Las Vegas - Season One Uncut & Uncensored

Rating:
Summary: I don't get it
Review: I just received my DVDs and I'm watching the first episode. The original theme song is on it. So I'm confused about the "Let It Ride" stuff. Unless I'm missing something.

Anyway, so far so good. This show is amazing and I can't wait to catch up with some of the season 1 episodes that I missed for various reasons.

Rating:
Summary: One more gripe about that stupid new theme song!
Review: I'm a big fan of Las Vegas - both the city and the television show - so I was ecstatic to hear that a first-season DVD was ready for release so soon. Now I can watch it without annoying commercials and at a more convenient time.

Imagine how disappointed I was to start the second episode and hear what sounded like a terrible audio problem where I should be hearing Elvis' booming baritone!

I'm not a musically inclined person; I'm one of those people for whom music videos were invented. It's often the case that a song doesn't even reach my ears until it's paired with a great visual. It's likely I've heard Elvis' "Little Less Conversation" many times but never paid attention until it was played over the opening to this show.

To me, a show's theme song is a character in the program. It's the greeter at a casino or the warm-up band at a concert. Imagine, for example, if the theme to Green Acres had been performed by a screaming heavy metal band. Having that lumpy, draggy replacement tune open for Las Vegas when I was expecting the Elvis number had the same effect as if Josh Duhamel were replaced by lame, uninspiring Josh Hartnett in each of the episodes.

Regardless of the opening song problem, this DVD set is great for fans of the show. There are so many reasons to like this show: authentic sets, quick pacing, eye candy (for both sexes, I'm told, but catering more to us men) and Danny's cool yellow '69 Camaro. As many times as I've been to the city of Las Vegas, I can imagine its behind-the-scenes dramas and stories being similar to those in the show.

My only criticism of the show since episode one is that the scripts seem like first drafts that never go through revision. They have some real gems in them, but no one takes the time to polish them and arrange them in a quality manner. Changes in plot are manhandled like a drunk getting escorted from the blackjack tables.

I hope more attention is paid to the writing in future episodes. Maybe the studio will hire more staff so scripts don't have to be rushed into production now that the show is a success.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I'm not a TV watcher (besides sports) - which is one major reason I never bothered to view this series in the first place because it was up against Monday Night Football. I was drawn to it because of James Caan, who could do no wrong as an actor. Once again - James gives the show some dignity and superb acting, while the rest of the cast is either acting a bit to silly or taking up space showing off their cleavage.

I would think a show like this would be better off staying on the straight real world of what its like in Las Vegas - but instead we are given scripts that would have worked on a show like "Fantasy Island" or "Love Boat". Its just to silly and far fetched to be the least believable. Yeah - I know its TV, but can you give these characters some common sense ????

Its also extreamly annoying to see Nikki Cox bouncing around and showing cleavage in EVERY SINGLE SCENE SHE IS IN. The girl has absolutely *zero* acting tallent. But I can see she got the job because of her "tallents" and nothing more.

Lastly - I have never viewed a series where the major point of it was to have "peep shots" of almost every female character. The camera is constantly panning down shirts, focusing on bikini clad behinds, having girls bend over, walking slowly out of a swimming pool dripping with water...I could go on and on. Can we drop the "fan service" shots and replace them with some plot ???? If I want to view a show like this, I can get it out of a "Baywatch" episode - but not here !!

All is not a complete loss though because the acting tallents of James Caan. He is superb in this series. He plays a straight tough as nails casino owner family man - and does not *try* to be funny like the other cast, but easily gets the most laughs because of his delivery. Plus, the chemistry between him and his main employee make it enjoyable to watch.

If anything, I will tune in Monday nights just to see if any changes have been made in season 2. If I see the same amount of cleavage, silliness, cleavage, poor acting, cleavage, sexual inuendos, and MORE cleavage - then I know this series is going nowhere.

James Caan deserves better than this - but without him in it, I would not even bother watching.

Rating:
Summary: Las Vegas Delivers!!
Review: On a boring Monday and looking for something to watch this fall, I decided to give Las Vegas a shot. Immediatedly after the 2nd season premier, I regreted not having watched this show sooner and anxiously awaited the first season to be released on DVD. Needless to say, it was released yesterday and I have already made my way through the first disk and have been berating myself for not having watched a really good show.

About the 1st Season DVD...

I am a little disappointed over 3 issues about this DVD Set.

The first being that the shows are done on double sided DVD's, which requires you to get up, flip the DVD over after watching 5 episodes to watch the remaining episodes before moving on to the next DVD.

The second issue being that you seem to have to watch an entire side of the disk before it allows you access to the bonus. Nothing major, just a hinderance to say the least.

The last issue is perhaps the most trivial, the usual Elvis theme song has been replaced for some other, rather annoying theme song... this is easily fixed by skipping the credits with the remote.

I suggest this set for anyone who has been searching for a decent show to watch on television that isn't the usual 'reality show'. As said, this is a drama with a lot of excitement, action, intrigue and some nice twists and character development... and speaking of characters, I found it interesting that the characters (particularly Danny and Big Ed) seem very believable and comfortable for the actors who protray right from the start, where it usually takes a little bit for an actor to grow comfortable with the role that they play.

Oh... and for the record, it is INDEED uncensored! If the viewing of breasts is something that you don't want your children to see, then wait till they are in bed!

