Years:  1979
Genre:  TV series, Drama
Country:  United States
Language:  English
Starring:  Robert Urich, Phyllis Davis, Tony Curtis, Bart Braverman, Naomi Stevens, Judy Landers, Greg Morris, Will Sampson
Eye candy:  All kinds.  Strippers, showgirls, hookers, everyone is apparently hot in Vegas.  Also Cristina Ferrare, Lauren Tewes, Dorothy Malone, Ronee Blakley
Creator:  Michael Mann
Run time:  9 hours 27 minutes
DVD distributor:  Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD extras:  Episodic promos on selected episodes.  That’s it.

     There are different types of “Vegas” in movies and on TV.  There is the glitzy and glamourous Vegas where Liza Minelli and Robert Goulet and Wayne Newton ply their trades.  There is the gangster-mythic Vegas of The Godfather Part II and Casino and their ilk.  There is the debauched bachelor-party Vegas as seen in The Hangover and so forth.  And then there is the seedy underbelly of Vegas, as portrayed in CSI and other fine programs.

     I think my favourite Vegas, however, is the one in Vega$, the TV series from the late 70s starring Robert Urich.  I like that Vegas, because although there are hot babes in abundance, they are the ones who seem seedy rather than glitzy, for the most part.  And although there is certainly a gritty, grimy underbelly to this Vegas, it feels a little more glitzy and glamorous than maybe it should. 

     The cast of the show is outstanding, and although it certainly gets tired after a few episodes, give it a couple of days and you may want to watch a few more.  The second volume of the first season of Vega$ comes out February 16th from Paramount Home Entertainment.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 8:36 am and is filed under 1979, Drama, TV series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.