This is one in a series of Media Life previews of those programs.
 
Name of show 
“Welcome to The Captain”
 
Timeslot 
CBS, Monday 8:30 p.m.
 
Plot synopsis 
Josh Flug (Fran Kranz) is a down-on-his-luck filmmaker who wants to leave Hollywood and return to New York. But before he gets a chance to leave, his friend Marty (Chris Klein), a celebrity accountant, convinces him to stay in town and move into El Capitan, a storied apartment building that everybody simply calls “The Captain.”
 
Soon Josh gets to know the faces that make up the life of The Captain: Uncle Saul (Jeffrey Tambor), a former writer for “Three’s Company” who thinks he’s an expert on everything; Charlene (Raquel Welch), an aging but glamorous woman who tries to seduce Josh; Astid (Valerie Azlynn), a young and ditzy actress; and Jesus (Al Madrigal), a doorman who sees all, hears all, and usually tells all.
 
But to Josh the most interesting inhabitant of The Captain, and the one who keeps him in LA, is Hope (Joanna Garcia), a wannabe acupuncturist who eventually practices her craft on Josh.
 
Outlook 
CBS’s newest comedy doesn’t have the advantage of an original lead-in--following as it does repeats of “How I Met Your Mother"--and that could hurt the show. It is, however, the only comedy airing on the Big Four in its timeslot, so viewers will likely give “Captain” a look-see.
 
The question is how well it will fare against the competition.

NBC has “American Gladiators,” which has been fading but could perk up as the competition heads into the finale knockout rounds. Fox has “Prison Break,” whose ratings have also tumbled over the last year but could have gained a few extra viewers from the endless promotions during last night’s Super Bowl.
 
And ABC has “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,” the low-rated “Dancing with the Stars” spinoff. While “Captain” has not received a ton of prelaunch promotion, its competition is different enough and cast competent enough to attract viewers looking specifically for comedy.
 
The buzz 
“Welcome to the Captain” certainly has a shortlist of known talent, but some media buyers have yet to see the pilot or even hear much about the show. That's never a good thing.
 
“What that usually indicates, if they don’t include it in the pilot reel, is it’s iffy and they’re not proud of it,” says Karen McCallum, media director at Esparza Advertising in Albuquerque, N.M.
 
But at the same time she nods to the overall strength of CBS’s Monday comedy lineup.
 
“Monday night on CBS is cushy. Whatever they’ve put in there has been successful. Witness ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine,’” she says.
 
“Old Christine” returns to the air tonight as well, although CBS has chosen to air it at 9:30 p.m. after reruns of “Two and a Half Men,” rather than pair it with “Captain” for an hour of completely original fare.
 
Some media people believe CBS erred in not putting the two in the same hour. “I think they should have packaged the two of them together,” says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “CBS doesn’t exactly have a promotional vehicle right now.”
 
What critics are saying
“All of which is an attempt to explain why, though one may want to like ‘Welcome to the Captain,’ it isn’t easy to actually do this. It's not a terrible show by any means. It earns a few laughs, has some clever moments and in the midst of this darn strike, is new anyway. But after watching two episodes, I was left with the thought with which I began: An iconic apartment building full of wacky characters would make a great TV show. Would, though. Not does.” – Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times
 
“Still, there are no screaming contestants humiliating themselves or yuppies playing native on a tropical isle or manic loonies trying to remember song lyrics. ‘Welcome to the Captain’ has, instead, decided pluses. Indeed, it's worth tuning in just to hear La Grande Welch declare, "’read about it on the World Wide Web’ with a breeze in every lyrical syllable.” – Tom Shales, Washington Post
 
“CBS’ latest comedy is a house built of playing cards on a sand dune. It’s shoddy, with a premise so slight it will blow away in a good breeze - or when the tide comes in.” – Mark A. Perigard, Boston Herald