In the past couple decades, Las Vegas has become established both as a media hub in its own right, and as a "real" city where people actually live, as opposed to merely being a cliched destination for series finales, or the go-to location when the producers want to boost ratings with the "wild-and-crazy" episode.
Hence, more highly successful RV series have been entirely based in Sin City and we cover that in the Vegas-based TV series FAQ.
Still, the old "anything-goes" image has proven to be a tough stereotype to shed, so the following epic list of TV shows made the pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the bachelor weekend/wedding party/get-rich-quick/creepy murder/general desperation episode.
This list was compiled in late 2013, so if you've seen or know of any from the past few years, please share them with everyone in the comment boxes way down below.
Topper
"Cosmo Goes to Las Vegas"
Season 1
Episode 29
Aired: 4/23/54
Topper is to go on a short trip with Henrietta sailing. The trip gets stopped because he needs for business reasons to go make a bid for a client on a hotel in Las Vegas. He takes Henrietta, George, and Marion with him to Las Vegas. Marion and George teach Topper to gamble.
I Love Lucy
Lucy & Desi Comedy Hour
"Lucy Hunts Uranium"
CBS Specials
Episode 3
Aired: 1/3/58
Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethyl drive from California to Las Vegas. Ethyl meets Fred MacMurray.
Phil Silver's: SGT Bilko
"Bilko Retires from Gambling"
Season 3
Episode 101
Aired: 5/13/58
Colonel Hall hires a professional card player to beat Bilko at cards. He's so upset at losing that he gives up gambling.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
"The Man from the South"
Series 3
Episode 3
Aired: 1/3/60
In Las Vegas, Carlos (Peter Lorre) bets a gambler (Steve McQueen) that he can't light his lighter successfully 10 times in a row. Carlos bets his new car against the gambler's left-hand pinky finger; the gambler, who's broke, accepts the proposition and manages to light his lighter 7 times when Carlos' wife intervenes …
Twilight Zone
"The Fever"
Season 1
Episode 17
Aired: 1/29/60
Tight-fisted Franklin Gibbs is not pleased when his wife wins a trip for two to Las Vegas. But things change when he falls under the spell of a slot machine that calls his name.
The Flintstones
"The Rock Vegas Story"
Season 2
Episode 56
Aired: 3/30/62
Fred and Barney run into old friend Sherman Cobblehead, owner of the Golden Cactus Hotel in Rock Vegas, at an eatery. Cobblehead's casual promise to "take care of" Fred should he ever come to Vegas is misinterpreted as a guarantee that Fred will be a big winner in the casino.
The Beverly Hillbillies
"Mr. Farguhar Stays On"
Season 2
Episode 13
Aired: 12/8/65
Mrs. Drysdale's father, an aristocratic Bostonian, is coming to visit and invites Granny to accompany him to Vegas. She thinks he's trying to elope with her, rather than take her (and her money).
The Beverly Hillbillies.
"Jed, the Bachelor"
Season 3
Episode 33
Aired 6/9/65
Granny walks to Las Vegas and ends up with quite a story to tell.
Gomer Pyle USMC
"Vacation in Vegas"
Season 2
Episode 25
Aired: 3/11/66
Gomer wins a trip for two to Las Vegas, and he and Carter win a fortune gambling.
Banacek
"A Million The Hard Way"
Episode 5
Aired: 1/11/72
A million dollars in cash sits under a glass dome in a crowded casino [Circus Circus], guards ever at the ready, while tourists have their picture taken. A few brief seconds of distraction, and the cash is gone. How can Banacek [George Peppard] "account" for the eccentric casino owner's lost funds?
Rockford Files
"Dexter Crisis"
Season 1
Episode 10
Aired: 11/15/74
Jim meets Susan's roommate Louise Henderson, a law student, who demands to come along on the case. They go to Las Vegas and find Susan playing at the gambling tables.
Kojak
"A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves"
Season 3, Episode 13
Aired: 12/14/75
Former New York cop Vince LaGuardia (and old friend of Kojak) is now living in Las Vegas. When a wanted counterfeiter is murdered, LaGuardia's investigation involves the activities of a hood and an evangelist. (Pilot for an unsold series; unique in that Kojak is not the main cop.)
