Review: Mr Mayor. Ted Danson’s Mr Mayor: with the events of January 6th filling the airwaves it may be no surprise that the premiere of Mr Mayor, the new sitcom on NBC, about a businessman, Neil Bremmer played by Ted Danson, who runs for mayor of Los Angeles failed to impress.
The show comes from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the driving force behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The series was created as a spin-off from 30 Rock in which Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) would run for mayor of New York – but the show changed location when Baldwin pulled out of the project and Ted Danson was cast in the lead role. However Danson reportedly wouldn’t leave LA and so the series was ‘re-located’ to LA.
The series which aired on Jan 7th on NBC has received mixed reviews but high ratings. The first episode drew a 0.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 4.9 million viewers, while the second drew a 0.5 and 4.3 million viewers.
The ratings for the first episode represent NBC’s best comedy premiere in the key demographic since 2018 and its best comedy premiere in total viewers since 2017.
TVLine: “The whole endeavor feels half-hearted and half-baked, with a thin concept and a glaring lack of laughs… The one saving grace is the knowledge that everyone involved will go on to more worthwhile projects. The sooner this term ends, the better.”
New York Times: “So far, the show is full of lines that are meant to be funny, in a joke-adjacent kind of way, but don’t quite hit – they have the shape of humor but not the force,” he said.
AV Club: Ted Danson and the rest of Mr. Mayor’s ace cast can’t save its weak humor and poorly timed arrival
Los Angeles Times: Ted Danson shines in ‘Mr. Mayor.’ The L.A. jokes, not so much
Variety: ‘Mr. Mayor,’ From Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Is an Unworthy Heir to ‘30 Rock’: TV Review
Toronto Sun: ‘Mr. Mayor’ TV review: Tina Fey created show is an unworthy heir to ’30 Rock’
Newsday: “Wan, worn, predictable, Mr. Mayor feels like a misfire in the early episodes
Rolling Stone: “It’s pretty stock material, but Danson is so willing to appear ridiculous, and such a precise physical comedian that it’s funny in spite of the familiarity.”