Vegas (2012 TV series)

2012 American period drama series

Vegas is an American period drama television series that ran on CBS from September 25, 2012 to May 10, 2013.^[1] The series starred Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis.^[2][3] The series was co-created by Las Vegas chronicler and Casino screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, who also wrote the pilot.

Vegas received a 22-episode full season on October 23, 2012.^[4] CBS later reduced the order to 21 episodes.^[5] On March 7, 2013, CBS announced that Vegas would move to Friday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET, beginning April 5, 2013.^[6] On May 10, 2013, CBS canceled the series after one season.^[7]

Synopsis

Set in 1960s Las Vegas, the series centers on Sheriff Ralph Lamb (Quaid) and his dealings with Chicago mobster Vincent Savino (Chiklis), who moved west to set up his own operation. The Lamb character is based on a real-life former rancher of the same name who served as Sheriff of Clark County from 1961 to 1979.^[8]

Cast and characters

Main

• Dennis Quaid as Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a local rancher with service in the military police during World War II. Lamb is pressed into duty as Sheriff of Clark County when the Mob begins aggressively taking hold of the Las Vegas gambling industry.
• Michael Chiklis as Vincent Savino, manager of the Savoy Hotel, which is run by the Chicago Outfit. An expert in gambling, Savino previously ran casinos for the Mob in Havana before being sent to run the Savoy. While being a high-ranking mob associate and close to Chicago mob capo Angelo LaFratta, he is not a made man due to being a quarter Irish on his father's side (while in other episodes he is said to be a full member of the Outfit).
• Carrie-Anne Moss as Katherine O'Connell, the Las Vegas Assistant District Attorney.
• Jason O'Mara as Deputy Jack Lamb, Ralph's younger brother who serves as his deputy.
• Taylor Handley as Dixon Lamb, Ralph's son. His youthful exuberance makes it difficult for Ralph to trust his judgment at times.
• Sarah Jones as Mia Rizzo, the Savoy count room manager responsible for skimming funds for the Mob.

Recurring

• Aimee Garcia as Yvonne Sanchez, the receptionist working at the sheriff's station and Dixon's later lover.
• Vinessa Shaw as Laura Savino, Savino's wife.
• Michael O'Neill as Las Vegas mayor Ted Bennett, who is standing for re-election. He is later defeated by an associate of Savino's.
• Shawn Doyle as Patrick Byrne, an FBI agent investigating Savino.
• Melinda Clarke as Lena Cavallo, Mia's mother.
• Enver Gjokaj as Tommy Stone, entertainment director at The Savoy. Mia and he have an affair after her falling out with Jack.
• Michael Ironside as Porter Gainsley, a mining tycoon responsible for Ralph's wife's death and Savino's forced partner in acquiring The Tumbleweed for Chicago.
• Paul Ben-Victor as Barry Silver

The Mafia

• James Russo as Anthony "Red" Cervelli, Savino's right-hand man, who briefly ran The Savoy before being replaced by the more experienced Savino. While an experienced enforcer and hitman, he is often shown to be bumbling and inept, and somewhat friendlier than his associates.
• Michael Reilly Burke as Rich Reynolds, the corrupt district attorney.
• Michael Wiseman as Johnny Rizzo, Mia's father. Rizzo has a dangerous temper but is a major moneymaker for Chicago. He later becomes Chicago's boss of Las Vegas after killing Capo Angelo LaFratta.
• Jonathan Banks as Angelo LaFratta, one of the bosses from Chicago and leader of the Chicago Outfit's Las Vegas operations (though in one episode stated to be the head of the Outfit in its entirety). He is a close friend of Savino's, but this does not save the latter from nearly being executed for nearly starting a war with Milwaukee. He is killed and replaced by Johnny Rizzo on orders of the bosses, who did not approve of him returning The Tumbleweed casino to Milwaukee.
• Sonny Marinelli as Nicholas Cota, a mobster, and hitman for the Chicago Outfit who was working for Red when he ran the Savoy and continues to serve under Savino, whom he had met before the latter went running Chicago's Cuba operations.
• Joe Sabatino as Vic Borelli, another mobster from Chicago sent to Vegas to run The Savoy. Savino and he were good friends back home, and Savino is saddened when Milwaukee hitman Jones kills him out of payback for the death of Davey Cornaro.
• Jamie McShane as Davey Cornaro, leader of the Milwaukee crime family's operations in Vegas and Savino's first rival in his plight for control of The Tumbleweed. Cornaro controls a workers' union at the casino and orders an unsanctioned hit on Savino when told to drop it. He is later killed by Red Cervelli and Vic Borelli, who buries his body on a farm, where it is later found.
• Damon Herriman as Mr. Jones, a shady hitman from Milwaukee whose true name is a mystery. He is sent to investigate the disappearance of Davey Cornaro and returns to murder Savino when the body is found on a farm. After being captured by law enforcement, Jones escapes and is spared by Savino, who orders him to work for him alone. The hitman is key in helping the forces of Lamb and Savino take down Porter Gainsley.

