Vegas: Cowboys vs. Mobsters in the '60s

[DigificWriter]

Since nobody had started a thread for this series, I figured I would.

I just caught the premiere tonight, and liked what I saw. Beyond the stellar main cast (Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis, and Carrie Ann-Moss are phenomenal), I really liked the mix of tried-and-true CBS procedural formula storytelling with the '60s setting and the setup for future serialization.

The fact that the series is inspired by a real-life figure doesn't hurt either, although it clearly isn't meant to be completely true-to-life. It will be interesting to see how things play themselves out going forward, but this is definitely something I'm going to be checking out in the future.

Did anyone else what the premiere? If so, what did you think?

 

[wildstar]

I liked it a lot. Being just back from there, it was fun to see familiar sights like the Golden Nugget, Fremont St, and shrimp cocktails.
Definitely going to continue watching. Good cast, good pacing and script.

 

[davejames]

I thought Quaid and the 60s setting were fairly cool (love those old police cars!), but the murder mystery was so freakin dull I finally had to tune out after 30 minutes.

Plus it already feels like Longmire is doing the same basic thing, with the same type of character. And I find that show a lot better written.

 

[Starbreaker]

I found it mediocre. It had a worse demo than last year's Unforgettable premiere, so don't expect it to last more than 13-22 episodes.

 

[indianatrekker26]

i found it rather enjoyable, but mostly due to Quaid, who ive always been a fan of. I will never understand ratings, it gets a low demo, yet got 14+ million viewers, hardly a failure there, no matter what the age group was.

 

[Starbreaker]

That's a failure for CBS because they need advertisers for 18-54 year old people. They don't care about the 80 year old people who just forgot to turn the TV off at 9.

 

[DigificWriter]

indianatrekker64: Ratings generally track both the overall amount of viewers who tune in to a given program, and the amount of viewers of a specific target audience who tune in to a given program. Vegas scored high in overall viewership, but low in the specific target audience group (the demo/demographic) that CBS wants the show to appeal to. If it keeps getting high overall viewership numbers but a low score in the target demo, CBS is going to have to decide which set of numbers means more to them when it comes to deciding whether or not to renew the show.

 

[Star Wolf]

indianatrekker64: Ratings generally track both the overall amount of viewers who tune in to a given program, and the amount of viewers of a specific target audience who tune in to a given program. Vegas scored high in overall viewership, but low in the specific target audience group (the demo/demographic) that CBS wants the show to appeal to. If it keeps getting high overall viewership numbers but a low score in the target demo, CBS is going to have to decide which set of numbers means more to them when it comes to deciding whether or not to renew the show.

A few random thoughts.

So far it has been the best of the early season
If they didn't want 50+ then I just don't understand the casting.. I got the Longmire vibe also, although I think Longmire is thought of more of a throwback to this era.

I appreciated the throwaway, so far of the Whites Only restroom sign, however with a Native American tracker on the extended cast will they or won't they whitewash the racial attitudes of the era. On Las Vegas on their fantasy throwback episode they just handwaved that Mike was with the mob and he will be treated right.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Quaid and Chiklis in a show from the writer of Goodfellas - sold, but I really wish that this was on HBO.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I really wanted to like the pilot, because the cast and crew is phenomenal and the setting is compelling and well-realized onscreen, but I was just bored to tears by the procedural plot and kept tuning it out to do other things. It's got enough gravitas amongst the cast to keep me sticking around for more, but I hope the plot gets a little more exciting than the CBS standard by the numbers murder mystery of the week. Oddly, I don't mind that with Elementary, because it's the nature of the show, but when you do a show about the rise of the Vegas mob and casino culture, I want something more than just a procedural.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Yeah, when I heard about this show, I envisaged something more in the vein of Boardwalk Empire but set in the 1960s. Making it a procedural seems to be a total wasted opportunity.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

^Yeah, when I heard about this show, I envisaged something more in the vein of Boardwalk Empire but set in the 1960s. Making it a procedural seems to be a total wasted opportunity.

Hoping for anything like Boardwalk Empire on CBS is unrealistic. I'm impressed that CBS would even make a change from their usual formula as big as not setting it in present day. That's a big creative risk by their standards.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Yeah, but when I originally heard of it, I just saw the names of the actors and writers. The network didn't register. Besides, US networks and their output don't really register as strongly with us on this side of the Atlantic.

 

[DigificWriter]

It appears as if CBS is really stepping out of their usual modus operandi with the series because tonight's episode was very heavily serialized, feeling much more like, say, FOX's Fringe or the short-lived Vanished than your typical CBS procedural.

I don't think it's ever going to become a straight-up serialized drama, but the series is definitely a different animal for CBS, and is definitely 'must watch TV' because of that fact (at least IMO).

It also doesn't hurt that the characters and actors are phenomenal and have great chemistry together.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Episode 2 was much better paced than the pilot. Looks like there will be a case of the week with serialized elements every week. Most CBS shows consist mainly of standalone episodes mixed with ongoing plots so this is a bit different. Plus I like the addition of the lovely Sarah Jones.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I enjoyed last night's episode much more than the pilot. I like how it will be a mix of a serial/procedural show. The cast has been amazing. But i usually like anything Dennis Quaid is in. He pretty much is the reason i gave the show a shot last week, and i'm glad i did.

 

[Saga]

i thought the first two episodes were pretty entertaining. though, it feels like different shades of Crime Story.

 

[Maurice]

I missed the pilot, but saw the second episode, and found it a bit lackluster. They've set it in an interesting time, but in the episode I saw they're not using it in any sort of interesting way. It feels very modern (especially the female characters), like people at a dress-up party. I'll watch more, but I wasn't taken by my first taste (unlike Mad Men which hooked me right off when I stumbled into an early episode).

One thing they're definitely NOT capturing is the look of Las Vegas at that time. Their backlot settings don't look much like old Vegas, and their Fremont Street set is underpopulated, unconvincing, and about 1/3rd as dense with light as it should be at night. I remember that street from the late 60s, and it was a neon and bulb extravaganza for several blocks. This is what it REALLY looked like in 1960:

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[Starbreaker]

Yeah, it feels fake while Mad Men seems authentic. I didn't live through the 60's, so I'm just guessing.