Tom Goes to the Mayor

Without a doubt this is absolutely the worst television I have ever watched. I am a fan in general of Adult Swim, and I'll generally watch programs that are sandwiched between shows I like. Tom Goes to the Mayor should be watchable simply on the grounds that it's in between Robot Chicken and Sealab, two excellent quality shows.

That said, I can't say there is any redeeming qualities to this show at all. "Animation" that is mono-color architectural line drawings on low quality backgrounds, coupled with live action cuts, does not make cutting edge avant-garde media. It makes the show rely on it's humor even further. South Park, as an example, can get away with this. TGTTM can't, for there is no humor to be found in it.

I have watched three episodes of the show, in the hopes that I might find something that might cause a smile, or at least understand why a show like this got green-lighted. The only possible reason I've found is, "Hey, it's got Bob Odenkirk as an EP, so there must be something funny here." There isn't.

I stand corrected, there are two redeeming qualities. First, it makes Super Milk Chan seem like it's on the level of Venture Bros. or Futurama. Second, it provides an extended safe zone to go to the bathroom and fix a snack.

I know not how the idiot mayor of Jefferton was elected, but he would do well to listen to Tom's advice. Tom is a character to sympathize with. His ideas are creative, if not inspired, but the mayor has a way of ruining everything. For some reason, though, Tom goes back to the mayor. And for some reason I keep watching. As for the animation, I love the realism of the paper cut outs of the people, and the expressions on their faces mismatch so extremely with those people usually make, that it hard not to laugh. Though this show is bizarre, it is not so in the uncanny way other adult swim shows tend to be. However, I do find this show shockingly refreshing. Yet, I cannot find what component of this show, that for intents and purposes is simply un-humorous, actually makes me tune in and laugh.

Tom Goes to the Mayor finds its humor in the things in everyday life that aren't amusing unless you look. In real life getting something bronzed is not funny. In TGTTM the creators put enough of a twist on it to make it absurd and hilarious. A user comment prior to this one said that this show is trying to have dry humor but it doesn't work. Although there is some dry humor (Tom referring to a hobo infestation as a "bum rush"), this show gets its laughs at being ironic; making fun of normal and mundane this. I beginning to believe that all people who are aqua team and robot chicken fans and not TGTTM fans have ADD. TGTTM has all the same humor that other adult swim shows have but with actual substance and new material in between. Like Aqua Team, TGTTM has people throwing up and senseless violence. Like Robot Chicken, it has poop jokes (but higher class poop jokes such as "Hi, I'm Tom Peters, but you can call me poop.") I love this show because it has every kind of humor rolled up into one, you just have to be smart enough to notice it.

Tom Goes To The Mayor is the worst Adult Swim, nay television as a whole, has to offer. Adult Swim should be ashamed to run this terrible excuse for entertainment alongside such greats as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Family Guy. I pity anyone whose first exposure to Adult Swim is this show, they would have very low expectations of the network. To get truly great in anything there is a lot of experimentation involved. Through this you get the best and worst any given medium has to offer. Tom Goes To The Mayor is easily the worst animation comedy has to offer.

For shame Adult Swim, for shame.

This program reeks. But, I suppose if you found the humor stylings of "Fernwood 2Night" hysterical, and then thought that a poorly animated version of it would be even better, then this show is for you.

Actually, "animation" is too strong a word here, since hardly anything in a shot ever moves: "South Park" looks like "Finding Nemo" in comparison.

Because of the nature of a bell curve, you can be sure that any offering, no matter how poorly-executed, will find an audience that finds it "groundbreaking." "Tom Goes To The Mayor" is no exception, but don't be fooled by that tenth of a percent of a standard deviation of the Adult Swim population that is enthusiastic about it.

It's just not funny at all, and we can only hope that Adult Swim finds something worthwhile with which to fill its spot.

Perhaps a spin off of "Super Milk-Chan"?