''Mo'' (stylized with all uppercase) is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series that premiered on August 24, 2022 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. The series stars Mo Amer 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, village or house over the course of the 1948 Palestine war and during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refug ...

descendant living in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. It is co-created by

Ramy Youssef Ramy Youssef (, ; born March 26, 1991) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the Hulu comedy series '' Ramy'' (2019–2022), for which he won a Golden Globe A ...

and also stars Farah Bsieso, Teresa Ruiz and

Tobe Nwigwe Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (pronounced "''toh-beh-CHOO-kwoo'' ''doo-BEM TOH-beh nuh-WEE-gweh"''; born March 8th, 1987), is an American rapper, singer and actor. Music career Beginning in August 2016, Nwigwe began posting an original song ...

. In January 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a second and final season, which premiered on January 30, 2025. Season 2 of ''Mo'' was released to "widespread acclaim" is one of " Netflix's most celebrated comedies", and was called "Essential Viewing" by

Mashable Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...

. Both seasons of the show have a 100% critic score on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

Premise

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

Cast and characters

Main

* Mo Amer as Mohammed "Mo" Najjar, the protagonist **Ahmad Rajeh as young Mohammed "Mo" Najjar (season 1) * Teresa Ruiz as Maria, Mo's girlfriend *Farah Bsieso as Yusra Najjar, Mo's mother *

as Nick, Mo's childhood friend *Moayad Alnefaie as Hameed, Mo's friend *Michael Y. Kim as Chien, Mo's tattooist and lean dealer (season 1) * Lee Eddy as Lizzie Horowitz, the Najjars' immigration lawyer *

Cherien Dabis Cherien Dabis (born 1976) () is a Palestinian American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' magazine's ''10 Directors to Watch'' in 2009, and in 2010 received a United States Artists ...

as Nadia Robinson (

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

Najjar), Mo's sister ** Mariah Albishah as young Nadia Najjar (season 1) * Omar Elba as Sameer Najjar, Mo's brother

Guest

Paul Wall Paul Michael Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, or the Ice Man, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse, and has released several albums under the label and ...

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 wi ...

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

Matt Rife Matthew Steven Rife (born September 10, 1995) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his self-produced television special, comedy specials ''Only Fans'' (2021), ''Matthew Steven Rife'' (2023) and ''Walking Red Flag'' (2023), hi ...

as embassy counter worker in the business suit *

Simon Rex Simon Rex Cutright (born July 20, 1974), known professionally as Simon Rex and his stage name Dirt Nasty, is an American actor and rapper. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring i ...

as Guy, Maria's love interest and Mo's rival *

Macon Blair Macon Blair (born 1974) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, comic book writer and actor known for his roles in the films '' Blue Ruin'' (2013) and ''Green Room'' (2015), as well as his directorial debut ''I Don't Feel at Home i ...

as Jack *

Johanna Braddy Johanna Braddy is an American actress. She played the leading role in the 2009 horror film '' The Grudge 3'', and has appeared in ''Pop Rocks'' (2004), '' Hurt'' (2009), ''Easy A'' (2010), '' Paranormal Activity 3'' (2011), and '' The Levenger Tap ...

as Austin * Solvan Naim as Malone,

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

agent *

Liza Koshy Elizabeth Shaila Koshy (born March 31, 1996) is an American YouTuber and actress. Her main YouTube channel has amassed almost 17 million subscribers, and her two channels have a combined total of over 3 billion views. She has received four Str ...

as Talia *

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1979), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He gained mainstream attention for his guest performance alongside Paul Wall on Mike Jones' 2004 single "Still Tippin'". The followi ...

as fake bag customer * Ralph Barbosa as other Mexican street vendor

Episodes

Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2025)

Reception

Critical response

the first season of ''Mo'' holds a 100% rating and the second season holds a 95% rating on

. 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 as well as highlighting the growing ethnic diversity of Houston.

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 television shows Netflix television dramas American English-language television shows Peabody Award–winning television programs Spanish-language television shows Television series about immigration Television shows set in Houston Television series by A24 Works about refugees Works about immigration to the United States Television Academy Honors winners Multilingual television series Spanish-language television programming in the United States