A:
"Las Vegas" was an entertaining show, but it was liberal, to say the least, in its use of "poetic license." A lot of the storylines were based on real Las Vegas and gambling occurrences, but as the show went on, those situations were increasingly blown out of proportion. The biggest problem, and the one that was the biggest bugaboo for Anthony Curtis, was that the show's protagonist, played by James Caan, was the director of surveillance. That's not a position lacking in responsibility or authority, but surveillance doesn't make 90% of the decisions that Caan made on the show. "Vegas" would have been much more credible had Caan played the general manager, casino manager, or owner.
Update 26 October 2009
Some reader responses:
"You certainly did not watch the series Vegas or you would definitely know that James Caahn portrayed the owner of the casino/hotel. The surveillance was the 2 other characters."
"Rarely do I disagree with the mighty Curtis, but there were many problems with his answer on 10/25/09 regarding the show Vegas that I feel compelled to write a meaningless email. First, James Caan (Ed Deline) was the President of Operations for the Casino, not the Head of Security. Josh Duhamel (Danny McCoy) & then James Lesure (Mike Cannon) played the Head of Security. Are you sure that the question did not refer to the TV show Vega$?"
10/25/2009 Anthony Curtis responds.
"We've had enough of this feedback that I assume I'm wrong, and the Ed Deline character did have a higher position at the casino. I'm holding out, though, thinking that things may have changed through the show's tenure. I know that when it debuted I watched the first few episodes and was convinced that Caan played the Director of Security. And when I'd tune in from time to time subsequently, I never saw anything that changed my perception. But whatever position he held, I've seen enough of the episodes to stand by the primary focus of the answer -- that being that the storylines, especially those that involved gambling, were blown way out of proportion.
"And mea culpa on the name of the show (this answer orginally ran "Vegas" throughout and we've changed it). Yes, it was "Las Vegas" (I do that all the time)."
More feedback:
I watched every episode of Las Vegas and Ed Deline was head of security when the show started, as it went on his title changed, I guess to give him more power, but he could never be the owner because part of his storyline was that he was always smarter than whoever the owner at the time happened to be. Even though the show was pure fiction and violated every Gaming Board rule, it was still fun; it was the 'Love Boat' set in a casino. Its demise came when the storylines got too serious and too complicated. I thought Tom Selleck could have carried the show onward but they just didn't develope him enough. Yes, I do know none of what they did was even a little accurate; however it was mindless entertainment...could've been worse!"
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