A Canadian sitcom set in the fictional Wessex, Ontario, Dan for Mayor follows slacker bartender Dan Phillips (Fred Ewanuick of Corner Gas fame) who, on a whim, announces his intention to run for mayor when his ex-girlfriend announces her engagement. Aided by his best buddy turned campaign manager Jeff, the first season shows Dan on the campaign trail, and the second season shows him finding his footing at Wessex Town Hall. The show was created by Paul Mather, Kevin White, and Mark Farrell, who also wrote for Corner Gas.
The series lasted from March, 2010 to August, 2011, and aired a total of 26 episodes in two seasons on CTV. The series was officially cancelled in September 2011, along with sister series Hiccups, and So You Think You Can Dance Canada.
This show provides examples of:
- Backup Twin: After Bud is hit by a bus, his previously unmentioned twin appears in the following episode.
- Butt-Monkey: Dan provides entertainment for the town, (much like his character Hank in "Corner Gas")
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After season 1: Brianna, Anita's niece and Charley, Dan's co-bartender at Fern's.
- Clueless Deputy: The Deputy Mayor, Alan.
- Dork Horse Candidate: Entire premise is a variation of the idea.
- Easily Elected: Played with. Dan becomes a candidate for mayor in an attempt to prove to his ex-girlfriend that he can do something serious with his life. The current mayor is extremely popular so Dan ends up being the only other candidate. Then the mayor dies in an accident right after candidate registration has ended and Dan becomes mayor by default despite having no prior political experience and no inclination to do the job. However, Dan decides to do the honorable thing and gets the election board to reopen candidate registration. Dan then has to run a proper election campaign and is quickly outmatched by a much more competent rival. In the end Dan only stays in the race so he can brag that he was a 'runner up' for mayor. However, fate once again intervenes and the leading candidate pulls out of the race in the last moment. Dan once again wins the election despite not wanting the job anymore.
- Local Hangout: Fern's Grill
- Look Both Ways: In the pilot the current Mayor Bud, Dan's opponent, is his by a bus.
- And again when Dan lets a cat he borrowed jump out in front of a bus.
- Oddball Doppelgänger: in Claire 2.0, Melanie is this to Claire: she looks almost exactly like her, owns a successful PR company, and has a Ph.D.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Although being born in the 80s, Charley somehow has never heard of Pac Man or arcade games.
- Put on a Bus: Anita Vargas, the appliance repair store owner and mayoral candidate ends up winning as the MP of Wessex in parliament leaving Dan as the winner.
- Runaway Fiancé: Claire in episode seven
- Sleazy Politician: "Ethical Dilemma" introduces Sam Jefferson, a corrupt Ethics Commissioner.
- In "Revenge is Swifty", we learn that the late Mayor Calgrove expensed the city for items such as a flat-screen TV and Alan never reported it.
- Trespassing to Talk: A while after Claire breaks up with her fiance and he moves out, Claire comes home to find him in her kitchen and he givers her keys back.
- The Unseen: Jeff's Wife. This is played for laughs when Jeff is unsure of how long he's been married, and Dan states that they "see her all the time."
