“The Sac” has perhaps the strongest opening for a Mr. Mayor episode yet: Holly Hunter’s Arpi is hyped and ready to head to California’s capital, Sacramento (the titular “Sac”), in a way that only she can be hyped and ready for such things. If there were any questions left about who this character is, this opening (as quick as it was) surely answered them. As I highlighted Mikaela’s Liz Lemonian nature last week in the “high school never ends” plot, the Tina Fey-penned “The Sac” opens with Arpi’s version of that particular character quality, from her giddiness over Sacramento (for government reasons, of course) to her “song” about the capital city to her self-centered behavior when it comes to the first part (shown via the Alexa reveal).
Also, if you—like me—thought it didn’t quite track that Arpi would even have an Alexa in the first place, then the neighbor Alexa reveal really worked.
One thing that sticks out about “The Sac” is that Hunter plays things like she’s simply starring in her own bizarre version of The West Wing, never winking at the absurdity of any of this. In her own bizarre West Wing, she’s still very much at odds with Mayor Bremer, immensely—and somewhat sadly—paranoid that every move made is one he’s making against her. (Bremer’s not really part of this version of The Mayor, so he’s not aware of this.) Hunter doesn’t even wink once things take a hard turn to Arpi’s trypophobia (fear of holes), somehow playing that even straighter.
That moment where Arpi and Jayden decide to make eye contact with each other for four minutes? That’s the kind of focus Hunter brings to this series.
There’s definitely something to be said about Tina Fey and Robert Carlock doing their own comedy version of The West Wing long after 30 Rock already existed at the same time as Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (as brief a time as it was)… but really, the only character who even consistently exists in that version of Mr. Mayor is Arpi. And it’s something that “The Sac” really highlights: Mr. Mayor is multiple shows rolled into one, and none are functioning on the same level. As I wrote last week, the best way I can describe Mr. Mayor—for everything I enjoy about it—is as “disjointed.” There’s a plate-spinning feeling that comes with Mr. Mayor, but instead of coming across as impressive, so far, it comes across more like an ill-advised choice for the series and what it is, whatever that may be. It would be one thing if Mr. Mayor’s plate-spinning was impressive throughout, but it only somewhat achieves that status about once per episode—when there’s a brief intersection—and that never quite defines the whole series or even episode. It happened when Jayden found himself entering the “high school never ends” plot last week, and it happens again here with Arpi and Jayden’s return from Sacramento.
While Hunter is firmly in comedic West Wing and brings whoever her scene partner is for the week along for the ride (here, it’s Bobby Moynihan), the rest of this episode is firmly in family sitcom territory. (Fey goes for an A and B-plot this week, with no third story.) It’s an established part of Mr. Mayor, but it’s also one that contributes both to the series’ lack of edge compared to typical Fey and Carlock fare and that sense of not quite knowing what this show is trying to do or be.
As Bremer’s entire reason for running for Mayor boiled down to how Orly sees him, naturally, that’s a big part of the series. And it’s not that Fey doesn’t realize that focusing on the father-daughter relationship here completely removes any “Mayor stuff,” as Mikaela’s existence in this episode boils down to making faces because neither Bremer nor Tommy are doing any work. The issue here is that this family sitcom plot about an out-of-touch single dad is just a different show entirely, with weird bits barely sprinkled in to force it into fitting the tone of a Fey and Carlock series. (The Little Women joke about Stab Massacre 2 is the height of that.) It’s possible to make a family sitcom (or at least include heavy elements of a family sitcom among the rest of the comedy) in the vein of and with the full comedic sensibilities of a Fey and Carlock sitcom. But so far, the only person who has actually proven that to be doable without slowing down the comedy or the rest of the show—or without making it seem like there are multiple shows in one—is actually Tracey Wigfield, both with Great News and the Saved By the Bell “reimagining.”
Because it is baked into this series, there’s nothing inherently wrong with leaning on the family stories between Bremer and Orly. In this case, the story is amazingly simple outside of the Bremer/Tommy Finsta parts—Orly wants to see a scary movie, Bremer doesn’t want her to see the scary movie, because it will scare her—but it still comes from a natural part of the show. It’s funny to hear Ted Danson say slang incorrectly and inappropriately, but it’s the kind of bit that would work better on The Good Place, because that wouldn’t be all the bit is. As it is here in “The Sac,” it feels more like a Modern Family plot that has the occasional Fey and Carlock weirdness—and that weirdness is not even driven by Danson, who is otherwise the driving force of the plot.
