Screaming babies kicking the back of your seat; sitting on the cold, hard floor in the terminal while you wait for your delayed flight; running out of Woodford on the beverage cart. Even A-listers like Dylan McDermott are not exempt from the hellish absurdities of air travel. “It’s so tortuous every time you go to the airport that you have to laugh at it.”
Dylan told us that’s the inspiration for LA to Vegas (9 p.m. ET Tuesdays on FOX), a new comedy set on an über-discount airline flying the short but eventful route between two of the wild west’s wildest cities. Considering the trip is only slightly longer than the 30-minute show, we have to wonder how much comedic drama can unfold. The answer: a lot! This week, a passenger dies and the captain can’t land the plane! 30,000 feet isn’t really the best place to have a crisis of confidence.
In the show, Dylan plays Captain Dave, a self-important pilot with a penchant for excess and a proclivity for enjoying pre-flight beverages. Leading the cabin crew is Ronnie, played by Kim Matula (best known from her stint on “The Bold and the Beautiful”), who is the most put-together person on board. That bar is set incredibly low.
There are also some regulars who make the weekend trip, including Ed Weeks as Colin, a professor visiting his son who says he’s thrilled to have an aisle seat for this experience, telling us, “It’s just a phenomenally talented bunch of people.”
The show is certainly a flight of fancy, exaggerating every situation for comedic value. But between weather, mechanical problems, food court issues and questionable decisions made by airlines, none of these situations seem too far-fetched.
While it seems anyone who’s even driven past an airport has an airline nightmare story to share, Kim seems to be exempt. We tried sharing horror stories; she came up empty, but promises to try harder. “I gotta come up with a good horror story. I gotta make one up because I don’t have one.” You should try to travel with Kim. Anyone who flies as often as she does and still doesn’t have any travel nightmares is leading a charmed life. It would even be worth sitting in the middle seat for that kind of karma.
Dylan admits he’s had issues at 40,000 feet, but says it was a recent trip that validated his choice to take this role, “I flew to New York for Christmas and I was on JetBlue and the captain comes on and what’s he say? He says ‘Hello, this is Captain Dave.’ I kid you not. I was like oh my God. It was meant to be.”
It seems like that type of karma infects the entire production. The chemistry and timing is incredibly tight, especially for a cast that has just started working together. So pour a pre-flight beverage, put your seat back in the downright relaxed position, and fasten your seat belt – cuz it’s gonna be a hilariously bumpy ride.