Las Vegas (TV series)
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Las Vegas is a dramatic television series about a team of people working in a Las Vegas casino called "Montecito Resort and Casino", dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, be it valet parking, restaurant management or casino security. The first season began airing on NBC in September, 2003.
The show uses the style of camera work popularized by and usually has several parallel storylines running during the show, switching between them as the show progresses.
Contents
Cast and characters
- James Caan, (Ed Deline), a former CIA officer and former Director of Counter Intelligence for the CIA, a tough guy, formerly head of security, later president of operations of the "Montecito" group and is also on the Board of Directors.
- Josh Duhamel, (Danny McCoy), a former U.S.Marine, with guerilla training and counter intelligence training, who initially was Ed Deline's apprentice, but was later promoted to head of security. The show is narrated by this character in the first few episodes. He was born and raised in Las Vegas, is a Marine, and is life-long friend and on-and-off lover of Mary Connell. He was recalled into military service at the end of season 1, and in Season 2 he was Awarded the Silver Star after he called in an air-strike over his unit and himself when they were ambushed and overrun. After the resignation of Ed Deline in 2005, for a brief period McCoy was President of Operations at the Montecito Hotel. Later upon the return of Deline, McCoy was made Chief of Surveillance and Security.
- Nikki Cox, (Mary Connell), the Special Events Director at the casino, and a Las Vegas native who has an on-and-off relationship with Danny McCoy. In the first few episodes of the show, her exact role at the Montecito is unclear; her role was rewritten in later episodes to clarify her job title and status. As of the third season she is Hotel Manager of the Montecito.
- James Lesure, (Mike Cannon), an engineer (with a graduate degree from MIT) who worked as head valet for the first season, but was then recruited by Ed Deline to the security department to help during Danny's military absence. He stayed on as security personnel despite being paid less than his job as a valet.
- Vanessa Marcil, (Samantha Jane "Sam" Marquez), the best casino host in Las Vegas. She is a ruthless business person whose sole interest is to get high rollers to play at the Montecito. She lives in a Montecito suite.
- Molly Sims, (Delinda Deline), Ed's daughter and Danny's love interest for the first few episodes. She subsequently becomes the manager of Mystique, the hottest restaurant/bar/club in Vegas.
- Cheryl Ladd, (Jillian Deline), Ed's wife.
- Marsha Thomason (2003-2005), (Nessa Holt), "The Ice Queen". The head pit boss, born in Manchester, England, thought to be the best in Las Vegas, but has a shady past due to her father's connections with Ed Deline. When the third season started, she had left Las Vegas and been given a new identity to be able to live with her father and long-lost sister.
- Lara Flynn Boyle (2005), (Monica Mancuso), the new owner of the Montecito; deceased. She was portrayed as a self-centered, bull-headed autocrat, although she helped Danny, Mike and Ed on some occasions. It is revealed that at age 25, she married an 83-year-old billionaire and upon his death at 93, inherited his fortune, and used it to purchase the Montecito and other casinos. She was determined to prove that she was something more than just a woman who inherited money. In an episode aired in late 2005, she died in a freak accident in which a gust of wind blew her off the roof of the Montecito, causing her to plummet to the ground below. Because this character was generally disliked by other characters in the series, and had been portrayed as a buffoon, her death was generally played for laughs, including disposing of her ashes by flushing them down the toilet in her suite at the Montecito.
Notable guest stars
Notable cameos
- 2006 US Olympic Snowboarding Team
- Criss Angel
- Paul Anka
- Black Eyed Peas
- Jon Bon Jovi
- Michael Bublé
- Brooke Burke
- Lance Burton
- Sasha Cohen
- Brooks & Dunn
- Duran Duran
- John Elway
- Everlast
- Oscar Goodman
- Elliott Gould
- Tamyra Gray
- Paris Hilton
- Ron Jeremy
- Jimmie Johnson
- Gladys Knight
- Lil' Flip
- Little Richard
- Mark McGrath
- Wayne Newton
- Dennis Rodman
- Joe Rogan
- Penn and Teller
- Wolfgang Puck
- The Pussycat Dolls
- Rihanna
- Snoop Dogg
- Sugar Ray
- Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Sugarland
- Robert Wagner
- Dave Mirra
Crossing Jordan crossover
Las Vegas is set in the same universe as fellow NBC series Crossing Jordan. In the season 2 episode "Double Down, Triple Threat", a case brought Jordan Cavanaugh (Jill Hennessy) and Detective Woody Hoyt (Jerry O'Connell) to Las Vegas. Woody and Sam got very well acquainted and the long-distance relationship is still going on. O'Connell has appeared in another episode so far, and he's slated to appear in two more this season. Vanessa Marcil has also appeared as Sam in two Crossing Jordan episodes. The crossover is in part due to the fact that Las Vegas was on during Crossing Jordan's usual time during the fall. The reason being that the Producers of Crossing Jordan decided not to shot any episodes while their star Jill Hennessy was pregnant.Program information
Debut information
The show had aired at 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on Mondays since September 22, 2003, but now airs on Friday nights at 9:00PM following Deal or No Deal. This move is due to the fact that the NFL won't allow NBC to air ads for the show during NBC's broadcast of Sunday Night Football, which starts in September. This caused some doubts about the future of the show, as Friday nights are known for its low ratings. However, thanks to Las Vegas having Deal or No Deal as a lead-in, the show has shown no ill effects of the move so far.Season information
The show has three complete seasons, two of them are available on DVD.NBC has picked up the show for a fourth season, airing on the 2006/2007 schedule.