“The Sac” does succeed in separating Hunter and Danson so they can work with and elevate the rest of the cast, especially when it comes to Arpi and Jayden’s trip and all the twists and turns it takes (from strangers to “lovers” to friends). And while Tommy remains the character with the most question marks surrounding him, working with Danson here does give the character more to do. Mike Cabellon shines any time The Mayor has him devolve into “teenager mode,” which “The Sac” allows him to do as Tommy gets into the character of “Emma.” (It works better than his sarcastic mode, because it sheds the illusion that he is a better person than any of these characters.) But similar to “Brentwood Trash,” it almost feels like there is a beat missing in this particular story, which ultimately speaks to Mr. Mayor’s entire vibe right now: It never quite feels like a full or complete comedic experience, even though it is an enjoyable enough one.
That full comedic experience at least comes through in the Arpi/Jayden plot. Like the character of Jayden himself—absolutely brilliant in this episode, from “the long legs” to large pancake-eating—the trypophobia in this episode could be considered too much, especially in a story that already has a (long) leg to stand on with the Arpi/Jayden relationship. That something this out of left field solidifies their friendship is the kind of weirdness this show only sometimes leans into, but Hunter and Moynihan both fundamentally understand the specific show that they’re on and act accordingly. Which makes it even funnier when they’re dropped back into the other show with Bremer—but also highlights the contrast in the multiple shows within this one show.
Stray observations
- As I mentioned last week that I liked the first two episodes of Mr. Mayor much more than regular reviewer Saloni Gajjar did, I should also note that my grades for the episodes I’ve reviewed are relative to those initial grades. If this were my official beat, I’d have bumped all the grades up a bit. (And if I had my way, grades would be removed altogether. But that still has yet to happen in my time here at The A.V. Club.)
- Alexa: “I’m sorry. I don’t know any songs about Sacramento, California.” Someone’s never watched Even Stevens and it shows.
- Bremer: “Oil’s dumb. We’re California, we should be leading the way on this stuff. Solar power, wind. Fire power—is that a thing? ‘Cause, fires we got.”
- Bremer: “Man, I feel like an NCIS.” Reminder: Ted Danson did eventually star on CSI: Cyber, the CSI that warned us that things like Finstas could kill us.
- Jayden: “What do you value most in a friendship?”
Arpi: “Mutual respect. Sacrifice. Similar milk preferences.” Jayden does sacrifice for Arpi by the end of the episode. They also end up with “a shorthand” and “a deep understanding.” They do a very flavorless version of Will and Jazz’s handshake! - Arpi: “Hey! You wanna meet up in a little bit? Maybe get some dinner and take the Lady Bird walking tour?”
Jayden: “As long as it’s not as scary as the movie.” - Mikaela: “Where did you get this profile picture?”
Bremer: “We Googled ‘cute high school field hockey blonde’.”
Mikaela: “From government servers?!?” Mikaela doesn’t have much to do in this episode, but she’s got that great line (and a great line is said about her and her “violent cramps”) and is Orly’s go-to person for figuring out what’s wrong with her dad. The latter is pretty nice to see after last week’s episode. - Hot dogs are legs.
41 Comments
The scary thing with this show, as well as Parks and Rec, is that both shows aren’t all that far off on how municipal governments “function.” Everyone has their own agenda and is jockeying for the chance to get their own pet projects funded. Some treat their jobs like the important thing in the Universe, while others just look at their time in City Hall as a stepping stone to the next level.The big difference is that in real life not everybody’s laughing.
Parks and Rec (after the first season) was absolutely an optimistic spin on local government.
I don’t care what anyone says, this show is funny. The cast is great together—Danson is always a reliable a comedy staple, Moynihan is perrfect as the bumbling assistant who’s even more incompetent than the mayor, and Hunter is simply a national treasure who can do it all. The supporting cast is solid and well-cast too.The banter is well worth the price of admission.
Agreed. It’s a 30 min sitcom that has funny people doing funny things, I’m not sure what people are looking for. The fact that it doesn’t lean on the laugh track crutch (looking at you, Call me Kat) gives it some serious brownie points in my book.