Starsky and Hutch
"Vegas Strangler 1 & 2"
Season 2
Episodes 24 & 25
Aired: 9/25/76
Starsky and Hutch are loaned to the Las Vegas Police Department to snare a serial killer who has strangled a string of chorus girls.
Charlie's Angels
"The Vegas Connection"
Season 1
Episode 17
Aired: 2/9/77
Charlie's Angels stage an elaborate con to hoist a Las Vegas blackmailer on his own petard. As part of the ruse, Sabrina poses as an investigator, Bosley a high-roller, and Kelly as an aspiring showgirl.
Rockford Files
"Dirty Money, Black Light"
Season 3
Episode 67
Aired: 4/1/77
Something is delivering thousands of dollars in the mail to Rocky and someone is desperate to get it back.
The Bionic Woman
"Fembots in Las Vegas"
Season 3, Episode 3
Aired: 9/24/77
Jaime discovers the existence of another group of Fembots in Las Vegas. Investigation leads her to Doctor Rod Kyler and America's first directed-energy-ray space weapon, which is about to be launched into orbit.
The Incredible Hulk
"The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas"
Season 1
Episode 8
Aired: 4/21/78
While working in a casino, David helps a Las Vegas reporter with a gambling scandal, only to discover that the reporter is Jack McGee's partner.
Charlie's Angels
"Angels in Vegas"
Season 4
Episodes 49 & 50
Aired: 9/13/78
While undercover at the Tropicana Casino, the Angels must discover the culprit behind a series of mysterious murders before it's too late.
Rockford Files
"The Battle-ax and the Exploding Cigar"
Season 5, Episode 103
Aired: 1/12/79
Jim is driving himself and a man named Potrankis in a car from Las Vegas, when they’re pulled over by the police and guns are discovered in the trunk of the car –- which happens to be stolen …
Alice
"Hello Vegas, Goodbye Diner"
Season 5, Episode 3
Aired: 11/16/80
The TV version of the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, in which Linda Lavin played Alice Hyatt, a widow who ends up working in a diner in Phoenix when her car breaks down on the way to Hollywood. In this episode, "the gang" follows Vera to Las Vegas after she wins a trip.
Crime Story
"The Battle of Las Vegas"
Season 1, Episode 17
Aired: 2/6/87
A strike is threatening the casino industry, while a firebombing team is targeting both casinos and picket lines. Even with the task force hot on their trail, the arson team plants a bomb in a casino and it's up to Danny Krychek to disarm it alone …
Valerie
"Viva Las Vegas"
Season 4, Episode 15
Aired: 3/6/89
The big brother goes to Vegas with a fake ID, hits a jackpot, but gets in trouble with that ID.
Married With Children
"You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em"
Season 4, episodes 16 & 17
Aired: 2/11/90 and 2/18/90
A 2-parter in which Peggy and Marcy go to Vegas and lose $5,000 of Al's money. He finds out and takes off after them, with the kids in tow …
Roseanne
"Vegas" and "Vegas Vegas"
Season 4, Episodes 7 & 8
Aired: 11/5/91 & 11/12/91
Nancy and Arnie tie the knot in a Las Vegas wedding chapel, with guest appearances by Wayne Newton and Danny Gans (impersonating Wayne Newton).
Blossom
"Big Doings" Pts. 1 and 2
Aired: 11/22/93 and 11/29/93
Older brother Anthony falls off the wagon in Vegas and wakes up the next morning with a stranger, who had also gone on a bender. They discover they got married the night before, and the couple decides that instead of annulling the marriage, they'll stay together and get to know one another.
Beverly Hills, 90210
"And Did It … My Way"
Season 4, Episode 10
Aired: 11/10/93
When their wedding plans become too much of a hassle, Stuart convinces Brenda that they should elope to Las Vegas. After Brandon finds out, he gets the rest of the gang to drop what they are doing and they all fly out to Vegas to try to discourage them.
