Boss

It's always hard when you don't love the characters in a show. We felt for Michael Corleone, because the mantel he wore wasn't the one he wanted. Even bad guys can be sympathetic, unless your name is Tom Kane and you're the mayor of Chicago.

It's possible other viewers feel for Tom (Kelsey Grammar), a despicable human being, if you can call him human, a ruthless, dying man sometimes made even more despicable by his illness. Grammar proves he is not only a great actor, which has always been so, but that he has a magnificent range.

His costars are awful, too, so good in their roles that you hate them sometimes if not all the time -- the stunning Danish actress Connie Nielsen as his wife Meredith, the former mayor's daughter - clearly a dynastic marriage; his drug-addicted daughter Emma (Hannah Ware), estranged from her family; his associate, Kitty O'Neill (Kathleen Robertson), sleeping at various times with a couple of the enemies; and Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan) who does his master's bidding, most of it not too pleasant.

Kane has lewybody dementia, and as a result, hallucinates, hears voices, has seizures and bombastic fits of temper, sometimes in public. As he fights his disease and does inappropriate things, he makes deals, lies, plays people off one another, wires peoples' offices and bedrooms, and is generally corrupt - in other words, business as usual.

I have one objection to this show, and you'll think I'm a prude but here it is - it seems like nearly every encounter - and that includes in the hallways - ends with a sex act. I think it would have been more interesting if there were a few less encounters. One thing the show is great at is implying sexual heat during a scene so you just know there's chemistry - but I would like to think most adults are a little bit more discreet than some of these people, who seek out empty ladies' rooms, have sex in their offices, hallways, etc.

Nevertheless it is tragic that this mature show was canceled after two seasons and there was no movie on STARZ, as was planned, to wrap up the series. Boss deserved so much more. Is it a realistic look at politics? Lucrative contracts to your friends, lots of quid pro quo, constantly lying, having people killed - probably.

Im not one to mince words and try and sound intelligent in my reviews. Ill just say this show is amazing and well worth watching. The acting is superb and the plot is absorbing.

Kane is a beast of a character and totally dominates the show. I never watched Fraser but I now realise what a great actor Kelsey Grammar is. The supporting cast is excellent and always value add to the storyline.

Its very difficult to guess where the show is headed. I like how the storyline is not predictable.

I put this up there with my favourites, The West Wing and The Newsroom. I look forward to seeing how the plot develops and where the writers take this amazing show. Enjoy!

I'm currently on episode 5. I'm writing a review because there are currently so few reviews.

This show caught me by surprise. I've never been a particular fan of Kelsey Grammar. Though who doesn't love Gus Van Sant? Which is the name that drew me in.

The writing is excellent. All the technical components are great, the camera work, the locations, costumes, production design; it's all impeccable. The acting is mind blowing, which I credit a lot to the directors and producers who are doing all the right things, staying out of the way when they should and thinking out loud when they should, to get great performances on a TV screen.

It may be a cult, love it or hate it, show. It may win a truckload of Emmys. But, in the eyes of this often fickle and bored TV misanthrope, it is a fine piece of craftsmanship that I believe will hold up to the test of time.

And to the previous reviewer who is tired of Chicago being portrayed this way, I just have to explain. This is fiction. It is about as true as True Blood. It is, I believe, a dark piece of satire. A character-driven-wry-look at contemporary politics in America. Every time they say Chicago, imagine they are saying The Land of Oz or Bon Temps. I think you'll enjoy it more for what it is. And thank whatever cosmic splendor that this is not another show with zombies, vampires or housewives.

If you haven't read the book "Boss" by Mike Royko and you haven't already fallen in love with the new Starz series Boss, then you should do both.. NOW. I know it has only the first episode of the first season but its not a pilot, the entire first episode was directed by Gus Van Sant in Chicago and almost like one of the best 50 min. movies you ever saw. It is starZ answer to the great cable TV shows i.e. Dexter, OZ, The Sopranos, True Blood, The Shield etc.

The new series Boss is not based on Royko's book but almost the history of Chicago's gritty politics and policies. It encapsulates the anti- heroic and heroic decisions of our beloved mayor and Boss. Kelsey Grammar is Spectacular. His presence is so palpable it seems the entire cast, who are fantastic, have him on their mind when acting. Kelsey Grammar is the Bulldog mayor, he is the King of the City, he is the Boss.

Starz! is starting to give HBO a run for their money in original programming. Their Spartacus series is one of my all time "guilty pleasures".

But "Boss" ups the ante considerably with this deadly serious & very dark melodrama of politics in Chicago.

Forget "Frasier Crane", Kelsey Grammar has the role of a lifetime playing the titular character of Mayor Tom Kane & he knocks it completely out of the park with somber rhetoric, explosive rages & double dealings. When he is on the screen he dominates it.

Of course, given the talent of series creator Farhad Sarfinia maybe the only task of Grammar's was not to screw it up. Either way it works brilliantly.

The supporting cast is excellent. The plot lines are labyrinthine without ever becoming lost.

If you like compelling drama about dirty politics & politicians you will thoroughly enjoy these 1st 8 episodes --the 1st season.