Boss Begins

and the whole South Loop's talking

10/22/2011 10:26 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

3 Comments - Add Your Comment


Everyone everywhere I went today was talking about Kelsey Grammer being a really good actor in the new "Boss" last night on Starz. Natch. When you're playing a mightily conflicted paradox of a Mayor of Chicago who is physically ailing, mentally bailing and morally flailing, it's a far cry from Frasier. Not to mention being directed by Gus Van Sant.


Some people were disturbed that the plot asserts odd things: for one, that you can get into a gubernatorial primary three weeks before the election. Which is impossible in Illinois. Some people were turned off by patronizing references about our Chicago. Like a mention about politicians having to go to Lou Mitchell's--which they referred to as a diner, which had my eyes rolling and my brain cringing. Geesh. Everyone knows it's Manny's.

But to be fair, I enjoyed learning a bit about Chicago history that I never knew before: like about the life of Jeremiah Porter, who Mayor Kane ironically invokes at a political rally for the incumbent Illinois governor--a guy named McCall Cullen--in Millennium Park. Porter was a corruption fighter who started Chicago's First Presbyterian Church at Clark and Lake in the 1830s. I also never knew that Bohemian Mayor Anton Cermak's claim to fame (aside from being assassinated) was that he was exquisite at bringing the ethnic groups together in Chicago because he realized they all wanted the same thing: good lives.

But us South Loopers were watching for other special things last night. Like what was that scene all about they were filming last July within the leg sculptures in the southern end of Grant Park? And we were also hoping for a glimpse of our neighbor on South Plymouth Court, Debbie Woo, who is actually in the show. She plays Kitty O'Neil's assistant (O'Neil works for Kane). But as an extra, Woo has no lines. But given Kitty's behavior in the first episode, being her assistant would make any assistant speechless anyway.

In any case, we didn't find out last night why Mayor Kane runs around in the Grant Park legs. But there are seven episodes to go. But we did get an email from Debbie just before curtain time that said: "Get your bowl of popcorn ready!....I'm a blur (sitting at my desk) over Zajac's left shoulder when he first visits the mayor at City Hall. LOL. Yes, my boss Kitty is very naughty!"


3 Comments - Add Your Comment



By no more corruption
Posted: 10/23/2011 2:27 AM

i watched the first episode and thought it started out pretty slow. but 20 minutes in, i was hooked. i think this pretty much sums up the legacy of ex-mayor daley, no matter how much he tries to clean up his image.


By Jason Layman
Posted: 10/22/2011 11:25 PM

This is awesome.


By Jason Epstein
Posted: 10/22/2011 11:07 PM

Sounds interesting Bonnie. Im gonna have to catch the next episode. Great review.