DVD Box Set: Tom Goes to the Mayor

Release Date: 04/03/2007

Released by: Warner Bros. Home Video

Tom Goes to the Mayor is a show that has an amazingly simple feel to the concept. While, this show is something nearly anyone can grasp, it also offers something unique to the sometimes vast television wasteland. The show goes beyond the simple concept to show us how funny and simple life can be.

Tom Goes to the Mayor started as an Internet cartoon created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. As the cartoon grew in popularity, it received some sponsorship and ended up on Adult Swim. However, I have to admit I had not heard of it until the moment I received a copy to review.

Now I have to thank the folks at Warner Bros for sending it along, because this cartoon is just hilarious. When I popped it into the DVD player the first thing I thought was of the cartoon South Park. The drawings are incredibly amateur in comparison to your high-tech cartoon. So, right off the bat, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It did not take long at all for me to start laughing.

Tom Goes to the Mayor includes several appearances by random celebrity guests, which adds to the comic relief of the entire show. In the very first episode, Jack Black plays the owner of a small store that makes Bear Traps. He is commissioned, along with the other bear trap maker in town, to create a ton of bear traps to ensure the town has adequate child safety. Tom brought the need for safety to the Mayor and he responded with…bear traps. As you can see, the Mayor of Jefferton is sort of like George W. Bush, but since this is a comedy, it is ok to find his stupidity funny.

Despite the art being primitive, the dialogue is so off the wall that you cannot help but follow the story. Tom tries so hard to make the town a better place, but the Mayor only hears half the story and messes up the rest like a sheer political pro. Throughout the series you learn more about Tom’s ugly wife, his scary looking step children, and about the man himself. You will also see stuff get burned down, kids in bear traps, dogs get married, men going on a couple’s cruise without their wives, and much more.

This three disc set includes every episode of the show and a bunch of special features. There are some hilarious deleted scenes, a brief special feature on how they make the cartoon, commentary, music, outtakes, and even the Original Tom’s cartoons, which aired first on the Internet before the show was picked by Adult Swim.

Bottom Line: Tom Goes to the Mayor is an awesome show, but due to the primitive drawings and quirky comedy I don’t see it as being the next big thing. Think of it like the Rocky Horror Picture Show of Adult Swim. The cult following for this show could easily become huge, but do not expect mainstream plainness from Tom and the Mayor, because you just won’t find it.