"Tom Goes to the Mayor" again on Cartoon Network

NEW YORK — It's not exactly the highest-rated show on Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" block. It airs at such a wee hour, even its creators admit they don't stay up to watch it. And its visual style is so unusual that purists say it doesn't even qualify as animation.

But "Tom Goes to the Mayor" returns for a second season late Sunday night (actually 12:30 a.m. Monday) with yet another eclectic array of guest stars, including Sean Hayes, Bob Balaban, Janeane Garofalo and Sir Mix-a-Lot.

Viewers either love "Tom" or hate it, and animation fans, who can be rabid about what they watch, light up the "Adult Swim" message boards with topics like: "My Hatred for Tom" and "Don't Put 'Tom Goes to the Mayor' Back On!!"

Part of what makes the show so divisive, say co-creators and stars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, is the look of it: a mixture of photographed images and live action that's intentionally static and crude, like an airplane-evacuation manual or a PowerPoint presentation. It doesn't have the kind of "lip-flap" you'd see in more traditional cartoons. Then there is the absurd, deadpan humor.

Fans who e-mail them range from "young kids who are fascinated by it because it's so weird to college students who understand it, to older people who like comedy in their 30s," Wareheim said. The series takes place in fictional Jefferton, a wasteland of buffet restaurants and power lines. Each 15-minute episode finds new resident and hopeless screw-up Tom Peters visiting the mayor's office — located in a nondescript strip mall — with some ridiculous entrepreneurial idea. Invariably, things go horribly awry, whether Tom is promoting a calculator shaped like a unicorn (which always spits out the wrong number) or investing in a pyramid scheme involving porcelain birds.

"High expectations met with complete disasters" is how Heidecker, who provides the voice of Tom, describes it.

"I think at the core, these two guys want to help each other, they try to do things together, and at the end the mayor turns on Tom," said Wareheim, who plays the mayor. "But at the core I think there's a friendship between them."

The friendship between Heidecker and Wareheim, both 30, began at Temple University, where they lived four doors down from each other on the same freshman-dorm floor and quickly realized they shared a similar sense of humor.

They began making short films together, a DVD of which they sent to several of their comedy idols, including Bob Odenkirk of "Mr. Show with Bob and David" and "The Larry Sanders Show." One of those clips was an early version of "Tom Goes to the Mayor."

Odenkirk, who serves as executive producer and often appears in supporting roles, describes "Tom" as "the funniest thing I've done since 'Mr. Show,' " which he created with David Cross.

And Odenkirk's involvement has helped draw a variety of talent for guest spots. Last season included Cross, Sarah Silverman, Fred Willard and Jack Black.

The first episode of Season 2 features Sir Mix-a-Lot performing "My Big Cups," similar to his hit "Baby Got Back," to help Tom sell his new line of 1.8-liter cups.

"Honestly, the reason I decided to do it — it wasn't financial, that's for sure. Really, everyone I talked to was pretty cool," Mix said by phone from Seattle.

"Sometimes, when you get involved with certain cartoons, it can get kind of cheesy, but this was the coolest thing since sliced bread."