Tom Goes to the Mayor

Tom Peters is a nervy, well-meaning entrepreneur who keeps bringing half-baked plans to the mayor of a bland little town, and the show follows the predictable collisions that follow. Episodes are short sketches where Tom pitches schemes, the Mayor responds with self-interest or incompetence, and the surrounding townspeople register the consequences in deadpan asides. The visuals stick to a photocopied, cutout look that makes the pacing feel clipped and awkward on purpose, and the humor leans on repetitive bits, strange sound edits, and deliberately flat vocal deliveries. It’s not plot driven, it’s a string of escalating misunderstandings and bureaucratic silliness, with familiar faces returning in different roles.

The series premiered on Adult Swim, debuting November 14, 2004 and running until September 25, 2006, for thirty episodes. It was created by Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Doug Lussenhop, and features Heidecker and Wareheim voicing multiple main characters.

It didn’t rack up major industry awards, but the show helped its creators gain attention and led to more high-profile projects in the alternative comedy scene. That quieter recognition matters more than trophies for a series that was always aimed at a niche late night audience.

Tom Goes to the Mayor then became a touchstone for Adult Swim’s early awkward, surreal style, and built a small but loyal cult following. Its strange editing choices, deadpan delivery, and disposable gag structure showed other comedians that offbeat pacing and odd production values could be a selling point rather than a flaw.

Critical reaction was mixed, reflected in a modest fan score of about 6.8 out of 10 from a small pool of voters. Viewers who like deliberately uncomfortable satire will appreciate the show’s skewering of small-town politics and office-holder vanity, while those expecting conventional jokes or polished animation often found it too repetitive or abrasive.