One bumpy flight

‘LA to Vegas’ stuck on the tarmac

I N the new Fox series “LA to Vegas,” Jackpot Airlines only flies on weekends, servicing LA gambling addicts who hit the slot machines and roulette tables in Las Vegas casinos. The pilot, a suave has-been who calls himself Captain Dave (Dylan McDermott), has the cheesy sheen of a soap opera star whose residual checks have stopped coming. The “crew” consists of two jaded flight attendants (Kim Matula and Nathan Lee Graham) who are either trying to get a job on a real airline that flies east of the Rockies or get through the drudgery by remembering the good old days on other airlines. Graham’s Bernard says fondly of Elizabeth Taylor, “She threw an earring at a baby!” That’s Th one of the better lines in this midseason comedy premiering Tuesday Tuesda on Fox. Executive-produced by Will Ferrell, Lon Zimmet, who gave us the hit NBC comedy Supe Superstore” and comedy legend Steve Levitan (“Modern Family”), I expected to start laughing right away — and, when I did not, I felt trapped on the sitcom tarmac. furious passengers broke, The as jokes between did but should the no cast the one come crew in really the fast and iconic goes and the for big-screen spoof “Airplane.” The frequent fliers include Peter Stormare (“American Gods”), who has the hangdog look of the kind of guy who stays up all weekend at the craps table. He will only sit in his lucky seat and takes bets on the behavior of his fellow passengers. Olivia Macklin (“The Young Pope”) has a few bright moments as a stripper who dances at a club called Grapefruits, but Ed Meeks (“The Mindy Project”) seems completely booked on the wrong flight. The writers attempt to establish a romcom vibe between him and Matula, but she appears to be cringing in his presence. Maybe she, like many of us, are tired of that three-day-old scruff that Weeks, like every other guy on TV, sports these days. With obvious scenes like the airplane bathroom hookup, you can see “LA to Vegas” isn’t trying that hard to be clever or fresh. As in-flight entertainment goes, this series is grounded.