Single cameras don’t use laugh tracks (anymore.)
I’m aware. The point is less about the filming technique (they could easily have chosen to do this multi-camera), but the fact that they chose to let the humor speak for itself, rather than telling people when they’re meant to laugh.
“but the fact that they chose to let the humor speak for itself, rather than telling people when they’re meant to laugh.”That’s every single camera show for the past 30 years.
A laugh track on a single camera is silly and was silly when they used to use it. A laugh track on a taped multicamera sitcom is absolutely necessary and all have used it.
Indeed! Laugh tracks are a definite turn-off for me. They’re a distraction when they use them in shows that don’t need them. The shows that really do need to cue the audience to laugh aren’t worth watching.
Agreed. Every so often — frequently enough! — there’s a good enough gag to keep me happy. They finally cleaned the bat guano off the Hollywood sign and returned it to its natural yellow. C’mon, that’s good! The flashback to the honeycomb picture: that’s pretty daring for a sitcom! It might sound like I’m damning it with faint praise but really I’m describing something worth a B at least.
Yeah, I thought the Hollywood sign joke was great. The writers are absolutely skewering L.A.’s collective self-importance on a weekly basis.
It’s snappy fun, just that simple.
I feel the same way, as does my wife. We watch it and laugh a great deal. I thought that was the point of comedy…..
I like this show, Mr Mayor. There I said it. Not sure what the writers on this site have against it. Its light satire and comedy, not a documentary.
This show’s going to have to do a lot in the way of improvements to get me interested. Ted Danson is great, and Holly Hunter is about the most enticement I can handle before I give in and try it out, but everything around them completely puts me off of the show (including Moynihan, he’s alright but then again, he’s from one of the worst eras of SNL, and I’m really soured on him).
“cool af – cool as Fonzie” was the first thing that really made me laugh at this episode.Even though Holly Hunter & Ted Danson have great bodies of work, Bobby Moynihan is the stand out for me thus far.
I’m still enjoying it! I don’t need it to be another The Good Place or 30 Rock, really, and I have plenty of sitcoms that make me think and cry as well as laugh. I’m very content just to watch Holly Hunter be weird AF (as Fonzie) for 22 minutes a week.
It’s a silly show about silly being doing silly things. It’s not particularly clever, but I think I need that right now. Of the main cast: I strongly dislike the spoiled daughter character, but she’s buoyed by Vella Lovell’s character being obsessed with her. I’ll stick with it for the season, probably.
Amazing that this show is getting so many words when they didn’t do The Expanse in regular coverage.
There’s seldom any logic to which shows do and don’t get full coverage.
I’d probably go with one that would likely get 100 comments over this one that has…16. And not all of those from people who have watched the show. Even my parents say this show is meh.
Like most pop culture websites, their remit is “Anything that appeals to the sorts of white twenty-year-old women who want to appear deep and well-read, but couldn’t be bothered”.
Sure, young white WOMEN are definitely who are being pandered to the most. Yeah, yes, that checks out, both here and literally everywhere else in media. *Looks at all the superhero bullshit we’re infected with atm. Notices the show you are bitching about is hard sci-fi, a genre traditionally guarded by young white men.*
Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup, your comment here definitely shows a deep understanding of demographics and is not at all an iceberg-like demonstration of a deeply held hatred of women.
Ah, of course, one of them turned up from Jezebel to put her “two sense” in. Don’t be pissed at because I’m right; be pissed at yourself because you just proved me right.Forgive me for working in marketing, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Appeal to women, and you also get men. Appeal to men, and you just get men. That’s marketing 101. Why do you think that, despite it being the 21st century, so many ads that should target everyone target only women? Family car ads, grocery ads, home appliance ads. Why do you think politicians on all sides still pander just to mothers? Don’t see you complaining about that.And for the record, I fucking hate hard sci-fi. But the reason I like The Expanse is the interpersonal drama, something close-minded bigots like your good self only associate with women and female-oriented pop culture. Chrisjen Avarasala and Anna Volovodov are my two favourite characters from that show. The first is a hardcore, balls woman who’s a master political leader; the second a lesbian Baptist minister who never fires a gun or even really gets angry, but instead tries to get everyone to find their common humanity, and thus common ground. Feel free to look all this up, by the way, you’ll see I’m not lying. You might even erode some of that prejudice you’re carrying around.You probably wouldn’t like it, but, since it never implies that these characters – or any of the female characters, for that matter – got to be that way simple because of their genitals. There’s no feminine mystique bullshit in the show. The tankie, muscular, female Maori space marine, Bobbie Draper, specifically mentions that in one episode. Don’t much go for that superhero bullshit, by the way – and didn’t you like Captain Marvel? Wonderwoman? But hey. Feel free to base your stereotyping on ignorance, traditionalist gender roles, and how tight your ugg boots are (you’re welcome for those, by the way).