Distribution
- Argentina on Canal 9
- Australia on Seven Network and Fox 8
- Austria on ORF
- Bangladesh on AXN
- Belgium on VT4
- Brazil on AXN (before November 2005 in Sony Entertainment Television)
- Bulgaria on Ntv and AXN
- Canada on Global
- Colombia on AXN (before November 2005 in Sony Entertainment Television)
- Costa Rica on Teletica (channel 7) [www.teletica.com]
- Croatia on Croatian Radiotelevision
- Denmark on TV3
- Estonia on Kanal2
- Finland on Nelonen
- France on TF1
- Germany on ProSieben
- Hong Kong on TVB Pearl and AXN
- Iceland on Stöð 2
- India on AXN
- Indonesia on Indosiar
- Ireland on TV3
- Italy on SKY
- Malaysia on 8tv
- Mexico on AXN (before November 2005 on Sony Entertainment Television)
- Netherlands on RTL 4
- New Zealand on Prime
- Norway on TV3
- Pakistan on AXN
- Portugal on Fox TV Portugal
- Singapore on AXN and Mediacorp
- Slovenia on Kanal A
- South Africa on SABC 3
- Spain on Fox and Cuatro
- Sweden on Kanal 5
- Switzerland on TSR
- Taiwan on AXN
- The rest of Latin America on AXN (before November 2005 in Sony Entertainment Television)
- Turkey on CNBC-E
- United Kingdom on Sky One, Sky Two and Sky Three ()
- United States of America on NBC (1080i HDTV)
Location
- The location of the fictional Montecito has changed from season to season. Because of its similarity to Mandalay Bay, many of the show visuals place the Montecito at the far southern end of The Strip, albeit usually across the street from Mandalay Bay on the airport side of Las Vegas Boulevard. The exact location and rotation of the building seems to vary a lot within this area, indeed the CGI zoom shots of the building exterior in the season two episode, "Montecito Lancers", shows the building in [three slightly differing locations] for three different shots.
- Other episodes show aerial shots of the Montecito that make it appear to be situated at the corner of Giles St. and Reno Ave., about half a mile from Mandalay Bay.
- During the first season of the show, many of the Montecito's suites overlooked various parts of the middle part of the Strip, placing the hotel near where the Venetian, Flamingo, or Mirage are currently, before the more consistent location at the southern end of the Strip was finalized.
- The actual set of Montecito is located at Culver Studios, in Culver City, California. These studios are where 'Gone with the Wind' was filmed. The Season 3 set of 'Las Vegas' has been said to be the biggest set for a TV show ever.
- In Season 3, Ed Deline's office appears to be in the middle of the strip, overlooking Harrah's, Caesar's Palace, the Mirage, and the Venetian, which puts the Montecito near where Treasure Island is located. This is inconsistent with the flyover shots of the Montecito, which would place Ed's office over 2 miles away. Closer examination of the window scene shows that the Mirage's marquee over their driveway has been edited to read "Montecito".
- According to an episode that originally aired in December 2005, the Montecito is located about 1.5 miles from the Wynn. It's possible that this distance is in a straight line ("as the crow flies", if you will) as opposed to a reference to actual driving distance. This distance is inconsistent with long shots that place the Montecito near the airport and Mandalay Bay, but is in line with Season 3 visual references noted above.
Trivia
- Many of Mandalay Bay's interiors and exteriors (including its wave pool) have been used as Montecito exteriors, although (according to the Internet Movie Database) interiors are now filmed in a California set that is a replica of the Mandalay Bay.
- In several episodes, the fly-through video clips inaccurately depict the movement of the camera into a casino which is clearly the Mandalay Bay - not the Montecito. Many of the interiors and exterior shots of the casino can be shown depicting Mandalay signage and names.
- The theme song is different in different countries. In Australia, UK, Netherlands etc. it is 'Let It Ride' by Charlie Clouser in some countries though including USA the theme song is 'A Little Less Conversation' by Elvis.
- Don Johnson was considered for Ed Deline.
- Critics claimed that the show wouldn't last a season. It was the only show that year to be renewed for a second season by NBC.
- A novel, "High Stakes Game" by Jeff Mariotte, tells what occurred between the season two finale and the season three premiere when the casino was destroyed and rebuilt and the characters briefly went their separate ways.
- There are many themes in the new Monteceito that are associated with the upcoming casino The Cosmopolitan. Many posters in the background are the same as the posters from the Cosmopolitan.
See also
External links
- [Las Vegas] at the Internet Movie Database
- [Las Vegas and more]
- [Las Vegas on NBC site]
- [TV.com (former TV Tome): Las Vegas - for extended information]
- [Montecito Casino]
- [Las Vegas] at the TV IV
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