Las Vegas is a critically-acclaimed dramatictelevision 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 show debuted on September 22, 2003 on NBC, immediately following the popular Fear Factor series. It also airs in over 70 countries.
The show uses the style of camera work popularized by CSI and usually has several parallel storylines running during the show, switching among them as the show progresses.
Contents
1Background
2Cast and characters
2.1Former characters
2.2Notable guest stars
2.3Notable cameos
3Crossing Jordan crossover
4Episodes
5DVD Releases
6Program information
6.1Scheduling
6.2Season information
6.3Distribution
7Location
8Trivia
9U.S. Broadcast History
10See also
Background
The series stars Oscar-nominated actor James Caan as Ed Deline, a strict ex-CIA agent who went from Head of Security to becoming President of Operations of the Montecito, whose job is to run the day-to-day operations of the casino. Another major character is former Marine Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel), considered Ed Deline's right-hand man, is the Montecito's Head of Security, covering everything from lying to cheating all the way to contestants who win too much. Other characters that work with Deline & McCoy are current surveillance/security person and former Head Valet, Mike Cannon (James Lesure) who plays an integral role in investigations due to him earning an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Danny's childhood friend and former on-and-off girlfriend, Mary Connell (Nikki Cox), works at the Casino as the Special Events Director, before she got promoted and became a Hotel Manager in the third season. Sam Marquez (Vanessa Marcil), a manipulative businesswoman who is considered the best casino host in Las Vegas, has only one interest: To get high rollers to play at the casino. Ed's daughter Delinda Deline (Molly Sims) serves as manager of the hottest Montecito restaurant bar/grill, Mystique. She is currently dating Danny again after previously having a romantic connection with him early in the first season.
Ed Deline, (James Caan), former Head of Security and current President of Operations of the Montecito Group, and is also a member of the Board of Directors. A loving husband and father, and a sort of father figure to his employees, especially Danny. However, he is a tough man and won't hesitate to using violence as a means of solving problems and getting what he wants. As the former Director of Counter Intelligence for the CIA, his past has come back to haunt him in several occasions, most recently during his daughter's wedding in Father of the Bride Redux. It has been reported that James Caan will no longer be a series regular in season 5, but will make appearances in a few episodes.
Danny McCoy, (Josh Duhamel), Chief of Surveillance and Security of the Montecito. He was initially Ed's apprentice, but was later promoted to Head of Security. After the resignation of Ed in 2005, Danny was made President of Operations of the Montecito Group for a brief period. However, following Ed's return, Danny was given his current position. He was born and raised in Las Vegas. Towards the end of Season two, his father passed away and he inherited his construction company, McCoy Constructions, and house, which he sold to purchase his current apartment. He is a former Marine, with guerrilla training and counter intelligence training. He was recalled into military service at the end of Season one. In Season two, he was awarded the Silver Star after he called in an air-strike over his unit and himself when they were ambushed and overrun - it is implied that only he survived the air strike. He is currently co-habitating with his girlfriend, Delinda. He was involved in an on-and-off relationship with his childhood friend, Mary. The show was narrated by this character for the first few episodes.
Mary Connell, (Nikki Cox), the Special Events Director at the casino. 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. A Las Vegas native, her father abused her when she was young. In the fourth Season, she helps her step-mother and step-sisters testify against him - a case which was lost. In the episode Bare Chested in the Park, she was shown purchasing a revolver; which was used to shoot her father in the following episode. She was involved in an on-and-off relationship with Danny, who later proposed to her in Season two - a proposal which she rejected. It has been reported that Nikki Cox will no longer be a series regular in Season 5, no word yet if she will be making guest appearances or not.
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 and his claustrophobia. Mike and Danny are best friends.
Samantha Jane "Sam" Marquez, (Vanessa Marcil), the best Casino Host in Las Vegas, lives in a Montecito suite. She is portrayed as a ruthless business person whose sole interest is to get high rollers to play at the Montecito. However, in the Season four episode, The Burning Bedouin, she reveals that she is only cold and jaded because everyone expects of (her) (in Las Vegas), and that underneath it all, (she is) weak and pathetic like everyone else. She was married to billionaire Casey Manning, whom she was estranged from for seven years prior to a divorce. She was also involved in an on-and-off relationship with Detective Woody Hoyt from Crossing Jordan, which currently seems to be off based on the events from Season four episode, History of Violins. From The Burning Bedouin, it is seen that she is currently in love with and waiting for Jeremy, the man who first brought her to Las Vegas from Austin, Texas. Following the death of her ex-husband Casey in a freak fishing accident, she is the current owner of the Montecito Hotel and Casino.
