US TV

In the US: NBC, Fridays, 9/8c

In the UK: Sky One. Probably January, but who knows with Sky?

Characters re-cast: 0

Major characters gotten rid of: 0

Major new characters: 0

Format change percentage: 0%

Dramatic chances taken: None

I love Las Vegas. No, not Las Vegas. Las Vegas. It’s a great town. It’ll be whatever you want it to be. You want it tacky? You can have tacky. You want it sophisticated? It can be that, too.

Las Vegas tries to be like Las Vegas. It has all the elements you’d expect: magic (people being shot and having heart attacks, yet coming back to life), sex (everyone shagging everyone else, whether they’re married or not), gambling (having a bunch of characters that are tissue-thin and expecting us to be interested), the stars of yester-year (James Caan, Cheryl Ladd) and Elvis.

Despite all this, Las Vegas really just doesn’t work on any level for me – and it’s really not like Las Vegas at all. It’s completely devoid of anything surprising or clever, and you’re expected to root for the house. Who does that?

Returning viewers, don’t be worried. Everything is sorted out nicely in this first episode, despite its being a two-parter. There are no shocks, nothing to change the format, just the same old same old.

New viewers, it’s slick, it’s glossy, it’ll steal your time. You can join in at almost any point and you’ll be able to keep up with the plot. So watch now or watch later. Or go and watch Robert Urich in Vega$ on DVD instead.

PS Message to former CIA operatives heading to Morocco: it’s a lot easier to get a stolen gun in Morocco than it is to stash one in a safety deposit box in London and try to get it through airport security. Just a hint.