Las Vegas TV Show Review
Movies and TV shows portraying the genre ‘gambling’ combined with other genres like crime, drama, and comedy has produced some of the best content to date! The TV shows and movies revolving around the casino theme have always been a popular genre and have succeeded in maintaining high ratings. Las Vegas TV show which aired in 2003, is a drama featuring an ensemble cast with stunning visuals and crisp dialogues. If you love casinos and gambling, then this show will make you fall in love with it all over again!
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Created by: Gary Scott Thompson
Number of seasons: 5
Number of episodes: 106
COPYRIGHT_BP: Published on https://bingepost.com/las-vegas-tv-show-review/130185/ by Kelvin Farr on 2021-02-10T13:59:14.000Z
Original release: September 22, 2003 – February 15, 2008
Original Network: NBC
IMBD Rating: 7.4
Plot
Las Vegas is a fast-paced casino drama that follows the story of an elite surveillance team that is in charge of maintaining the security of Las Vegas’s one of the largest casinos and resorts. This TV show features the Golden Globe Award and Oscar nominee James Caan who plays the role of Big Ed Deline. The surveillance team for the Montecito Resort & Casino is headed by Big Ed Deline along with Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel), his head of security. Deline deals with the players who cheat with cheaters and rival casinos who constantly plan on stealing their elite players. Although they are the tough guys, they are more than just gangsters. Their job includes looking out for the guests and its employees. They solve minor crimes and mysteries and this is what makes this show so thrilling!
Cast
- James Caan as Ed Deline: He is initially portrayed as the head of Montecito’s surveillance group. In the 8th episode, he is promoted to president of operations. Ed is portrayed as a loving father and husband and serves as a father figure to all of his employees.
- Josh Duhamel as Danny McCoy: In the initial episodes of the series he serves as Ed Deline’s apprentice. He is later promoted to Montecito’s head of security. In season three, after Ed resigns, Danny serves as president of operations for Montecito. Danny is romantically involved with Ed’s daughter, Delinda. The duo appears to be in an on-off relationship.
- Nikki Cox as Mary Connell: She serves as the special events director at Montecito. She is a childhood friend of Danny’s and they are sometimes in a relationship.
- James Lesure as Mike Cannon: Mike, who is Danny’s friend works as a head valet in the first season. He is later transferred to the security department in order to help to cope up with the security during Danny’s military absence.
- Molly Sims as Delinda Deline: Delinda Jillian and Ed’s daughter. She serves as the entertainment manager for Montecito, as well as works as the beverage and food manager of the resort.
- Marsha Thomason as Nessa Holt: She is also known as “The Ice Queen” and serves as Montecito’s head pit boss. She is described as being the best in Las Vegas. Nessa’s father was a well-known gambler, con artist, and cheater. Her father faked his own death when he was forcefully recruited by the CIA.
- Tom Selleck as A.J. Cooper: In season 5, Cooper becomes the new owner of Montecito. In the finale of season five, it is shown that Cooper’s jet has crashed during his business trip. Although he is presumed dead, during the final scene of the season, he is seen to arrive at his own memorial service.
Season 1
Number of episodes: 23
Running time: September 22, 2003 – May 17, 2004
The first episode begins by showing a busy Danny McCoy and Ed Deline finding his daughter, Delinda with Danny. As Delinda decides to end things with Danny, Danny and Ed go on a mission to find a car thief. Delinda also thinks of getting a job. The season begins to get more thrilling as Danny and Ed go on a hunt for finding a sexual predator who preys upon innocent women including Delinda. Ed decides to take a Hawaii vacation while leaving Danny in charge of the casino.
More trouble arises when Danny is given the responsibility of a high roller’s rowdy daughters, Mary tries to organize a wedding, and Mike gets sued by a drunk woman whom he rescues As things start to get a little bit sober, a massive power outage results in the lights of Sin City to screech to a halt. In the midst of the power outage, a mysterious man is shot dead and Nessa and Delinda try to find the killer. Danny and Ed try to save a suicidal guest’s life by introducing him to the pleasures of gambling.
After one of Montecito’s guests has a big win at the gamble, his wallet is snatched. Sam and Ed begin to search the hotel premises to locate the thieves. Montecito never seems to have a normal day! After a diamond worth 5 million dollars is stolen from a Montecito guest, Danny uses the technical expertise of Mike to know the thieves’ techniques.
The first season’s finale ends with Danny being recalled to the Marines and Mary getting a visit from her father. Mary and Danny both confront him together, and he tells the truth about having two girls
Season 2
Number of episodes: 24
Running time: September 13, 2004 – May 13, 2005
Season 2 begins with Danny returning from the Marines and being in war shock. Danny’s strange behavior begins to worry everybody. After Ed’s previous enemies come back, he is framed for murder. Danny and Mike decide to take matters into their own hands.
