Monday, December 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOOTING STARS: Two reality-themed series prepare for 2004 launch

You can't have a high-stakes game with just one player.

And the high-stakes world of reality TV, Vegas-style, the competition has expanded from one to two.

Fox's previously announced "The Casino," a new 13-episode series from "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett, is expected to roll this spring at the Golden Nugget.

By that time, however, the Discovery Channel's "American Casino" will be well underway at Green Valley Ranch.

It ought to be -- the 13-episode series begins production Jan. 5, with shooting launching a week later, according to executive producer Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, which also produces Discovery's family reality show "American Chopper."

Piligian isn't worried about potential competition from Fox's "Casino," because "we do our own brand of reality," he says. "Bring it on. It doesn't bother us."

Fox's "Casino" will focus on Golden Nugget's transformation under new owners Timothy Poster and Thomas Breitling as they attempt to revive the Rat Pack vibe at the Glitter Gulch fixture.

"American Casino," meanwhile, will focus on the Fertitta family and its role in running the Green Valley Ranch branch of Stations Casinos.

"It's one of the last family-run outfits in Vegas," Piligian comments. And "there are a lot of elements when we pick a venue," he adds, including "the relationships with the brothers and the family and how they interface" with casino employees. In addition, Green Valley Ranch's off-Strip location and intimate size were factors in its favor, according to the executive producer. As for the Las Vegas area itself, "it's always an intriguing place to be," Piligian points out. "There's a lot of mystique to Las Vegas and a lot of interesting venues."

Green Valley Ranch's mystique -- and national profile -- increased exponentially last month after Michael Jackson ended his roundabout, two-hour, 30-mile freeway drive there following his return to Las Vegas from Santa Barbara, Calif., where he surrendered to authorities on child molestation charges.

"We chose it way, way before that," Piligian says of Green Valley Ranch's sudden notoriety, chuckling. "We just got lucky."

Discovery's "American Casino" is scheduled to shoot for 20 to 25 weeks; it'll begin its Discovery run in June.

"Casino," meanwhile, has no firm start date but is scheduled to air in summer of 2004.

As for this holiday week, there's precious little to report on the location front, except for an infomercial scheduled to shoot today at Rio Secco Golf Course, featuring resident pro Butch Harmon, whose past golf students include Tiger Woods.

And preparations already are underway for next holiday week's location lineup, with Fox scheduled to be in Las Vegas for not one but two productions: the "America's Party" New Year's Eve special on the Strip and an episode of "Cops," featuring Metropolitan Police Department officers dealing with all those Vegas party types.