There is just 424 kilometres between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, so its no surprise that the so-called ‘Sin City’ has attracted many TV shows to the bright lights of the city over the years. We all know that the popular TV series CSI – Crime Scene Investigation is famously set in Vegas, but what about other shows that have chosen to head to the vast array of hotels and casinos over the years.
Well, let’s kick things off with a little known show actually called Las Vegas. The series, which ran for five seasons between 2003 and 2008, starred Josh Dumamel, who would later go on to headline the Transformers franchise, and screen legend James Caan (The Godfather). Las Vegas revolved around life in a fiction casino called the Montecito Resort & Casino on the famous Vegas strip. These days you can head to an online casino gratis, but this was a time when the gaming world online was in its infancy, and the show was pretty good. Even Tom Selleck joined the cast for the last couple of season prior to landing his big part on the still-running Blue Bloods.
Next is the reality TV show that is Pawn Stars. The History Channel debuted this little treasure back in 2009, and it is still airing to this very day. Centred around a Las Vegas pawn shop in the downtown area of the city, the 30 minute show follows owner by Rick Harrison and his band of employees as they buy or pawn rare antiquities from the residents of the city and beyond. Eight years on and the pawn shop has spawned a neighbouring shopping complex and even a restaurant where Rick can be seen serving pretty delicious barbecue on a daily basis.
Finally for this short round-up is Vegas, a drama starring Dennis Quaid and former star of The Shield, Michael Chicklis. Sadly, despite having the talents of Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas, Casino) amongst its creators, the show only lasted for one season back in 2012. The theme was slightly different and followed a former MP for the U.S. Army (Quaid), who comes to town as sheriff, just as Chicklis’ character Vincent Savino moves to town from Chicago to run The Savoy hotel and casino. Vegas didn’t get great ratings, which maybe led to its limited run, which is a great shame as we loved all 21 of its initial run of episodes.
