Las Vegas: Season One (2003-4)
Review by Thespia
Film:
DVD:

Created by Gary Scott Thompson
Starring James Caan, Josh Duhamel, Nikki Cox, Vanessa Marcil, Molly Sims

Features:

• All twenty-three first season episodes
  
• "Inside the Montecito" behind-the-scenes featurette
  
• "Las Vegas: The Big Gamble" docu about Vegas
  
• Arena Football League schedule, matchup and promo
  
• City of Las Vegas promo
  
• TV promo
  
• Running audio commentaries by creator Thompson and the cast on four episodes
  

Released by: Universal.
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Fans should own.

Welcome to the Montecito Hotel and Casino. It's in Vegas, if the title didn't already make that clear. Big Ed Deline (Caan) is in charge of keeping the casino under control from an operations standpoint. He and his crew try to keep an eye out for cheaters and, I don't know, Danny Ocean and his crew or something. And along the way there's plenty of hijinks that can be gotten up to...it is Sin City, after all, right?

This show is so much better than its previews suggested when they first appeared. To me, they made it look superficial and cheesy with little or nowhere for the plot and characters to go, and I honestly wasn't at all interested in checking it out. However, after going through this set, I have formed a much higher opinion of the writers, actors, and everyone else involved in creating this series.

While the beginning of the season is interesting and fun, like most shows it had to find its feet in order to start running along, and you can see how it improves over the course of the season. The writing is good (except for a little forced exposition at times) and overall the acting and set design are very nice (especially the last episode of the season...you'll know why if you see it). My favorite as far as production values go is definitely the cinematography, which really adds a sense of urgency and excitement as it goes from "whoosh" (their term) to stillness in a matter of seconds. To me, it's very similar to the camerawork in Contact when we see Foster's character going through wormholes, which really works for this show...it's like every security camera captures its own little universe and we simply jump between them.

The extras aren't terrible but they're not exactly great either. The best parts were the behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the set where they discuss things such as how they had to get government permission to have the authentic slot machines on the set (which are actually silent...no winning bells = no ADR). The audio commentaries from Thompson and the actors are pretty basic: some behind-the-scenes anecdotes and notes on character development. Nothing stunning, but the fact that they went to the trouble to record them makes for a strong bonus for the set. Apart from those is a fairly interesting documentary about the city of Las Vegas, taking you from its beginning as a burg and taking you through to the flashy neon-studded mecca it has become. Lastly, there's an amusing but odd AFL promo, and some really sad fillers (like the TV schedule--not my idea of a bonus).

If you're already a fan of the show and you'd like to have Season One for years to come, this is a nice set to have. If you're like me and you haven't watched the show yet because the previews didn't do it justice, take my word for it and give it a chance as a rental.