I'm trying to start a new writing project.

So when it comes to this year (2021) and my writing projects, it can be fairly safely said that I wasn't thinking about starting a bigger writing project this year. I had no plans to start anything particularly big that would require a lot of effort from me as writer.

After all, even though I did have some dreams about writing another book, especially considering that I started a new job in January, I felt that this job would consume most of my energy. I thought that I just wouldn't have that much energy to write stuff once I got back home.

At the same time, just because I knew that it would take a lot of effort to start working on a bigger task, that didn't mean that I was thinking about giving up on these projects. I felt that at some point I would just have to give a new project a chance and see how things would go.

So having now been at my new job for three months and having gotten used to how things work there, things have changed at least a bit. I have started thinking that perhaps a new writing project might actually be a task that would be good for me.

By that I mean that even though my work can sometimes be a bit exhausting and stressing (can be rewarding too), I feel that I could do more than that. I have free time after work that could be spent better than what I'm currently doing with it.

Another important reason that I'm thinking about a new project is that earlier this week I was informed that I would start getting paid for my volunteer work as a creative writer instructor. A new book project could also help me with running the workshop too.

After all, if I would start working a book, I could use the book project to illustrate how the writing process works. I could show this way important things like how to create characters, how to structure the story and how to give it the direction that it needs. 

Furthermore, using the book project as an illustrative tool in the workshop would also mean that I would have to keep going with the task. That would - in a good way - put pressure to me to finish the project and not give up on it before it's completed.

Still, when it comes to this whole thing, that leaves me with the question of what my next book would be about. I need to be able to come up with a solid premise (in a genre) that would be close enough to my heart and that would actually interest and motivate me.

After all, even though I have a lot of experience in writing stuffs (articles, a short movie, tv specs, movie script, a children's book) that doesn't mean that I can just 'wing it'. I still need a fairly good idea and a premise that I can build my story on.

Still, in the end, when it all is said and done, considering that it now looks that I might possibly start working on a new writing project, that is certainly a good thing. I should feel happy that I can finally perhaps start working on something new.

After all, even though you never know how things go, as long as I don't demand too much from myself, this might actually lead to something good. This might lead to something good and solid, as long as I manage to keep things in perspective and won't be too hard on myself.

'Mr. Mayor' is an unfunny sitcom about politics.

So when it comes to comedy shows about politics in the United States, it's not exactly a secret that things haven't been great. There haven't been that many - if any - 'political' comedy shows lately that have been relevant or funny in any meaningful way.

Indeed, with the exception of shows like 'Boston Legal' that ended more than 10 years ago or 'South Park', that is still going, otherwise there's really nothing to watch. The quality on those other shows has been genuinely that terrible ('Veep' was a great example of this).

Nevertheless, the latest attempt at making politics / policies funny comes in the form of NBC's sitcom called 'Mr. Mayor'. This is a comedy series created by Tina Fey & Robert Carlock that desperately tries to breath some new air to the political genre.

Having now seen the first two episodes of the show, I can safely say that 'Mr. Mayor', as unfortunate as it is, is not a show that makes you laugh. There isn't anything even remotely funny or relevant in this poorly constructed single camera comedy.

Premise-wise, what we're dealing with is basically a setup that tries to emulate Michael J. Fox's 'Spin City', a sitcom on ABC that ran in the late nineties / early 2000s. That one was a comedy about politics that managed to be pretty funny, despite its very lighthearted nature.

Series-wise, the reason that 'Spin City' managed to work rather well was that it had characters and storylines that managed to be relatively down to earth. Especially its main character (Fox as a Deputy mayor) was a 'straight man' that you were able to relate to.

Unfortunately, when it comes to 'Mr. Mayor', there aren't really any characters that you could take seriously. This is especially true about our main protagonist the Mayor (Ted Danson), who is supposed to be someone who is relatable and believable as a character.

Indeed, in the first two episodes that I saw, our main character simply does too many stupid things. He - among other things - gets high (ha-ha funny), in the pilot doesn't know his way around his office (!) and is just entirely too clueless about everything. 

Story-wise, the really big problem with having characters that aren't believable in a show about politics is that it drastically limits what you're able to do. If your characters are complete air-heads that have no real problems, what is there to explore on the show?

Not that surprisingly, the first two episodes that I forced myself to watch had 'storylines' that consisted of juvenile penis memes, pee pee jokes and other incredibly pointless and superficial stuff. That most certainly didn't impress me in any way and was just embarrassing.

In that sense, when it comes to this series as a whole, I think it's safe to say that 'Mr. Mayor' isn't a series that is going to save the (political) sitcom genre. We're not dealing with a comedy series that has potential to be even remotely relevant.

After all, when you think of all the elements that you need to make click in a sitcom, pretty much nothing here worked on any level. The premise wasn't well thought out, the characters made very little sense and the storylines were genuinely lacking and awful.

In that sense, in the end, when it all is said and done, I just hope that sooner or later we're going to get some new shows that are going to make at least some sense. I hope that we're going to get new stuff that works and that might have some actual value in it.

After all, when you think that pretty much the only relevant comedy for the last ten or so years has been 'South Park', that's not a good thing. That's not good at all and shows that we desperately need some fresh new blood to be able to take chances in this genre.