New Sitcom: Welcome to the Captain
February 3, 2008 by Chandra
Let me start by confessing I will be absolutely shocked — I mean completely and utterly floored — if I end up liking CBS’ latest sitcom Welcome to the Captain.
Why? Well, because reading the description alone nearly puts me to sleep, so I can’t imagine that a plot stretched out over twenty minutes or more could be any better. I will watch, however, and give the show a chance; I’m simply going in with a preconceived and admitted bias.
The newest comedy offering from The Eye Network has only six episodes ready to go for its rookie season, which kinda, sorta indicates that even the network probably doesn’t have much confidence in it. Add the fact that the dearth of installments is not related to the writers strike, and the assumption is kinda, sorta reinforced.
Welcome to the Captain focuses on flailing filmmaker Josh Flug (Fran Kranz, The Village), who’s about to return to New York after experiencing no professional success in Hollywood. His best friend Marty Tanner (Election’s Chris Klein) intercedes, however, and convinces him to stay put a bit longer while taking up residence in a well-known apartment building called The Captain, hence the title.
In his new digs, Josh encounters a slew of alternatively odd, nosy, and intriguing neighbors. The doorman Jesus (standup comic Al Madrigal) can out chitchat the ladies, while weird Uncle Saul Fish (Jeffrey Tambor of Arrested Development) and oversexed Charlene Van Ark (Raquel Welch of American Family) represent for the senior crowd.
And, of course, how comedic would the show be without at least one nubile, young, pretty woman to be the butt of dumb and/or sex-related jokes? In this case, the requisite hormonal interest is multiplied by two to yield out-there aspiring actress Astrid (Valerie Azlynn, Smith) and acupuncturist cutie Hope (Reba’s JoAnna Garcia).
I’ve not much else to say about this series since it really does sound like something I’ll have to see with my own eyes before I’ll be convinced it’s worth the time. Even so, I’ve put together an Episode Guide for Welcome to the Captain and added all upcoming episodes to the Comedy Calendar.
Who knows? The show might turn out to be a sleeper hit stealing in under the radar. People who bother to watch will know if that’s true or not come tomorrow night.