X Files
"Three of a Kind"
Season 6, episode 20
Aired: 5/2/99
Scully is tricked into coming to Las Vegas by the Lone Gunmen, who are at a defense contractors convention, trying to get inside information on military secrets.
Friends
"The One With Joey's Big Break," "The One in Vegas Part One" and "The One in Vegas Part Two"
Season 5
Aired: 5/11/99 and 5/20/99
Season 5 ends with the triple bill in which Joey goes to Vegas to make a movie that's already wrapped by the time he gets there. He ends up working as a gladiator at Caesars and the rest of the cast comes out to join him for drunken high jinks and casino capering.
Alias
"The Coup"
Season 1, Episode 14
Aired; 2/24/2002
Agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is sent to Las Vegas on a mission that involved her posing as a casino cocktail waitress.
Lexx
"Viva Lexx Vegas"
Season 4, Episode 21
Aired: 4/5/2002
Perhaps the most contrived and random use of Las Vegas as a staging post, this episode of the sci-fi series featured characters Kai, Xev, and Stan stopping off in Las Vegas while they waited for a space shuttle to take them back to the Lexx.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
"Bridging the Gap" and "Heavy Metal"
Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2
Aired: 4/28/02 and 5/5/02
This (dark) British comedy series about a group of construction workers featured a double bill set in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert, when the crew is hired to build a bridge across a canyon for a Native American tribe wanting better access to their casino.
Joey
"Joey and the Road Trip"
Season 1, Episode 11
Aired: 12/2/04
In what can only have been a desperate bid for ratings, Season 1, episode 11 of this "Friends" spin-off, which we proudly confess to never having seen, apparently featured Matt LeBlanc being invited to be a celebrity judge at a Las Vegas beauty pageant and somehow learning to count cards. Um, yeah.
Beyond this point in the "Friends" era, our search of possible candidates for inclusion yielded a few less than 1,000 potential contenders (which included movies and reality shows we were unable to filter out), we decided to include here only the most notable or more bizarre examples, excluding the likes of multiple episodes of "Beverly Hills 90210," whose producers evidently couldn't get enough of Sin City. Hence, what follows makes absolutely no pretense at being comprehensive, so if there's something we missed out which you really feel should be included, please let us know in the comment boxes.
Quantum Leap
"Stand Up - April 30, 1959"
Season 4, Episode 21
Aired: 5/15/92
Sam leaps into Dave Parker, one half of a stand up comedy act while they are on stage at a Poconos resort. Sam knows nothing of the routine and they're bombing badly until a waitress, Frankie Washarskie, jumps up on on stage and ad libs them out their predicament. She desperately wants to be part of the act and is actually in love with the other half of the comedy act, Mack MacKay. All of their lives get a little more complicated when a mobster offers them a contract to perform at his club in Las Vegas.
Melrose Place
"Love Reeks"
Season 3, Episode 8
Aired: 10/31/94
Chris proposes marriage to Jane and she accepts in which he urges her to drive to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding. Sydney learns about this and knowing that the two-faced, sociopath Chris is just a gigolo after Jane's money, she tips off Michael and Kimberly about it in which they follow Jane and Chris to Vegas to break it up.
Dharma & Greg
"A Fish Tail"
Season 5, Episode 11
Aired: 4/12/01
Dharma refuses even a white lie against her parents, so she makes Greg tell Abby he and Edward are going fishing -- a rare habit -- to her, plain murder and cause for divorce. After Dharma's desperate attempts to stop him Greg confides in her that the men in fact don't fish but go to Las Vegas. Now Dharma tries to learn from Pete what they do in Vegas …
Six Feet Under
"The Trip"
Season 1, Episode 11
Aired: 8/12/01
David, Nate, and Brenda go to Vegas for a funeral directors' meeting where Nate informs Gilardi he knows what the arsonist's motive was, David meets Keith under unpleasant circumstances just after being caught with a male prostitute, and Nate and Brenda have an equally unpleasant encounter with Billy though have different opinions on how best to deal with it.
