Over the years, Las Vegas has been a popular destination for sitcom characters such as Ross and Rachel of “Friends,” but rarely the setting for its own television shows. “It’s a fun, sexy ride in a fun, sexy place.” “At a time when so much of the news in the world is bleak, it’s a great escape for the audience,” said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group.

The comedy joins NBC’s prime-time lineup, which already includes “Las Vegas.” The series, starring James Caan as a casino boss, was the highest-rated new drama for the 2003-04 season. on the Discovery Channel, is less about the owners and more about the everyday challenges of working in a casino, from handling drunken guests to managing a Super Bowl party for thousands.Ĭome fall, there’ll be an animated spin on Las Vegas with “Father of the Pride,” about a family of white lions that perform in the famed Siegfried and Roy show. It’s produced by Mark Burnett, creator of “Survivor” and “The Apprentice.” on Fox, focuses on the Golden Nugget hotel-casino’s new pair of thirtysomething owners, Tom Breitling and Tim Poster. “The Casino,” which airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Two new reality shows set in Las Vegas debuted this month, joining two prime-time series already on the air and two new ones coming in the fall.

“No one could.”įast-forward to 2004: Vegas has rolled out the red carpet to TV producers. “If they had to try and buy that kind of advertising, they wouldn’t be able to afford it,” said Jeanne Corcoran of the Nevada Film Office. When MTV came to Las Vegas three years ago, some of the Strip’s biggest hotel-casinos refused to host “The Real World.”Ī long production schedule, concerns over patron privacy and a target audience too young to visit Vegas were reasons they cited.īig mistake.The reality show transformed the eventual host - the then fledgling, off-Strip Palms hotel-casino - into the place for celebs and beautiful twentysomethings.

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