The Mayor, starring Glee’s Lea Michele and newcomer Brandon Michael Hall, was an adorable and fresh take on local politics in a highly political world. Sadly, it didn’t even see the end of its freshman season and won’t be up for re-election.
Following the mid-season finale–and low ratings and viewership–ABC pulled The Mayor from the air and uploaded its final four episodes straight to online streaming.
What is sad about this cancellation was how different it was from other comedies on the air. The Mayor was ABC’s only new comedy to premiere in the fall and it focused on something that is typically set for an hour-long drama: politics. But not national politics, local politics. Besides Parks and Recreation on NBC, which focused on the parks department within local government, The Mayor was one of the only shows to portray that area of government.
Of course, the twist was that Hall’s Courtney Rose wasn’t your average politician. Instead, he was an aspiring rapper who ran for mayor in his small California town for publicity. Ultimately winning, Courtney takes his new role seriously with the help of Michele’s strict and politically knowledgeable Val.
Courtney and Val were ying and yang. They were polar opposites, but ultimately came together for the good of their constituents. It was a light-hearted take on a topic the majority of Americans try to steer clear of talking about.
Sadly, because of the stigma that surrounds politics, this could have been the downfall of The Mayor. With national politics a hot-button topic over the past years, the last thing viewers want to see is more politics, even if it is light-hearted and grasping for laughs.
The last thing The Mayor did was make viewers feel like they had to choose political sides. Everyone felt represented, from the rich to the poor, to the hard workers and so on. It didn’t matter what you believed or didn’t, The Mayor was there to listen to everyone.
It’s unfortunate that team of Michele and Hall won’t be back onscreen after such great chemistry. It’s always enjoyable as a viewer to watch very different actors with various styles and backgrounds to work together cohesively. Their relationship on screen was that of two random people who ended up being friends even if it didn’t make sense. It seemed real. Sadly, the chemistry of the cast wasn’t enough to keep the viewers around.
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