Vega$

To the person who commented last...he had one big thing on the series totally backwards. Naomi Steven's character was throughout the 1st season only, at the very end of the 1st season..Greg Morris became the main police friend/help character for the rest of the series and Naomi Stevens was gone after only 1 season...for the better too. Greg Morris appeared only once before his reg role and that was in the pilot episode.

This was def a great series all around. The first season was kinda silly and lame (but watchable). But as the 2nd season started, and major changes were made (in writing, production etc), by the show's final episode in late 1981, it should have had many seasons to go. But of course, like all quality TV...the masses only like crap, and Vega$ was everything but...so it was gone just as it was hitting its peak.

This series def deserves a true DVD release...stop releasing a zillion editions of garbage like "My So Called Life", "Friends" and all this reality TV garbage thats killed television and get this example of what once was quality prime time TV out there!

Great, breezy show whose best feature is that it was filmed on location in fabulous Las Vegas. Created by Spelling-Goldberg productions in the same vein as its previous heavyweight crime series Starsky & Hutch and Charlie's Angels, it featured the same types of plots, music, action and parade of beautiful people and period heavies only now in a much more exciting locale!

Robert Urich was perfectly cast as private detective and Vietnam vet Dan Tanna, replete with a showgirl secretary, Beatrice and bumbling guy Friday, Binzer. Tony Curtis was really only present during the first season as casino owner Philip Roth, whose retainer to watch over his various Vegas hotel holdings basically allowed Dan to do a lot of pro-bono detective work. After appearing in the pilot, Greg Morris didn't join the regular cast as Lt. Dave Nelson until season 2 and then stayed through the series' end effectively replacing Tony Curtis' Roth as the authority figure in Dan's world. And no one could forget Tanna's amazing drive-in pad.

While there seemed to efforts to try and make Tanna a deeper character with complex emotions, we're talking seventies TV, so it was unfulfilled. Things had to be wrapped up with a neat, little bow in an hour with no time wasted on a character's personal struggles. Same thing with the plots which were great on the surface but rarely fully developed. But it was escapism at it's best given the setting and the setup.

Funny story, I went to Vegas when I was 16 in 1980 and my Dad kept teasing my buddy and me we'd see Dan Tanna. We went by the "warehouse" where he lived and it was there alright, right behind the strip but instead of a bachelors pad with cool antiques and props there was an older contractor inside smoking a cigarette and cutting a board with a power saw. He said he owned the warehouse and leased it to the "TV Folks". I did see some props, like a jet ski that you'd see hanging on the garage wall when Tanna pulled in..it was nothing more than a painted jet ski on a paper thin piece of wood. There were plastic plants in the planters outside though complete with the Desert Inn sign..Anyway, we left and were heading down the strip. There I sat, slumped down in the back seat, dejected that I'd never see Dan...when low and behold and pickup truck with a guy operating a film camera passes us. I look out the window and up pulls ol'Dan in his flame red t-bird..white suit jacket and a nun in the passenger seat! I was going to a catholic high school at the time so I said it figured there would be a nun involved. My buddy and I start hollering for my Dad to pull over because the entire film crew pulled into a nearby parking lot. While my Mom ran to get film from a souvenir shop, we ran over to the T-Bird. There it was, the car of my dreams in all it's glory with an overheated engine. The production director told us not to get to close, but we looked over and Urich was talking with the "Nun" while holding a script. WOW. We were in hog heaven. I talked to the guys about the car for about half an hour and they told me all kinds of things about it, like there were two of em..One stock for up close shots and another that was for stunts..it had a big dodge engine in it, and a button on the shifter that would lock the back wheels, so they could screech around corners. The guys also pointed out the hub caps were bolted on with tiny screws because they kept flying off during chase scenes. They also told me it was originally a white 57 that had been painted a 1978 corvette red rather than the flame red that ford produced. The funniest part of the whole day was that Urich was trying to lay low and had taken off his white jacket and was wearing a green dress shirts with blue tennis shorts and sneakers..As he was standing in the shade, a dozen or so Asian tourist saw him and the car and ran over like a buffalo herd yelling.."Dan Tanna" Dan Tanna!!!" Urich was swamped and signing autographs..one of the tourist showed me a piece of paper Urich had signed and he had written.."Dan Tanna" instead of "Robert Urich"..Anyway, I was thrilled to see the car and some 18 years later I found the car(s)..but thats another story for another time.

This had to be one of the coolest shows on television. The thing that really made it great was the pacing of the show and its mix of the old Las Vegas and what Vegas was becoming. The other thing that made this show what it was were the numerous cameos of some of the brightest stars that would appear in Vegas on a regular basis such as Dean Martin, Wayne Newton and other members of the Vegas elite. However, all the glitz and glamour would never have mattered if it wasn't for the late great Robert Urich who made this role his own.

I am very surprised that there are not several comments already on here about this show! Vega$ is one of the many, many, many Spelling Drama's. I don't know what it is with him, but the magic he makes when he creates a show is incredible! This particular show had most of what the rest of his hits & non-hit shows have...Style! Its simple, take a detective in Nevada, all the casinos, showgirls, the bad guys, & the late70's early 80's & you have Vega$. The show lacked in speed. It ran dry often. All & all though, it is a fun show. I look at it now & compare Vega$ to Vegas now. Anytime it airs give it a try. 1-10 (7)