HBO Announces Premiere Date for Show Me A Hero Starring Miami Native Oscar Isaac

HBO has announced 9 p.m. Sunday, August 16, as the premiere date for the television series Show Me a Hero, starring Miami native and Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor Oscar Isaac as Nick Wasicsko. Wasickso was mayor of Yonkers, New York, who saw his career torpedoed by a desegregation controversy that attracted national attention the late '80s.

The mini-series will spotlight Wasicsko’s efforts to comply with a federal court order to build affordable housing in predominantly white neighborhoods, at the displeasure and push-back from it's residents. Wasicsko was elected in 1987, but the controversy and debates over his attempted efforts in the area led to a failed bid attempt at re-election two years later.

According to HBO's description, the miniseries takes place "generations removed from the greatest civil rights struggles of the 1960s... The young mayor of a mid-sized American city, (who) 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."

Wasicsko would commit suicide in 1993 at the age of 34.

Isaac's previous work includes the films Ex Machina, and A Most Violent Year with Jessica Chastain. He is slated to appear in two films scheduled to be released later this year; Star Wars and Mojave, in which he stars alongside Mark Wahlberg and Garrett Hedlund. 

Show Me a Hero, based on a non-fiction book written by former New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin, will be produced by The Wire creator David Simon, and directed by Paul Haggis. Catherine Keener, Alfred Molina, Winona Ryder, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson, Bob Balaban, and Jim Belushi also star in the new mini-series. 

Following the premiere, the next five parts of the miniseries will air August 23, August 30, September 13, September 20, and September 27.