From the description, my prediction was:

ABC: The Mayor – rapper pulls prank to get noticed, gets elected…normally I would say cancel, but also in-house for ABC with other producers they’re already in bed with, so likely RENEWED;

Then I watched the pilot. It is a completely confused mess. I love the general premise — someone who doesn’t know anything about governing suddenly gets a chance to govern. It can work as a premise, just like it did back in ’93 when it was a movie starring Kevin Kline as Dave, a presidential impersonator who ends up being president for awhile.

But for the premise to work, there’s something you need that’s solid from the start…the main character has to be someone who wants to help people, someone who wants to do something different. In this incarnation, Courtney Rose only runs for mayor to get his name out in the public to promote his rap career. And when he wins, he just wants to dump it and run. So his mama gives him a 2 minute speech and he’s all on-board. WTF?

The character is all over the map. One part rapper, one part Axel Foley, one part community agitator, one part worthless con artist using the election for publicity. The interactions with his mom are cute, but not enough to save the show, and they are too like mother-son bonding on speed. Every cliché in the book comes out of their mouths, and they think it’s some way of showing profound change. Yet I have no idea what the show is supposed to be — comedy-drama or farce?

His two side-kick buddies are disposable, and the one “solid character”, Valentina, is appropriately intense with a touch of light, which makes sense since she is portrayed by Lea Michele. But then in the final scene of the pilot, it’s like she’s a bubblehead.

A totally confused mess from start to finish. Not surprisingly, the ratings have suffered and it’s all but cancelled at this point. Looks like I’m going to miss my prediction on this one.