I taped the premiere of that new show Las Vegas Monday night, while watching the season premiere of CSI: Miami. I’m glad I did it that way. First, 'cos the CSI premiere was a mess of the improbable & the unbelievable in the service of the disgusting & the melodramatic. Second, because the Las Vegas premiere is one of those things that I kind of needed to tape to catch everything, & it was a cool episode.
I’m not saying it’ll be a great series. I’m not sure how much potential a show about a casino security guy has. But I love the use of narration in the premiere: more like a novel than like most TV shows.
I’m not just saying this because of my long-standing affection for Nikki Cox, although I did like her character in this a lot. (Boy, Unhappily Ever After does get under the skin, doesn’t it?) But I will admit that they got points in my book for showing Molly Sims’s breasts (in a glass darkly, but uncovered & natural nonetheless) on a primetime show. Also for recognizing that Molly Sims is the dangerous hot one, & the suspiciously busty Nikki Cox is the nice sisterly one.
Ah, screw it, it was a neat ep. This show could go one of two ways. I hope they keep the internal monologue & the complex themes. I expect it doesn’t matter, & were I a gambling man, I’d take bets on how many shows air. I mean, a show with James Caan, Molly Sims, & flashes of bare boobs in the pilot? If past experience is any guide, it’s got about three episodes before it’s canceled in favor of Fear Factor reruns.
Needless to say, it was a ratings hit here in Las Vegas.
Most of the people I work with who saw it agree that it looks like it could be good. I liked the style of the voice over narration as well. Plus, the cast is amazing, so even a weakly scripted episode has a chance at slipping by unnoticed.
I will be tuning in again next week.
By the way…it was filmed partly at Mandalay Bay and at Green Valley Ranch Casino in Las Vegas and partly on a “casino - lot” in Los Angeles.
I was looking for a thread about this show, since I just watched my tape. I really enjoyed it. The acting was excellent, and I liked the style – nice pacing that kept me interested the whole time. Elsewhere I’ve seen complaints about the voiceovers, but they worked for me. I also liked the fact that there was plenty of exposition. It’s a little silly to have everyone explain their relationships when they meet, but I prefer that to spending several weeks’ worth of episodes trying to identify all of the characters. I hope your prediction doesn’t come true, foolsguinea – I’d like to see this one stick around.
I watched it again last night, and enjoyed it. I liked the story about the skeavy senator, and the “behind the scenes” stuff of all these people who grew up in Vegas is interesting. I think the interpersonal stuff – esp. the relationship between James Caan and the pretty boy – could turn out to be interesting.
It’s growing on me.
Besides – I’m not going to watch football or a couple of bad sitcoms.
I thought the first episode was surprisingly good. Fast moving, well paced, good dialog. The only problem was that the Duhamel character kept having to act like too much of a perfect idiot for him to have the job he has. (Really - he’s lived in Vegas all his life and doesn’t knew how to drink a glass of wine? :dubious: )Necessary for the plot and set-up but they’ll have to make him a little more sophisticated in the future.
The second episode wasn’t nearly as good - too slow and too obvious, although the King Arthur character was terrific. James Caan badly needs a new expression, though.
And it’s about time that somebody in casting realized that Nikki Cox is a better actress than any other “hot-bodied” starlet in Hollywood. The original script had her as a hooker, and then changed it as the last minute, from what I understand. Good decision. She’s a much realer character this way.
