Stars Danson, Hunter instantly clicked as rivals in ‘ Mr. Mayor’
NEWYORK— There’s a government office right there in the very title of TedDanson’snewseries, but the newNBCcomedy “Mr. Mayor” is anything but political.
“If you consider politics the headlines in the papers and the breaking news onCNN, that ain’t us,” saidDanson, whostars as Los Angeles’ mayor, Neil Bremer.“We point out the foibles and silliness, andwonderfully lovable, pathetic, lame side of humanity, butwe don’t stop and preach. We never are preaching.”
The showis fromEmmy Award winnersRobert Carlock and Tina Fey, the brains behind “30Rock” and “UnbreakableKimmy Schmidt.” The 30- minute comedy has taken over the 8 p. m. anchor slot inNBC’s Thursday comedy block.
Danson considers the showmore an office or family comedy. Danson plays a businessmanwho made a fortune on billboards and then retired. He ran formayor just to impress his daughter, a sophomore in high school playedbyKylaKenedy from“TheWalking Dead.”
Thenewmayor is not a very polished political figure, prone to mangling Spanish and saying things like “I’m very open to a robot police force.”
He’s got a dubious staff behind him— the trio of comedians BobbyMoynihan, Vella Lovell and Mike Cabellon— and a chief rival inHollyHunter, who plays an ultraliberal council member.
“Like underwear bought in a drugstore, you’re not going to last two months,” shewarns themayor.
In the first episode, themayor, hoping for a winning issue, steals the idea of a plastic drinking strawban fromhis daughter, and it blows up in his face.
Hunter’s character offers to help— but only if he will rename coyotes as “mini- wolves.” There is satire, but nothing that might pit red states against blue ones.
“Immediately, I think the audience is alerted to the fact thatwe’re not going to be dissecting the Trumpadministration,” saidHunter. “This is not somenewangle on a political conversation.”
Danson— a veteran TVstar of such shows as “Cheers,” “Becker” and “The Good Place”— hadn’t worked withHunter, the Oscar winner for “The Piano” and star of the TNTdrama series “Saving Grace.” The two instantly clicked, a pair of showbiz pros.
“There are some benefits to having been around for a while, which is there is a relaxation and a recognition of, ‘ Oh, I’m in good hands. This other person’s gotme,’” Danson said.
The cast and crewhave endured a lot during the pandemic. They shot three episodes until production had to shut down for nine months. The cast kept in contact during the hiatus, even going over scripts virtually.
The time off might actually have helped the show, giving the cast time to digest the rat- a- tat scripts, which are stocked with Carlock and Fey’s astute cultural observations and sometimes absurdist flights of fancy.
“It’s practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice before you show up so that thosewords can come trippingly off your tongue,” saidDanson.
“You have to play the music,” he said, “and you have to play Tina and Robert’s music.”