Creation and production

The idea for Vegas first came to Pileggi while he was researching the book Casino, and as a result of his research into the Las Vegas of the 70s and 80s, he decided to also write about the city in the era of the 60s. However, it was 25 years before the idea came to fruition as a TV series. Pileggi had initially planned to write the idea as a movie but found it difficult to make it work in the traditional three-act cinema form. Watching The Wire convinced him that the long-form TV series was a more suitable creative outlet for the story.^[9]

Episodes

International broadcasts

DVD release

The series was released on DVD as a five-disc set. All 21 episodes are included, as well as bonus features.^[35]

See also

• List of television shows set in Las Vegas

References

1. "CBS Announces 2012-2013 Premiere Dates". The Futon Critic. July 11, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
2. Eckstein, David (May 16, 2012). "'Vegas': Can Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis hit the jackpot for CBS?". Zap2It. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
3. Rose, Lacey (May 13, 2012). "CBS Orders Dennis Quaid's 'Vegas,' 'Elementary,' 'Friend Me,' Four More". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
4. Kondolojy, Amanda (October 23, 2012). "'Vegas' & 'Elementary' Get Full Season Orders From CBS". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
5. "'Guys With Kids' and 'Elementary' get more episodes, 'Vegas' cut by one". Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
6. Andreeva, Nellie (March 7, 2013). "CBS's 'Golden Boy' To Stay On Tuesdays, 'Vegas' Moves To Fridays". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
7. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 10, 2013). "'Vegas' Cancelled by CBS". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
8. Adams, Tim (3 February 2013). "Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas" – via The Guardian.
9. Adams, Tim (3 February 2013). "Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas" – via The Guardian.
10. Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'New Girl', 'Dancing With the Stars', & 'Ben & Kate' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
11. Bibel, Sara (October 3, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'The Voice', & 'Dancing With the Stars' Special Adjusted Up; 'Go On', 'Vegas' & 'Parenthood' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
12. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'The Voice', 'Hart of Dixie', 'NCIS:LA' & 'DWTS' Adjusted Up; 'Go On' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
13. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'NCIS:LA', 'DWTS' & 'Vegas' Adjusted Up, 'Go On' 'Happy Endings', 'X Factor' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
14. Bibel, Sara (October 31, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Dancing With the Stars' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
15. Bibel, Bibel (November 14, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'Parenthood' & 'NCIS' Adjusted Up; 'Go On', 'Hart of Dixie', 'Happy Endings' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
16. Kondolojy, Amanda (November 21, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'Dancing With the Stars', 'Private Practice' & 'Parenthood' Adjusted Up; 'Go On' 'Happy Endings' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
17. Bibel, Sara (November 28, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS' & 'Raising Hope' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
18. Bibel, Sara (December 12, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Up; 'Happy Endings' & 'Take It All' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
19. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 19, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS:Los Angeles' Adjusted Up; No Adjustments for 'The Voice' Finale, 'Happy Endings', or 'Don't Trust the B'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 22, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
20. Bibel, Sara (January 9, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Betty White's Off Their Rockers' & 'New Girl' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
21. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 16, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'Off Their Rockers' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
22. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 30, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'Raising Hope', 'New Girl' & 'Go On' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
23. Bibel, Sara (February 6, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Smash', 'New Girl' & 'The Bachelor' Adjusted Up; 'Betty White's 2nd Annual 90th Birthday Special' and 'Vegas' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
24. Bibel, Sara (February 21, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
25. "TV Ratings Friday:'Happy Endings' & 'Shark Tank' Rise, 'Grimm' Up, 'Vegas' Sinks & 'Nikita' Down". 6 April 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
26. Bibel, Sara (April 15, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Happy Endings', 'Undercover Boss' & '20/20' Adjusted Up; 'Nikita' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
27. "Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Tops Demos with UFC Coverage". The Futon Critic. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
28. Bibel, Sara (April 29, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Happy Endings', 'Shark Tank' & 'Undercover Boss' Adjusted Up; 'Blue Bloods' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
29. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 6, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Nikita' Adjusted Down; No Adjustment for 'Happy Endings', 'Vegas' or 'Touch'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
30. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 13, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Kitchen Nightmares' Adjusted Up; No Adjustment for 'Nikita', 'Vegas' or 'Touch'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
31. Launies, Mrs (April 26, 2022). "tvseriesclub". Retrieved March 18, 2022.
32. "Shaw Media - Coming Attractions - Global Shows". July 19, 2012. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
33. "Solar launches new free channel 'JackCITY'". November 26, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013.
34. "LNT piedāvā divus jaunus seriālus – Policists no pagātnes un Vegasa". February 24, 2014.
35. "Vegas: The DVD Edition". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 19 July 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Vegas at IMDb