Vegas (First Season)
Not to be confused with the great show titled LAS VEGAS that ran from 2003-2008 starring James Caan, Josh Duhamel, Vanessa Marcil and later Tom Selleck and others.
How cool is a show about old Vegas! Back when the Chicago mob still ran ‘sin city,’ the neon signs lit up the old strip and a private detective named Dan Tanna drove a T-Bird he parked in his house!
Vegas (stylized as Vega$) ran on ABC from April 25, 1978, 1978 to June 3, 1981 (three seasons, 69 episodes).
The show was produced by Aaron Spelling, and created by Michael Mann. The series (with the exception of special episodes filmed in Hawaii and San Francisco) was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The show stars Robert Urich as private detective Dan Tanna, who drove to his assignments around the streets of Las Vegas in a red 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Working for a wide variety of Las Vegas clients, the detective work included locating missing persons, helping solve crimes, solving casino scams, and making Las Vegas a safer place for residents and tourists alike.
Watch the pilot episode and the entire first season of “VEGA$” below.
The show featured a great cast including:
Robert Urich as Dan Tanna
Bart Braverman as Bobby ‘Binzer’ Borso
Phyllis Davis as Beatrice Travis
Greg Morris as Lt. David Nelson
Naomi Stevens as Sgt. Bella Archer
Tony Curtis as Phillip Roth
Judy Landers as Angie Turner (Season 1 only)
Will Sampson as Harlon Twoleaf (Season 1 and 2)
Aside from the classic hotels featured in all those great second unit shots, the show also featured some big-name guest stars as well as stars who’d go on to have massive careers in both TV and movies. Those stars included:
Kim Basinger, Red Buttons, Kim Cattrall, Christopher George, Lorne Greene, Melanie Griffith, Lisa Hartman, Maureen McCormick, Heather Menzies, Wayne Newton, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Reed, Pernell Roberts, Tanya Roberts, Cesar Romero,
Isabel Sanford, Dick Sargent, Tori Spelling, George Takei, Joe E. Tata, Vic Tayback, Lauren Tewes, Bobby Van, Dawn Wells, Jill Whelan, Jason Wingreen, Shelley Winters.
For more on this great show click here. Click here to buy the entire series on DVD