We already have a recognitions. Why are other sites sending us more?
Lol. Great sense of self-awareness there.
kill yourself
What does that have to do with Mr. Mayor, which isn’t Tolstoy, or The Expanse, which has advancements in inclusivity but also isn’t Tolstoy, and is of a genre more squarely aimed at 20s men? At least The Expanse is based on books. What constitutes “not very but wanting to appear well read” these days anyway, for a twenty year-old woman, besides the standard “has read at least a few Bronte and Austen and maybe Mrs. Dalloway”? I doubt it is reading a review of Ready Player Two or a TV review of Bridgerton.
…what?
sorry, I read your sexist comment and thought it meant “and achieve the appearance of being well-read by” either watching the shows reviewed here or reading the write-ups. Now I see you meant more “lies about even having read Bronte and instead watches Mr. Mayor.”
You should be sorry. As long as you never acknowledge that what I’ve said is correct, you’re still part of the problem and perpetuating the same sort of gender stereotypes that are inherently toxic – those one-dimensional near-parodies that Two Sense up there is spruiking – and if you refuse to acknowledge those you’re worse than I am, because you think you’re helping.You’ve not chosen to refute any of my points in your rambling, disjointed rants, but instead reverted to stereotyping.
I’m sorry about your brain, you should trade it in for one that works 😉
I like this show a lot but would also like to see Expanse reviews, a show which the critics here actually seem to enjoy.
Agreed with most of what you write. I thought the first two were really funny and this was one was just ok! I will still watch it because of the Fey, Danson, and Hunter of it all but I hope it’ll get better.
I wish Mr. Mayor were genuinely funny, instead of amusing. They built this show using the same post-30 Rock checklist that produced Kimmy Schmidt, so it doesn’t feel fresh, so much as rearranged. Ted Danson’s daughter in this show was Jane Krakowski’s daughter in the last show, and they’re both really just little flags that say “Don’t forget, I wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls!”. Holly Hunter replaced Carol Kane as the legendary funny lady who shows up to “tell it like it is”… but eccentric! Which really makes her the third version of the character Carrie Fisher played on 30 Rock. Bobby Moynihan is the sweet, sheltered version of the delusional-but-it’s-ok-because-he’s-mostly-immune-to-reality character Titus Burgess played last time, and Tracey Morgan played the time before that. The two aides didn’t have Kimmy Schmidt equivalents, but the math still works out, because they were the entire writer’s room in 30 Rock. It’s like Fey and Carlock are incapable of getting even an inch outside their comfort zones, so they keep trying to disguise the same content with a fake mustache or a funny hat, and the illusion is less effective each time.
The show also has a very banal “old people making fun of and/or not understanding millennials/Gen Z” that Fey and Carlock have been spinning for a while now and which gets more tiresome and stale the older they get.
You can dislike the show, but this is such a stretch. Holly Hunter’s character is nothing like Carol Kane, and Bobby Moynihan’s is nothing like Titus Burgess. There’s comparisons to be made, but it seems like you’re just blindly trying to prove an idea that doesn’t make any sense.
This show still feels a bit off to me, but it’s got enough funny jokes to keep me watching. However, I’m not as sold on Holly Hunter’s Arpi as you guys are. This episode gave her much better material than the previous three, and yet, to me, her comedic timing seems out of step with rest of the cast.
I watched one and a half episodes of this show. I’m done!
This episode felt like it was shot considerably after the other three.
I would give a B- grade. However, I’m not really into the Orly parts. She seems superflous and the show should focus more on the workplace then this separate father/daughter dynamic. I wouldn’t say to get rid of her but maybe bring into City Hall as an intern and get rid of the high school/teenage drama stuff. This could be like a Jack/Maya Gallo dynamic from Just Shoot Me!