Family Guy
"When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
Season 3, Episode 22
Aired: 11/09/03
After hearing about the good jobs his friends' lawyers and accountants are doing, Peter becomes fixated on the idea of Jews as mathematical and legal geniuses. Hoping to give Chris a chance for a better future than he can provide as a Catholic, Peter decides to have his son convert to Judaism at a quickie Las Vegas Bar Mitzvah in order to turn him smart.
The O.C.
"The Strip"
Season 1, Episode 26
Aired: 4/28/2004
The Cohen men, along with Ryan and Caleb set out to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Meanwhile, the girls are having fun with their own adventures.
Arrested Development
"Righteous Brothers"
Season 2, Episode 18
Aired: 4/17/05
Michael thinks it's time for George Sr. to leave the attic where he's been hiding as a fugitive. George-Michael helps his girlfriend Ann stage a protest against the American remake of the movie Dangerous Cousins, which turns out to be a big hit for Maeby. Tobias falls for Kitty, and learns that his "cease and desist" with the Blue Man Group has been lifted, and they ask Tobias to come to Las Vegas for an audition.
Weeds
"Last Tango in Agnestic"
Season 2, Episode 3
Aired: 8/28/06
Nancy literally loses her lunch when she realizes that Peter knows she is a drug dealer, but Peter assures her that he's OK with it; he does something with Nancy in Las Vegas that proves beyond a doubt that she can trust him with her secrets.
The O.C.
"The Earth Girls are Easy"
Season 4, Episode 8
Aired: 12/28/06
Ryan has a New Year's Eve surprise for semi-girl-friend Taylor, a trip to Las Vegas, while she went for sexy lingerie. Spoiled, moody Summer rages at 'immature' Seth for having made no particular festive plans; after encouragement from dad, who has urgent court business himself, his plan B is to beg eternal last resort Ryan to take them along.
Bones
"The Woman in the Sand"
Season 2, Episode 8
Aired: 11/08/06
A trip to Vegas to identify a body is complicated when a more recent body is found nearby.
The Sopranos
"Kennedy and Heidi"
Season 6, Episode 18
Aired: 5/13/07
Tony travels to Las Vegas to tell an old friend of Christopher's news about him.
Two and a Half Men
"Prostitutes & Gelato"
Season 4, Episode 24
Aired: 5/14/07
In an effort to bond with Alan and Charlie, Evelyn's new boyfriend invites them on a trip to Vegas with all the frills.
The New Adventures of Old Christine
"What Happens in Vegas Is Disgusting in Vegas"
Season 4, Episode 14
Aired: 1/21/09
Christine and Barb give New Christine a bachelorette party in Las Vegas, where New Christine lets all of her previous inhibitions go. Meanwhile, Richard, Matthew, and Richard's brother spend Richard's bachelor party playing laser tag.
Nip/Tuck
"Giselle Blaylock & Legend Chandler"
Season 5, Episode 22
Aired: 3/3/09
Sean does not know that the seductive Teddy has a double life as nurse 'Dixie Collins' in Las Vegas, and is carrying on a tryst of her own with the sleazy Dr. Harlan Frank -- who is also unaware of her double life in L.A. -- not to mention her homicidal tendencies.
The Big Bang Theory
"The Vegas Renormalization"
Season 2, Episode 21
Aired: 4/27/09
Thinking he needs to do something fun to get over Leslie, Leonard and Raj decide to drag Howard to Las Vegas for a weekend getaway. Once there, Leonard and Raj learn that it will take more than just fun they can conjure up to get Howard out of his depression.
Two and a Half Men
"The Immortal Mr Billy Joel"
Season 8, Episode 5
Aired: 10/18/10
Charlie is off to Las Vegas, allegedly to enjoy some time without Alan and Jake, but in fact for discrete cosmetic surgery. Alan's, regular patient Ma also checked in there.
The Mentalist
"The Crimson Hat"
Season 4, Episode 24
Aired: 5/15/12
After leaving the CBI, Patrick appears to be down and out in Las Vegas. But it is really part of his master plan to make Red John think he has given up on trying to catch him.