Set in the 1960s, the series is based on a true story and centers on the mayor of a mid-sized city who is ordered to build low-incoming housing in a mostly-white neighborhood, and of course the sparks fly. Here's the official synopsis:
From creator David Simon (HBO’s “Treme” and “The Wire”) and director Paul Haggis (“Crash”), and based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin, this six-part miniseries explores notions of home, race and community through the lives of elected officials, bureaucrats, activists and ordinary citizens in Yonkers, NY. In an America generations removed from the greatest civil rights struggles of the 1960s, the young mayor (Oscar Isaac) of a mid-sized American city is faced with a federal court order that says he must build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of his town. His attempt to do so tears the entire city apart, paralyzes the municipal government and, ultimately, destroys the mayor and his political future.
This looks in a way like a natural extension of Isaac's role in A Most Violent Year, and for his first foray into serious television there's no better way to start than working with Simon. Also featuring Catherine Keener, Alfred Molina, Jon Bernthal, Winona Ryder, and James Belushi, the six-episode Show Me a Hero begins August 16th.