Delinda Deline, (Molly Sims), Ed's daughter and the manager of all the food and beverage outlets in the Montecito: Mystique club, Wolfgang restaurant, Opus bar, and the Bella Petto Pool Bar. She is Danny's current girlfriend after a long and complicated romantic history with him: they were involved briefly for the first three episodes of the first Season before calling it off; and towards the end of Season three, she almost marries Derek, an old college flame, before leaving him the night before the wedding for Danny. She is currently living with Danny.
Jillian Deline, (Cheryl Ladd), Ed's wife. Jillian has been expressing growing resentment for Ed's time on the job, and appears to become extremely frustrated near the end of season 4, straining their relationship.
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 from being a valuable assistant to Ed, Danny and Mike.
Former characters
Nessa Holt (2003-2005), (Marsha Thomason), "The Ice Queen". Former head pit boss of the Montecito, thought to be the best in Las Vegas. She was born in Manchester, England, 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. She was portrayed as a self-centered, bull-headed autocrat, although she helped Danny, Mike and Ed on some occasions. In the first episode of Season three, it was revealed that at age 25, she married an 83-year-old billionaire and upon his death at 93, she inherited his fortune, using it to purchase the Montecito and various other casinos. Determined to prove that she was more than just a woman who inherited money, she was determined to make the Montecito a success. In the Season three episode Mothwoman, she dies in a freak accident: a gust of wind blows her off the roof of the Montecito, and she plummets to the ground below. Because this character was generally disliked by the other characters in the series, and typically portrayed as a buffoon, her death was constructed mostly for humor. She was blown off the roof of the building and down the strip into a shoe store. Casino employees disposed of her ashes by flushing them down the toilet in her suite at the Montecito.
Casey Manning (2005-2007), (Dean Cain), A shrewd and cunning businessman, Sam's ex-husband and former owner of the Montecito Hotel and Casino. In the Season four episode Bare Chested in the Park, his character was killed off in a fishing accident: a giant squid enveloped him off the coast of New Zealand. The autopsy revealed traces of botulinum toxin in his blood - hinting that he was probably poisoned prior to the accident.
Notable guest stars
Alec Baldwin, as Jack Keller, an ex-CIA employee and ex-colleague of Ed, in episodes 12 and 32.
Jean-Claude Van Damme, as himself (who was also killed off in this episode) in episode 15 of season one.
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 maintained a long-distance relationship. However, based on events that happened in Season four episode History of Violins, the relationship seems to be off. As of the end of Season 4, O'Connell has appeared in a total of 5 episodes of Las Vegas. 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.
The show had aired at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT 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.
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 17. [1] The show was renewed for a fifth season on February 27, 2007. [2] On February 28, it was announced that James Caan and Nikki Cox would be leaving the series. Caan's departure is because he wants to return to acting in feature films, while Cox's departure seems to stem from budget cuts. [3]
The location of the fictional Montecito has changed from season to season. Some of the first episodes were taped at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, which is located at the intersection of Tropicana and the Vegas Strip (next to NY NY and across from MGM). (They closed down the strip on at least one occasion at that block to film a car scene...) 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.
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) the actual set of Montecito is located at Culver Studios, in Culver City, California, so the interiors are a replica of the Mandalay Bay. 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.
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.
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 Las Vegas. 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.
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.
Trivia
Different theme songs have been used, depending on where, how or when the show is viewed. In Portugal, UK, Netherlands and other countries the theme song is Let It Ride by Charlie Clouser, while in other countries, such as the USA, Canada and Australia, the theme song is A Little Less Conversation (the Junkie XL mix) by Elvis Presley. For the American DVD as well as the episodes available for viewing on NBC's website, the Clouser song is used. Apparently there have been different opening songs for some episodes. For example, the Season 4 show, "Pharoah 'Nuff" opened with Crazy Bitch by Buck Cherry.
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 Resort & Casino. 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 "Never seen it". This is humorous because actor James Caan who plays Ed Deline on Las Vegas also played the Sonny Corleone character.
Also, in one of the episodes of season four, when Ed travels to Morocco, he is under the name of "Alan Trahern". This is humorous as well because James Caan in El Dorado performed a character called Missisipi, whose real name was Alan Trahern.
Las Vegas may also exist in the same fictional universe as other NBC shows in addition to Crossing Jordan :In the Heroes episodes "Collision" and "Hiros", Hiro, Ando, Nathan, and Niki all stay at the Montecito. In the episode "Distractions" Ando and Hiro wear badges that match the logos seen on Las Vegas. In the Las Vegas episode "The Story of Owe" (which first aired on Friday, November 10, 2006), Mary mentions to Mike that Dunder-Mifflin (from The Office) had booked rooms at the Montecito for a convention, and that security would have to be beefed up.
Four of the cast members appeared on the December 012006 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.
This is James Caan's first TV series.
U.S. Broadcast History
September 2003 – February 2006 — Mondays 9:00pm/8:00pm
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