LAX

I am more than disappointed with this new NBC "drama". Love Heather Locklear, but this was one of the worst television shows I've ever seen. The only thing worthwhile was the music. The show was all over the place and in the end, had no point, not even entertainment. Terrible, just terrible. I realize this was the pilot episode, but I can't imagine saving this train wreck. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather the schedule be filled with reality TV than with LAX. I'm a pretty easy audience, but I was embarrassed to watch this inept show. From the opening slow pan of Heather's bare feet on the tarmac to the dog being chased to the tired banter between Heather and Blair... it was tedious and painful. Hopefully we won't have to suffer a full season, hopefully they pull the plug soon.

Airport dramas always involve elements of joy, tragedy, and pathos by portraying families reunited, lost luggage and drunken businessmen. LAX enters the foray in entering the 21st century with two strikes against it. Fear and loathing in a giant facility run by pseudo-government types. Look, as much as I want to like this series, it's not really cutting it in story nor pace. It tries to be the dramatization of the more watchable AIRPORT on the Wings Channel or the update of Arthur Hailey's story. Maybe they should do what Jack Webb did when he made DRAGNET and solicit ideas from the public or how about include medics/EMTs and an airport chaplain as additional character development. You might as give the show last rites the way it's going.

As a pilot, I find this show to be not only ridiculous, but also insulting. I was quite skeptical when I saw the promos for this show, expecting it to be grossly inaccurate and/or downright silly. My skepticism was well founded. Absolutely nothing about this show has the slightest shred of realism.

I wasn't expecting a documentary but come on, they could have at least indulged us pilots a little. At least refer to the runways correctly. They mentioned 10, 19, and 22 (none of which exist at the real LAX by the way), and they are calling them "Runway Ten," "Runway Nineteen," and "Runway Twenty-Two." Any airport personnel and any pilot would say, "Runway One-Zero," "Runway One-Nine (or one-niner if you want to be really picky), and "Runway Two-Two."

All we see in LAX is Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood bickering like schoolchildren at the elementary school playground. "I run the airport!" "No, I run the airport!" "No, I run the airport!" "I'm more important than you!" "No, I'm more important!" Absurd.

But I guess that this show has as much to do with airports and airplanes as shows like "Silk Stalkings" and "CSI" have to do with crime and detectives. All the audience wants to see is the beautiful people running around in their ultra-stylish clothing, trying to act all witty and important. This show is simply the latest installment of mindless prime-time idiotic crap.

"LAX" is a drama series, and I use the term lightly, wrapped up as a 45-minute hip-hop music video. Not as thoroughly absurd as HAWAII but that's not saying much. The premiere episode ran the gamut of A to B on the believability scale – giving us heaping doses of every possible airport movie cliché we've been privy to since the days of black and white television. Over the top theatrics, sophomoric writing, choppy editing and unnecessary time-lapse photography all add up to an hour of mind-numbingly, boring television. If this is the best the boneheads at NBC/Universal can offer up as first-rate entertainment then were all in for a very long and miserable television season.

I spent about seven years of my life as a pilot, airport bum, and air traffic controller. Airports can be very interesting, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the pilots, mechanics, controllers, coyote hunters, plumbers, dish washers, wing walkers, and bums at airports are any more interesting than the people who work and hang out at libraries. The secret to a good story is in the telling. LAX just didn't tell us any good stories, and, as I recall, SFO, the 1970 version of LAX staring Lloyd Bridges, wasn't any good at story-telling either. If you're looking for an interesting career, I can definitely recommend aviation. If you're looking for interesting stories, TV's track record suggests that you steer clear of shows that are set at airports.

Bummer!