Welcome to The Captain & Jeffrey Tambor’s New Failed Pilot
By Beth in Entertainment, comedy, Hollywood, CBS, TV, pop culture, media, Arrested Development, Jeffrey Tambor, American Pie on February 4 2008
I love Jeffrey Tambor. Don’t get me wrong. He was brilliant in Arrested Development and I’m sure will be outstanding in the movie version of the show when it premieres. However, when it comes to comedy pilots as of late, his choices need some serious revisiting. First there was the failed pilot, Twenty Good Years, which despite the power duo which coupled him with John Lithgow, bombed, and with great reason, after a handful of episodes.
Today CBS launched a new pilot starring Tambor in an ensemble cast which stars a no-name lead, Fran Kranz (see right), whose most notable contribution to comedy comes via The OC, where I’m quite certain his walk-on role fell under the “drama” category, but still not clear. Other cast members include Chris Klein of American Pie fame whose acting range extends to looking classically clueless while playing a caricature of himself to being Katie Holmes’ ex in real life (hmmm…connection?). Rounding out the cast is Reba star Joanna Garcia, who could very well be Cheryl Hines’ little sister/daughter and has the “damsel in distress” act down pat.
In typical sitcom fashion, the pilot revolves around Kranz’ character falling in love/lust with Garcia’s girl-next-door and from here emerges a plot hook which CBS hopes will keep audiences in captivity, until at least the end of the writers’ strike. Given the rumoured imminent end to the strike, it’s possible CBS may scrap Tambor’s latest effort in favor of a new episode of CSI. Maybe ABC or better yet, HBO, will have better luck channeling Tambor’s talent?
