When a sitcom like “Welcome to the Captain” comes along boasting an all-star cast that includes Chris Klein, Jeffrey Tambor and Raquel Welch, one hopes it’ll be funny. Unfortunately, not even B-list actors can wrench laughs out of the lackluster “Captain.”
The show revolves around dull screenwriter Josh (played by Fran Kranz) after he moves into a famous Los Angeles apartment building, El Capitan, which is full of purportedly zany residents.
But therein lies the problem: The characters and plot devices used to support the show feel just as worn and fake as the fictional building in which they’re set.
Tambor, best known for his hilarious role as George Bluth Sr. on “Arrested Development,” is stiff and unfunny as Uncle Saul, the building’s resident “crazy uncle” figure, and Klein is predictably cast as Josh’s macho, womanizing – and stupid! – college buddy Marty. Then there’s the token Latino doorman named Jesus and the “seductive” older woman with a taste for younger men (played by Lauren). Oh, and don’t forget Astrid, the wannabe actress.
Where’s the quirkiness and originality? “The Captain” is a character-driven show, yet there is absolutely nothing original or even close to deep in El Capitan’s residents. Instead, they feel like hand-me-down stereotypes brought out of sitcom limbo just so CBS would have something scripted to run during the writers’ strike.
Even main character Josh is bland and uncharming. His profession as an unsuccessful screenwriter in L.A. is tired and overused, and there’s really nothing about his character that viewers can connect to. He’s uptight, boring and not funny. The only difference between Josh and the boring characters around him is that they’re trying very hard to be funny and he is not. Very little is even known about him, except that he moved to L.A. from New York and that he’s still getting over a previous relationship. It’s sad that Josh’s description reads like something straight out of a beginner’s screenwriting book.
The only character worth watching is aspiring acupuncturist Hope, played by “Reba” actress Joanna Garcia. She is bright, sweet, down-to-earth and hopeful (pun intended). Garcia is the only actor on the show who breathes life into her character in spite of the cardboard cutouts around her.
But as “Joey” proved, a show worth watching for only one character isn’t really worth it all.
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