Hope this helps you!

Rating:
Summary: Great, but not the best.
Review: Pretty decent show. An excellent opening for the series sets a great mood for a good pilot but a few episodes throughout the year seem a bit weak. The anamorphic transfers are decent, better then most TV shows to DVD but still look a bit soft. There is certainly a lot of eye candy in the ways of people and scenery with some cameos from a few lame celebrities. Overall, more entertaining then most of the junk on TV.

Now if only I could remember the name of the song played over the Main Menu screen...

Rating:
Summary: Good show. Good DVD.
Review: The show is great and having it on such beautiful DVDs is better! Everyone's big grumble is about the theme song. Elvis sang it of course, which means they had to pay a **** load to his family for it to even be played on tv. And it would've cost them more then they could allow if they wanted it on the DVDs. This is not a mistake by the studio, just budget issues, so that means it most likely wont be on the other seasons either. Sorry folks. But its a fantastic show anyway, let's all enjoy it. I strongly recommend buying this set if you like good tv.

Rating:
Summary: ALMOST PERFECT
Review: This is such a great show but the dvd release has 1 dissapointing flaw: the theme song " a little less conversation" has been changed to some slow moving "let it ride" song. which for me changes the mood of watching the episodes. Im so used to the song hyping myself up to watch each episode, now only to be let down by a slower song. Aside from my song motivater, the episodes are crystal clear and is a definite collection to own for any dvd collector. Hopefully season 2 on dvd will get the original song back.

Rating:
Summary: Would have been 5 stars
Review: This tv show is a very good one and i looked forward to getting the first season on DVD.
One thing i liked about this show is the fast song during the opening credits.Why was it changed to the stupid song Let It Ride,Let It Ride!!!
The other song really rocks and i just don't get going with this,Let It Ride!!
Other than that the show is GREAT!
If someone knows why they changed the song.Please let me know.

Rating:
Summary: High Rollers
Review: Truth be told, I never saw a full episode of Las Vegas before the 2004/2005 television season, and even then, that first time was purely by accident. I had meant to record something else, while watching Monday Night Football, and mistakenly caught the series instead. I have to say, after giving it a shot, it fast became a favorite guilty pleasure.

Created by Gary Scott Thompson, the show follows the exploits of the employees and guests of the the Montecito Hotel and Casino. Led under the watchfull eye of Ed Deline (James Caan) and his right-hand man, Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel). It's all about making the patrons happy. "Sam" Marquez (Vanessa Marcil--I just love her), Mary Connell (Nikki Cox), vallet service chief Mike Cannon (James Lesure), Ed's daughter Delinda (Molly Sims) and the exotic but tough pit boss Nessa Holt (Marsha Thomason) will do whatever it takes to do do their job. But they're also out to catch card-counting cheaters, costly streaks of random luck and the schemes of rival casinos.

The series works for me because of its mix of eye candy, wit & humor, fast pace and drama. I like the fact that most of the plots are not serialized. While I don't mind that--it was great being able to jump in the way I did and not get lost. Caan, whom I have always liked as a tough guy, is tops as the leader. The cast looks like they have lots of fun, displaying sparkle and chemistry. Look for some top name guest stars as well.

The 3 double sided disc DVD set includes all season one episodes and some solid extras---That said, it's by no means a perfect release. I don't know why the DVDs had to be double sided. What a pain to have to keep flipping all the time. Yuck. I could have also done without the promotions of the poorly received Arena Football League. While the 2 minute Rumble in the Montecito with rival team owners Jon Bon Jovi and John Elway and the cast is funny. It didn't make me want to watch the games any more then I already don't. To make maters worse the set also wastes space by giving viewers the complete AFL schedule for the upcoming season as well as team info. Ho-Hum...

Looking past all of the AFL stuff now: There are 2 featurettes. Las Vegas: The Big Gamble is 21 minute look at the history of this famous gettaway spot hosted by Josh Mankiewicz. Inside the Montecito allows us to tour the show's casino sets, led by Scott Thompson and the cast. Both of these mini-docs are well produced and fun. There are 4 episode audio commentaries. What's fun about these is the fact that along with Scott Thompson, every major cast member participates at some point. The pilot track is crowded though. Each one is fun and informative. My favorite track is by far for "The Night The Lights Went Out in Vegas" because it has Marcil talking it up with the creator. I know I know...Rounding out the extras is a promotional spot for the show and one for the city of Las Vegas itself.

Some of the episodes contain a fair amount of uncencored material not seen on TV. Consider yourself warned.

Las Vegas is a great guilty pleasure confection. Aside from the AFL promo stuff the extras work too.

Rating:
Summary: Jackpot! Hitting the Vegas Strip Never Was This Fun!
Review: Wow! A glitzy prime time soaper for men! Who would have thought? A great cast, led by James Caan, sparkles the Vegas strip with the high rollin' lives of the staff at the Montecito. The DVDs feature uncut versions of the episodes, which would be too hot for TV. Lots of action and sexy situations to keep a guy watching. Not a well rounded show, and certainly not family viewing, but it is a guilty pleasure for me. Almost like a male version of "Dynasty." Lots of purty girls, rounghneckin' fights, and gamblin'!!! Popcorn entertainment. Don't ask why do I watch it, just watch and enjoy. It's like a free trip to Vegas every time.