LA to Vegas Takes Flight Early on Hulu

LA to Vegas is a Fox single-camera workplace comedy about the Jackpot Airlines flight crew and passengers who regularly fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back again.  The show is created by HAPPY ENDINGS, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, I'M SORRY scribe Lon Zimmet, who conceived the series after ending his long time writing partnership.  Zimmet executive produces along with Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Steve Levitan, who also directed the first two episodes.

THIS RECAP CONTAINS SPOILERS.  SCROLL DOWN TO THE REVIEW. 

The pilot episode opens with Ronnie, played by Kim Matula, making her way to the airport. A sense of mystery about her purpose and great use of obstacles help us bond with her as she leaves a voicemail inquiring about another job while rushing through airport security, then changes into her flight attendant uniform as she dashes through the terminal, flashing other passengers in the process. Once on the plane, she greets the passengers warmly and banters with her fellow flight attendant Bernard, a sassy black guy played by Nathan Lee Graham who is basically doing Titus Burgess’s shtick but in a conservative flight attendant outfit which adds a layer of comedy to his irreverent snaps.  We’re on the Friday flight from LA to Vegas.  Heading this flight crew is Captain Dave, a classic asshole character who is not-so-secretly pathetic and cut from the same cloth as Bill McNeal from NEWSRADIO or Gob Bluth from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.  Fox expects Captain Dave to be a breakout sensation because of the charisma Dylan McDermott brings to the role.  The passengers Ronnie must attend to are the types one might expect on a flight from LA to Vegas: a degenerate gambler from the Eastern Bloc, a stripper with an entrepreneurial spirit, a young couple eloping and a mysterious Briton played by Ed Meeks. 

Amidst Captain Dave’s bad puns and passengers squabbling over lucky seats, Ronnie soon learns the position she was applying for has gone to another flight attendant and, ever the impulsive, frazzled network sitcom leading lady, she overreacts, quits her job mid-flight, grabs some airplane liquor bottles and plops herself down next to Colin, the mysterious Briton.  Ronnie and Colin slowly hit it off and we learn he’s an economics professor who is a regular passenger on the flight from LA to Vegas. After a few more drinks, the two try to join the mile high club in a cramped airplane bathroom and the scene plays out with some great physical comedy as the fantasy of airplane sex collides with the reality of trying to have sex on an airplane.  They agree to rain check their hookup as the plane descends to Vegas. 

Demonstrating surprisingly artful storytelling from a network sitcom, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and the story picks back up at the airport, waiting for the Sunday flight home, which is of course delayed.  (Fun Fact: Zimmet says it was during such a delay that he came up with the idea for LA to Vegas.) As the plane boards, the stripper and the gambler recount their weekends and count their cash and Ronnie, who got her job back, is surprised to see Colin accompanied by Meghan.  Meghan is played by YOU'RE THE WORST'S Kether Donahue, who should be on every sitcom they make from now on.  Much to Ronnie’s dismay, Meghan says she’s Colin’s wife.

The would-be groom from the flight out is revealed to be flying back to LA alone, his fiancée having chosen to stay in Vegas, seduced by the life of Sin City.  As Colin struggles to explain to Ronnie that he and Meghan are separated and he only sees her regularly to remain in his son’s life, the would-be groom threatens to ground the plane, which is not at all funny and I’m surprised made the air in a post-9/11 world.  Fortunately, Captain Dave gets to make good on his Hero Complex and disarms the would-be terrorist with some Muay Thai, which is funny but for me didn’t quite alleviate the tension of a possible plane crash.  In the denouement of the episode, Ronnie and Colin agree to stay in each other’s lives and there’s a hint of a romantic spark between them, but I doubt very much that a romance is why anyone would watch LA to Vegas. 

NO MORE SPOILERS. 

Zimmet’s script does a solid job of demonstrating the viability of the series premise and establishes the characters of this world in distinct terms while operating with a comedic tone which is broad, sharp and refreshingly apolitical. I could see bros quoting this at Happy Hour.  To be honest, Levitan’s association with this project surprised me at first as LA to Vegas lacks the high-brow pretentiousness of FRASIER or the sentimental schmaltz of MODERN FAMILY, but his directing is apt, showcasing the chemistry among the cast and establishing a bright look and quick pace for the series, both of which feel right tonally. At the end of the day, LA to Vegas is a broad network comedy meant to appeal to a broad American audience, most of whom will probably be white men under 45.  It is probably not a TV show which will be watched by the kind of people who read online reviews of TV shows.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not quality network television.  The premise has legs, the cast has chemistry and many of the jokes worked, you can’t ask for a network sitcom pilot to do much more than that. 

The biggest potential pitfall for the series is its setting.  Zimmet has said he aims for episodes to split time on the plane and off, but by act three of the pilot episode, the interior of the cabin felt cramped and static.  I felt like I was trapped on this flight with these people.  Levitan has pointed out that CHEERS and TAXI both took place exclusively in one location, but those shows are 30-40 years old and of a completely different era, they’re from a time in which people had three channels and a 25-inch TV was considered a big screen. To a certain extent, choosing to watch a TV show is choosing to spend time with characters in their world.  The characters of this show are plenty charismatic and fun to hang out with, but it remains to be seen how many viewers will willfully put themselves in a cramped airplane cabin each week.  While this show has a ton of potential to make audiences laugh, it also has the potential to make them feel like they’re stuck on a delayed flight back from Lost Wages.  I guess you could say it’s a bit of a gamble. 

The Pilot episode of LA to Vegas is available for streaming on Hulu all week.  It premieres on Fox, Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 9pm.