"Tom Goes to the Mayor"

Tom Peters is a would-be entrepreneur and civic do-gooder in the eccentric small town of Jefferton. He brings his crackpot ideas to The Mayor, who invariably endorses them. From there, Tom Goes to The Mayor explores the comedic possibilities of government machinations, provincial thinking and tragically misguided civic pride.

City Council, voiced by Craig Anton.
Rene/Joy, voiced by Stephanie Courtney.
Tom Peters, voiced by Tim Heidecker.
City Council, voiced by Ron Lynch.
Mike Fox, voiced by Bob Odenkirk.
The Mayor, voiced by Eric Wareheim.

Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim and Bob Odenkirk. Odenkirk is best known for his work on "Mr. Show with Bob & David" and "The Larry Sanders Show."

"Tom Goes to The Mayor" has a unique animation style. Tim and Eric take still photographs of real actors, processing them with a computer filter. The various still poses are strung together to tell the story, in a fashion not unlike a school filmstrip. No "lip flap" and very little actual movement of arms, legs and objects are used. As a result, the series sets a new definition for the phrase "limited animation," and establishes a compelling visual style.

Tom Peters is full of ideas. The Mayor is eager to embrace almost any proposal, as long as it is accompanied by a snazzy Powerpoint presentation or a cool musical number.

The series is written and produced by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, who also provide voices for the two main characters. Bob Odenkirk ("Mr. Show with Bob & David," "The Larry Sanders Show") is executive producer. Odenkirk, David Cross, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Patton Oswalt, Jeff Goldblum and Jeff Garlin will provide guest voices for the town’s assortment of oddballs and bureaucrats.

Tim and Eric met in 1994 as college freshmen at Temple University, helping each other out on film and video coursework. After graduation, they continued to work together, working in both New York and Philadelphia on strange short films. One of their first projects. "Tom Goes to The Mayor," a short, dry conversation about a proposed buffet restaurant, was included in Penn University’s Institute of Contemporary Art and selected by the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema as a short film.

In 2001, Tim and Eric compiled "Tom" and several others shorts onto a tape that they sent to all their comedy heroes, including Bob Odenkirk. He liked it. Together, these three developed "Tom Goes to The Mayor" as a TV series, which they pitched to Adult Swim, while Tim and Eric continued to make short films and perform in comedy showcases.

In early 2004, Adult Swim gave the greenlight to the series.