A comedy set in a hotel has been done countless times before. The best was the British series "Fawlty Towers" starring John Cleese.

"Welcome to the Captain" is no "Fawlty Towers." Oh, the new show is faulty. But the only things these two comedies have in common is that they are set in hotels.

The new CBS comedy, set to launch tonight, follows East Coast writer Josh Flug (Fran Kranz), whose creative juices are as dry as his skin. His best friend Marty (Chris Klein) talks him into moving into Hollywood's El Capitan apartment building rather than heading back to New York.

Why the title of the show is different than the name of the building is just another fault in this tower.

Josh finds floor after floor of tenants whose careers have come to a crashing halt. That's not to say the careers of the characters are dead. It is the actors playing the characters who have hit career finales.

Jeffrey Tambor, the human answer to having sand in your swim trunks, plays a former "Three's Company" writer. The big joke with him is he can't play golf. That's a gag that even the Ropers wouldn't have tried.

Raquel Welch plays Charlene Van Ark, a femme fatale who survives on her looks. It was one thing for Welch to do this kind of thing 30 years ago. Now it comes across as sad.

Toss in a goofy doorman (Al Madrigal), a goofy actress (Valerie Azlynn) and a goofy story, and this series has all of the appeal of a night in the Bates Motel.

The only bright spot is Hope (Joanna Garcia), an acupuncturist who becomes the object of Josh's attention. They work well together, but they fit in with the rest of the cast like a fine wine served with fast food.

The one good thing about "Welcome to the Captain" is that it's new. But no television viewer should be so desperate for original material that this becomes a viable option.

Make a reservation to see something else.