LA to Vegas (Tuesdays at 9:00 on Fox; Premieres January 2)
Executive producer and pilot director Steve Levitan (a multiple Emmy winner for Modern Family) recently gave an interview to Variety in which he suggested LA to Vegas, Fox's new single-cam comedy, was a kind of spiritual successor to Cheers and Taxi. Like these classics, LA to Vegas takes place mostly in a confined space with a relatively large ensemble rotating leading roles; unlike these classics, LA to Vegas does not have a memorable cast and is not funny.
Fox goes 0-for-2 in the sitcom department this season after the disappointing Ghosted (which only received an order for three additional episodes) premiered this fall. Here we have a more original half-hour than Ghosted, but creator Lon Zimmet (Superstore, Happy Endings) hasn't done enough with the concept to warrant the show's existence. The pilot introduces an array of characters, but few are interesting; the confined space of an airplane, where about 95% of the pilot takes place, also doesn't allow for many outrageous situations. The script is mostly reduced to jokes about shotgun weddings, gambling addictions, and strippers (hot take alert!), not adding anything to the pantheon of Las Vegas jokes. Quips about the airline include flight attendants who hate their job, a drunk pilot, and the lack of privacy when having sex in a tiny plane bathroom... so nothing too groundbreaking there either. It's the kind of humor you might expect if went to an improv show where someone yelled out "flight to Vegas" for a round of Location.
Furthering the problems with the show and making those comparisons to Taxi even more unbelievable is the lack of a strong cast. Dylan McDermott is totally game as the boozy, Tai Chi-practicing Captain Dave who can't keep it in his pants, but his material is weak, and he never comes across as the comedic lead his character is calling out to be. That honor falls to Kim Matula as Ronnie, a flight attendant with aspirations for more who just can't get out of the rut she's in. When an opportunity for promotion goes to a fellow crew member, Ronnie quits on the spot and gets drunk. The problem here is that Matula has zero sense of comic timing; this is her first comedic role after four years on The Bold and the Beautiful and one season as a contestant on UnReal, and her lack of experience shows. Her scenes with Nathan Lee Graham (The Comeback), another attendant on her route, are especially painful as he acts circles around her. He's the brightest spot in the cast, actually, though Ed Weeks (The Mindy Project) also comes across rather well as a route regular and Ronnie's potential love interest. Veteran actor Peter Stormare is wasted as an obnoxious gambler and frequent flyer, not to mention perhaps the most grating character on screen.
Most egregiously, these characters never feel like they have any connection. They all occupy the same space, but nothing makes them feel like friends. That was what made Taxi and Cheers so great; the characters had quirks and could stand on their own as unique characters, but they also played off each other and genuinely felt like friends (or frenemies). There's none of that sense in LA to Vegas, which isn't surprising considering the title route is about 90 minutes round-trip. How much can we expect these people to know or interact with each other when they spend so little time together in a week?
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