Boss

Kelsey Grammer plays a very different powerful man in Boss. Chicago mayor Tom Kane has built his authority around control, then receives a diagnosis that threatens his ability to maintain it. Keeping that knowledge from the people around him becomes another part of running the city.

The performance is the attraction. Grammer can make Kane imposing without making him admirable, and the quieter signs of uncertainty disturb the image he works so hard to project. His staff and family have their own interests, so an apparently loyal response is not necessarily a reassuring one.

This is a dark political melodrama rather than a realistic guide to municipal government. Its appetite for intimidation and intrigue can be heavy, but the central contradiction is strong: a man accustomed to directing everybody else cannot command his own condition.

Do not come from Frasier expecting familiar comfort. The West Wing also gives politics a dramatic workplace, but Boss is far more interested in possession of power than the possibility of public service.