Las Vegas (TV series)

Las Vegas is an American comedy-drama television series created by Gary Scott Thompson. It was broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003, to February 15, 2008, airing for five seasons. It focuses on a team of people working at the Montecito, a fictional hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The employees deal with various issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from casino security to restaurant management and valet parking. Las Vegas starred James Caan, Josh Duhamel, Nikki Cox, James Lesure, Vanessa Marcil, Molly Sims, Marsha Thomason, and eventually Tom Selleck. The series originally centered on Ed Deline (Caan), a strict ex-CIA officer who serves as the president of operations for the Montecito. Former Marine Counterintelligence/HUMINT (CI/HUMINT) officer, Danny McCoy (Duhamel), who is Ed's protégé, later becomes the Montecito's new president.

The pilot episode began filming in March 2003, and was produced for $5 million, making it the most expensive pilot in NBC history. Production for a full season began later that year. Much of the series filming occurred at Culver Studios in California, where a set was constructed to represent the Montecito. Some filming also occasionally took place in Las Vegas. The Mandalay Bay and Green Valley Ranch, two hotel-casinos in the Las Vegas Valley, were sometimes used to portray the Montecito.

Las Vegas marked Caan's first starring role in a television series. Thomason left the series after the second season to pursue other projects, and Caan and Cox departed in 2007, after completing season four. Caan wanted to resume his film career, and Cox was let go due to budget cuts, which were needed in order to greenlight a fifth season. After Caan's departure, Selleck was added to the cast as a new character. The series originally aired on Monday nights, before being moved to Friday nights in 2006. Ratings declined following the move, and Las Vegas was eventually canceled on February 20, 2008, ending the series with several cliffhangers.

Las Vegas is a comedy drama that focuses primarily on Danny McCoy and his boss Ed Deline. They and others work at the Montecito, a fictional hotel-casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. The employees deal with a variety of issues, such as casino security, restaurant management, and valet parking. Danny, a former U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Counterintelligence/HUMINT (CI/HUMINT) officer initially works under the resort's head of security, Ed, former CIA counterintelligence chief. Early in the first season, Ed is promoted to president of operations. Danny has on-and-off relationships with Mary, a childhood friend; and Delinda, who is Ed's daughter.

The Montecito undergoes several ownership changes during the course of the series. The resort is demolished in the season-two finale in favor of a new Montecito, which opens in the third season under the ownership of Monica Mancuso. Following the end of season four, Ed and Mary go into hiding after killing her father, who sexually abused her as a child. In the fifth season, the Montecito is purchased by A.J. Cooper, a billionaire and former Marine. Danny becomes the new president of operations, and he moves in with Delinda, who is pregnant with their first child.

Various guest stars have appeared on the show, sometimes portraying themselves. Notable guest stars have included Alec Baldwin, Little Richard, Mark McGrath, Sylvester Stallone, Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, Norm Clarke, Jewel, Wayne Newton and Gladys Knight. Larry Manetti and Roger E. Mosley made a guest appearance in season 5 as characters named Larry and Roger, who are friends of A.J. Cooper. Selleck, Manetti, and Mosley had previously starred on Magnum, P.I., and their appearance together in Las Vegas marked their first reunion since the ending of Magnum, P.I. in 1988.

Las Vegas was created by Gary Scott Thompson, who also served as an executive producer. The idea for the series dates back to Las Vegas vacations that Thompson would take in the late 1980s. On one trip, Thompson developed a vision of a dead body lying in the desert, and then "we pan up and there's the Strip 50 yards away. That was what ended up in the pilot, that opening shot, but I couldn't ever figure out what that went to. So I had that thing in my head for 15 years." At various points, Thompson tried developing this idea into a novel or play.

In 2002, Thompson had been working with NBC on a television pilot for a different series; although this pilot was unsuccessful, NBC officials who worked with Thompson later asked him to create a Las Vegas-based series. At the time, Thompson felt that there was a lack of "fun" and entertaining shows on television, telling NBC that there were too many procedural dramas such as CSI and Law & Order. For Las Vegas, Thompson was inspired by the city's evolving history and its megaresorts, saying, "If there are 127,000 (hotel) rooms in the city, that means I've got a potential 127,000 stories every week, because everybody's got a story, and so do all the people who live here." The show would be reminiscent of the 1970s series Vegas. Originally known under the working title Casino Eye, the new series would also include Scott Steindorff as producer. Initially, Don Johnson was also going to serve as an executive producer, although he ultimately had no involvement in the final project.