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Las Vegas (TV series)

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Las Vegas
Image:LasVegas-TitleCard.JPG </small>
Genre Dramedy
Running time 41 min (per episode)
Creator(s) Gary Scott Thompson
Starring James Caan
Josh Duhamel
Vanessa Marcil
Nikki Cox
James Lesure
Molly Sims
Marsha Thomason
Country of origin USA
Original channel NBC
Original run September 22, 2003–present
No. of episodes 76
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Las Vegas is a dramatic television series about a team of people working in the fictional Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas — dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and restaurant management to casino security. The first season began airing on NBC in September, 2003.

The show uses the style of camera work popularized by CSI and usually has several parallel storylines running during the show, switching between them as the show progresses.

Contents

[edit] Cast and characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Original Cast of Las Vegas, for seasons 1 and 2

  • Ed Deline, (James Caan), 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.
  • Danny McCoy, (Josh Duhamel), 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.
  • Mary Connell, (Nikki Cox), 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.
  • Mike Cannon, (James Lesure), 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.
  • Samantha Jane "Sam" Marquez, (Vanessa Marcil), 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.
  • Delinda Deline, (Molly Sims), 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.
  • Jillian Deline, (Cheryl Ladd), Ed's wife.
  • Casey Manning (2005-), (Dean Cain), shrewd and cunning businessman, he is Sam's ex-husband and the current owner of the Montecito Hotel and Casino.
  • Mitch (Mitch Longley), a regular member of the Surveillance team, Mitch, like the actor who plays him, is paraplegic and is confined to a wheelchair. This does not stop him being a valuable assistant to Ed, Danny and Mike.

[edit] Former characters

  • Nessa Holt (2003-2005), (Marsha Thomason), "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. She was raised by Ed and Jillian for some years. 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.
  • Monica Mancuso (2005), (Lara Flynn Boyle), Former 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.

[edit] Notable guest stars

[edit] Notable cameos

[edit] Crossing Jordan crossover

Las Vegas is set in the same universe as fellow NBC series Crossing Jordan. In the season 3 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 shoot any episodes while their star Jill Hennessy was pregnant.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Las Vegas episodes

[edit] DVD Releases

Season Date of Region 1 DVD Release Date of Region 2 DVD Release Date of Region 4 DVD Release
Season One (2003-2004) January 4, 2005 March 14, 2005 November 28, 2005
Season Two (2004-2005) September 13, 2005 December 5, 2005 November 28, 2005
Season Three (2005-2006) September 12, 2006 December 4, 2006 November 15, 2006
Season Four (2006-2007) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released

[edit] Program information

[edit] Scheduling

The show had aired at 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on Mondays since September 22, 2003, but was moved to Friday nights at 9:00PM following Deal or No Deal in March 2006. This move has been attributed to reports that the NFL won't allow NBC to air ads for the show during NBC's broadcast of Sunday Night Football. 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.

[edit] Season information

The show has three complete seasons, all of which are available on DVD. NBC has picked up the show for a fourth season, however NBC has reduced its show order from the regular 22 to 18.

[edit] Distribution

[edit] 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".
  • In season 4, episode 2 (around min 34) there is a scene in Ed Deline's office where again we can see an overview of The Mirage and Caesar's Palace. Again it's a confirmation that Ed Deline's office would be where Treasure Island is located.
  • 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.

[edit] 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 in the USA, the theme song is A Little Less Conversation (the Junkie XL mix) by Elvis Presley. The American DVD release of the shows utilizes the Clouser song rather than the Elvis song used during the broadcasts.
  • 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 Montecito that are associated with the upcoming casino The Cosmopolitan. Many posters in the background are the same as the posters from the Cosmopolitan.
  • In one of the third season episodes, Danny McCoy asks Ed Deline about the character Sonny Corleone from The Godfather, to which Ed replies that he's never seen the movie. Ironically, actor James Caan, who plays Ed Deline, played Sonny Corleone.
  • The 4th and 5th episodes from NBC's television show Heroes place a few of its main characters in Las Vegas at the Montecito Resort and Casino.
  • Las Vegas may also exist in the same fictional universe as another NBC show: The Office. It was mentioned on the Las Vegas episode 'The Story of Owe' (which first aired on Friday, November 10th, 2006) that Dunder Mifflin had booked rooms at the Montecito for a convention, and that security would have to be beefed up.
  • Las Vegas may also exist in the same fictional universe as another NBC show:"Heroes" In the Heroes episode 'Collision ' Hiro, Ando, Nathan, and Nikki all stay at the Montecito.
  • Four of the cast members appeared on the December 1st episode of 1 vs. 100: Josh Duhamel, Nikki Cox, James Lesure, and Molly Sims. All of them were eliminated without winning any money for charity.

[edit] U.S. Broadcast History

  • September 2003 - February 2006 -- Mondays 9:00pm/8:00pm
  • March 2006 - present -- Fridays 9:00pm/8:00pm

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

fr:Las Vegas (série télévisée) it:Las Vegas (serie televisiva) nl:Las Vegas (televisie) pt:Las Vegas (série)

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