Tom Goes to the Mayor

Reviewed by:
Patrick Richardson

The Adult Swim folks must've been brainstorming with Marion Barry when they dreamed up Tom Goes to the Mayor, the experimental show that tries so hard to break traditional animation conventions that it forgets to be funny. Each episode revolves around Tom Peters, a well-meaning new resident in the small town of Jefferton who presents the mayor with noble ideas for civic improvement only to watch them warp into ridiculously disastrous initiatives (i.e., setting hundreds of bear traps around town to protect children from predators). Playing visually like something created by a 14-year-old kid with Photoshop and an iBook, Tom utilizes photorealistic stop-motion sketch characters, fully rendered suburban landscapes, and the occasional live actor. What it doesn't utilize is anything remotely resembling humor. Even guest voices by Jack Black, David Cross, and Michael Ian Black don't save the show from being more tedious than a town council meeting.