Review: The Mayor

Brand new voice - same old wrapping

Show: The Mayor

Genre: Political Sitcom

Network: ABC

Premiered: October 3, 2017

Who’s sick and tired of politics?  Odds are, you’re raising your hand from the other side of the screen right now.  The rising polarization and carnival sideshow that marks modern politics has left many of us weary and searching for an escape, or at least a view of the statecraft arena different from the ugly one we see every night on the nightly news.  Tense, gritty dramas like Scandal and House of Cards offer one flawed if compelling picture, as does Designated Survivor in a slightly less tarnished and more polished frame.  But what if you’re just looking to laugh at the absurdity of it all?  Sure, Parks and Recreation was a thing for a while, but its departure has left only the late night skeleton crew to fill that void.  “Whither flew the political sitcom?” you may ask.  Creator Jeremy Bronson may have found your answer with his brand-new series The Mayor, bringing the whole political enterprise down to grassroots by infusing it with something quite alien to its make-up: optimism and human warmth.  But after running such an unlikely platform, does this October dark horse deliver on its promises?

Synopsis

Young Courtney Rose (Brandon Micheal Hall) is an erudite but self-centered aspiring rapper based in Fort Grey, California, with star-studded dreams that unfortunately outsize his record sales at the moment.  So in a bid to boost his popularity, he does what every successful entrepreneur would in his situation: make a phony publicity campaign for the mayoral office and watch his name sparkle in the headlines.  If this all sounds uncomfortably familiar, well, it gets worse (or better?) from there.  When his vacuous but emotionally laden plea at his final public debate works magic on the crowd, he returns home and discovers to his horror that his publicity stunt proved a little too successful - in the worst possible way.  Now faced with the dire responsibility of running a city, Rose must rely on his friends, his supportive but no nonsense mother (played by the lovely Yvette Nicole Brown) and an acrimonious classmate-turned-mayoral manager (Lea Michele) to whip this potential disaster into a best-selling success.  And maybe he’ll learn a little responsibility along the way.

The Good

One thing right off the bat with this series is that it lives and breathes an infectious sense of fun and optimism.  In a swerve away from the dark and gritty political dramas listed above, and even the often mean-spirited satire of the admittedly brilliant Parks and Recreations, The Mayor brims with bright futures and the possibilities inherent in an elected office.  Hall is a central contributor to this, eschewing offensive and one-dimensional stereotypes to play Courtney Rose as an upbeat and well-intentioned young hustler who nonetheless has a lot of growing up to do.  The pacing doesn’t drag anywhere, and the direction of this series is made clear throughout the pilot.  Special note goes to Yvette Nicole Brown as Dina Rose, taking the “sassy black mom” stereotype and wringing it of its overbearing Medea-ish detritus, leaving behind a close yet humorous mother-son bond.  The presence of these two characters alone took what could have been - okay, is - a standard, cookie-cutter sitcom and turned it into something...not objectionable.

The Bad

That said, not all is sunshine and candies with this new show.  It is, in so many ways, woefully generic; the plot sprints ahead with all the self-awareness of a blind rooster, and the basic setup all but guarantees a story that can be called eight or nine episodes down the line.  In exchange for a mildly pleasant and affirming viewing experience, The Mayor seemingly sacrifices subtlety, dynamism, and a healthy sense of uncertainty.  It doesn’t help that the cast outside of our main lead and his mail carrier mom is rather lackluster.  Courtney’s obligatory two best friends, played by Bernard David Jones and Marcel Spears, are whimsical and charming, but add nothing else to the story.  Lea Michele made the weakest showing by far, giving Valentina Barella all the depth of a paper cut and delivering her lines with a stilted punctuality.  She highlights the one major thread uniting all of the show’s minor flaws: everything is too measured.  The lines for most of the actors are tossed out in a forced and sterile fashion, and the entire episode felt like they were just ticking off marks on the Great Board of Sitcom Conventions: from the new mayor’s bread and circus approach to community revitalization- which, of course, runs counter to his straight-laced but ultimately right assistant; to the plot-ruining slip of selfishness, complete with the “wisdom lecture” courtesy of his mother; to his mea culpa and, finally, redemptive act of kindness that proves once and for all where his heart truly lays.  Now none of those things are necessarily bad in and of themselves, and I’d hate to come off as an anti-feel-good cynic.  I just hope The Mayor shakes loose from the formula a bit as the series continues its course - otherwise, it can get very boring, very quickly.

The Ugly

There's very little to put here, honestly.  The pilot reveals a comedy lacking any major depth, flexibility, or - to its credit - pretense, so there isn't a whole lot that can either wiggle out from the narrative shadows, or crash and burn after takeoff.  I'm still weighing whether The Mayor’s by-the-book interpretation of the political sitcom is more tongue-in-cheek than I’m giving it credit for; it would be nice to see a series for once dip into some much-needed satire without painting the whole world in black with a smattering of gray - especially when the potential is so ripe.  But otherwise, it doesn’t seem to be any more or any less than what it presents to the world, which on the plus side, means it can potentially whip out some homespun, down-to-earth advice on how a politician can actually be of service to his or her constituency - something they already touch on in the pilot, and something the national power players both on and off the screen tend to forget at their peril.

Tune In or Tune Out?

Tune in.  And I say this with more feet-dragging than with any other show I’ve ever reviewed.  Despite the seemingly undue weight to the negatives I give above, there’s nothing really bad about this series as far as I can tell; it’s just a tad too safe and predictable for my tastes.  But that’s no reason for audiences to write it off, and considering the insanity that’s been going on in the world today, maybe “safe and predictable” is just what the doctor ordered.  So by all means, have a seat, and enjoy Courtney’s ride on the political bull.  Just don’t expect it to be too exciting.