Chicago's new 'Boss' is Kelsey Grammer

His doctor tells him the worst -- that he has maybe five years to live with his condition, a degenerative brain disease. In the meantime, his mental edifice will collapse one brick at a time until nothing is left standing. Fine time for bad news: Kane's administration is in the midst of a trash-hauling ordinance brawl with the city council that's linked to a vast airport expansion initiative he is spearheading.

Kane also is preparing to topple incumbent Gov. McCall Cullen (Francis Guinan) with his own candidate, state Treasurer Alex Zajac (Jeff Hephner). Then, there is the power behind the power, Meredith Kane (Connie Nielsen), whose arctic temperament is in stark contrast to her husband's (and yes, they are estranged).

As an oligarch, Grammer's Kane is an unnerving mix of high-blown rhetoric -- much is blarney -- and full-fisted street thuggery.

In tight close-ups, those famous baby blues have a rheumy, world-weary look to them, while his jowls sag under the weight of his mendacity. Kane bellows like King Lear or whispers like the devil himself.