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Tampa Native Welcomes Viewers To Watch 'Captain,' But They're Not Showing Up

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

Updated: 02/24/2008 10:33 pm

Tonight marks the fourth outing for "Welcome to the Captain," and its chances for survival are slim.

The ratings have dropped every week, and that's not good news for Tampa native JoAnna Garcia, who co-stars on the CBS comedy.

"I was so excited to get this part because this is something completely different from what I did on 'Reba,'" she said in a recent telephone interview.

Garcia, 28, spent six years playing Cheyenne, the sexy, ditzy daughter of a strong-willed divorced Texas mama, played by country music star Reba McEntire.

Her Cheyenne character matured from an empty-headed high school cheerleader to a responsible young wife and mother.

"Reba," which ran for 124 episodes from 2001 to 2007, was a hit for the now-defunct WB network.

She says she was so strongly identified with Cheyenne that she was not sure how she would be accepted by Hollywood's creative community.

"Also, I wasn't sure what it would be like working on another comedy because I had such great experience on 'Reba,' where we all were treated like a family," she says. "Reba was like a mother to all of us."

On "Welcome to the Captain," Garcia plays Hope, an attractive and perky acupuncturist trainee who lives in a fabled and fading Hollywood hotel, the El Capitan.

"I love her because she's confident, intelligent and nice," Garcia says. "Her personality is more like the way I really am in person."

Hope is the object of desire for former New Yorker Josh Flug (Fran Koranz), a struggling film director looking for his big break.

Also in the hotel turned apartment building are some eccentric characters, including Jeffrey Tambor as goofy old Uncle Saul, a comedy writer who hasn't had a hit since he worked on "Three's Company."

Famed sex goddess Raquel Welch plays former starlet Charlene Van Ark, a cougar who tries to seduce every young man in her path.

Garcia says the prospect of working with talents such as Tambor and Welch was a little intimidating at first, but she quickly found a new TV family,

"We only did five episodes before the writers strike, but we had a lot of fun," she says.

She adds that Tambor is a comic genius who is lovable, kind and mischievous off camera. "He is hilarious and cracks us up all the time," she says.

And Welch is a living legend. "She's an icon, and when she comes in a room, it's breathtaking," Garcia says. "But she is so down-to-earth and so friendly."

Garcia has been acting since age 10. Her father, Jay Garcia, is a well-known South Tampa doctor who runs the Body Image Laser Institute & Weight Management Center. Her mother, Loraine, is a former schoolteacher.

JoAnna went to Tampa Catholic High School, where she was a homecoming queen. In high school, she was cast in movies, commercials and TV shows that were filmed in Florida. She also worked on Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" series for two seasons.

Garcia has a role in the upcoming comedy film "Extreme Movie," a spoof of teen sex comedies co-starring Frankie Muniz and Jamie Kennedy.

And she recently completed working on a Lifetime movie that will air during the Christmas holiday season. In "A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride," she plays a wedding planner trying to persuade her mother (Helen Shaver) not to marry again. Also in the cast is Luke Perry.

"Welcome to the Captain" hasn't impressed the critics, who wrote only a handful of favorable reviews. Last week's episode came in fourth place in the ratings. But if the "Captain" isn't renewed, chances are Garcia will be snapped up for another series.

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