nothing crazy — just a house with a pool and a BBQ deck. That's enough for me."