TV

‘Alpha House,’ Amazon’s first original show, not exactly top dog

OK, so “Alpha House” is the first-ever series to premiere from Amazon Studios. And it was created by “Doonesbury” comic-strip guru Garry Trudeau.

Duly noted.

But once you get past that novelty, there’s not much differentiating this mediocre show from anything you can see on one of the broadcast networks — save for John Goodman, returning to the sitcom genre for the first time since “Normal, Ohio” back in 2000.

That’s not to say “Alpha House,” which revolves around four Republican politicians sharing a pad in DC, is bad. It’s not. But it’s also not very memorable or notable, at least not in the pilot episode that’s been made available for review.

I hope the series does improve because, in addition to the always reliable Goodman, it also features Clark Johnson, aka laconic Meldrick from NBC’s ’90s series “Homicide.” (He also appeared on Sunday night’s episode of “Homeland” as the cop investigating the murder of Majid Javadi’s daughter-in-law and ex-wife.)

Anyway, the setup is that the guys sharing the house — North Carolina Sen. Gil John Biggs (Goodman), Sen. Robert Bettencourt (Johnson) and the house’s owner, Nevada Sen. Louis Laffer (Matt Malloy) — are left one guy short when their roommate, Sen. Vernon Smits (Bill Murray in a funny cameo), is dragged off by the feds.

They decide to ask womanizing Sen. Andy Guzman (Mark Consuelos) — first seen fooling around in the Senate cloak room during an all-night filibuster — if he wants to join their crew.

You’d think, and rightly so, that a series from the creator of “Doonesbury” — the long-running comic strip that lampooned the Washington, DC power elite — would be acerbic in tone and biting in wit. “Alpha House” is neither, and includes a strange subplot involving Laffer’s ambiguous sexual orientation (he wins a “Say No to Sodomy” award from The Council for Normal Marriage in a scene that bombs).

The acting here is fine by all involved; though Consuelos (and his very white teeth) doesn’t have much to do, it’s a good bet his role will grow in future episodes. (Amazon Studios, unlike Netflix, isn’t releasing “Alpha House” all at once. It will, however, release the first three episodes on Friday.)

If you’re looking for clever comedy, you won’t find it in “Alpha House” — not yet, anyway.

But there’s still time to swing the vote.