TV REVIEW : YOUNG BLACK ‘MAYOR’ IN ‘BENSON’ SLOT

The black lieutenant governor is being replaced by a black mayor. “Benson” is moving to Saturdays and “He’s the Mayor,” a new comedy series from ABC, is taking over its Friday slot at 9:30 tonight (Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42).

Kevin Hooks stars as Carl Burke, the 25-year-old son of a city maintenance man who unexpectedly has been elected mayor and now must figure out how to get the job done. The premiere episode opens with him having been in office just two weeks; he’s still having to ask his secretary how to deal with visitors, and the police chief is querying him on what the city’s policy is going to be on the choke hold.

“It hurts! I’m 100% against it,” Burke responds. “Good,” says the chief. “My men will be happy to hear that. Especially the four officers who were victims of it last week.”

That exchange encapsulates this first show: The premise of a young black man in a position of power is fresh; the writing isn’t.

Hooks is an appealing, capable performer, and he concocts a nice blend of cockiness, intelligence and sincerity for his characterization of Burke. It’s a strong black image that might be developed in interesting ways, particularly when positioned between the conflicting supporting characters, who include the mayor’s hard-working father, his shiftless cousin, the gloomy police chief and a smug city councilman.

The series first has to be funny, though, and tonight’s show, written by Bob Peete and directed by Oz Scott, isn’t humorous enough. Its best moment is the novel method the mayor devises for putting a quick end to a news conference.

“Now if there are any other questions,” he says, “we’ll start with the dumb ones and work our way up.”