Mysterious circumstances are again ensured when a casino employee goes missing and Danny and Mike begin to search for him. It seems that Ed never gets relief since priceless art is stolen from Montecito. His search leads to an encounter with his former partner Jack Keller. After Sam gets herself entrapped with a drug cartel, she learns that one of her clients is responsible for laundering illegal drug money through the resort. Sam agrees to help Ed along with FBI agents to put an end to the cartel. Danny and Mike begin a thorough search for Ed, who is kidnapped. Ed takes up the role of a boss when the resort goes into one of its lowest weeks. He decides to cheer everyone’s mood by switching their positions. Delinda takes over Ed’s position but very soon becomes bored of it.
In the season finale, it is shown that the new owner of the Montecito decides to make some major changes at the casino.
Season 3
Number of episodes: 23
Running time: September 19, 2005 – May 12, 2006
As the renovated Montecito struggles to re-open on time, Ed tries to bring back his former staff in order to prevent a suspected heist that has occurred in other casinos. As soon as the casino reopens, Ed and Mike begin to work on a case of fake casino chips. A lot of new drama is seen revolving around the Nevada State Dog Show which is taking place around the casino.
Danny begins imagining the time in the 60s; a time when Montecito was called the Jubilee. After Ed becomes the new president of the casino, he makes Mike the head of security and Danny the director of entertainment. The sudden death of Monica turns Danny into a prime suspect. Soon, it seems that Monica’s old suite is haunted as it causes trouble to the new guests. In the meantime, Mary comes up with the idea of “Haunted Montecito Tour”. Although Monica is dead, it seems that she still gets Montecito in trouble.
Meanwhile after surpassing various hurdles, once again Danny and Delinda find themselves to be romantically attracted to each other. However, they find it difficult to hide their relationship when Delinda’s old college lover is back! As season 3 comes to an end, the old romantic feelings again resurface as Delinda begins to prepare for her marriage.
Season 4
Number of episodes: 17
Running time: October 27, 2006 – March 9, 2007
Season 4 begins with Delinda being stuck in her emotions. She must tell her fiancé Derek about her feelings for Danny. However everything seems to turn haywire, after a series of events, Delinda is kidnapped and there are only 12 hours to save her. In order to save Delinda, Ed tries to gather $50 million from Montecito as a ransom.
As things start to get better on Christmas, Danny’s car is stolen on Christmas Eve. After Ed finds a rare bottle of wine in the cellar of the Montecito, he decides to auction it. Trouble arises when the bottle is bought by one of Sam’s whales and it turns out to be fake. Before it comes to the press’s notice, Ed and Danny must find the original bottle.
In an unpredictable season finale, Sam is kidnapped, Delinda discovers her pregnancy.
Season 5
Number of episodes: 19
Running time: September 28, 2007 – February 15, 2008
While investigating the recent robbery, the Montecito staff also try to discover the person behind Mary’s father’s killer. A new and mysterious cowboy becomes the new owner of Montecito after he pays off the resort’s debt. Meanwhile, Montecito’s new owner, A.J. Cooper brings a new campaign: “Anything Can Happen.” With the situation getting worse, the staff begins to get worried that they might get fired.
When a murder occurs in Cooper’s suite, Danny and Mike try to solve the murder. NBC teams up with Las Vegas’s episode to promote the “Green is Universal” campaign. This is done by Montecito hosting an environmentally friendly conference. As Danny is elected as the new President of Operations, he finds the job to be a bit challenging. It is soon revealed that Montecito is on the verge of being robbed. Very soon after Montecito is robbed, the effects of the robbery are felt all over Las Vegas. All the evidence of the robbery points to Danny’s uncle. But after the investigation is done, it is found that the fire inspector is the mastermind behind the robbery and Danny’s uncle is innocent.
As Las Vegas prepares for its 100th episode, Danny, Cooper, and Mike are unable to resist catching a fugitive who is tracked to Montecito. When Mike’s mother finds out about Mike’s marriage to Piper, she becomes very upset. The season ends with Casey’s brother and Delinda’s mother arriving at the casino. A plane crash can become the end of Cooper!
The casino resort Montecito undergoes various changes and overcomes various hurdles during the course of the four seasons of the series. It can be taken as a vivid portrayal of what primarily happens in a typical casino resort. It is really doubtful whether the fifth season was one of the best seasons of the drama Las Vegas, however the fact that this show had finally found a fresh voice- there is no doubt denying that! It can be termed as very unfortunate, that at the time when the creators and writers were starting to regroup everything and creating a seamless flow between drama, action, and humor, the show came to an unexpected end! It seems that NBC lost its hope in one of its most popular and high rated shows. The most frustrating thing is that Las Vegas never got a chance to put a proper ending to its series!
Some might see casinos as just a place for gambling, but for some, it might be the place for making fortunes. In the movie 21 (2008), the story revolves around Mathematics teacher Micky (Kevin Spacey) who recruits 5 intelligent students in order to teach them blackjack and win millions of dollars in Las Vegas! Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a brilliant student at MIT, who seeks a scholarship in Harvard’s Medical School. He soon realizes that he wouldn’t be able to afford the tuition fees. However when he meets professor Micky, his whole life changes!
