Monday, February 02, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOOTING STARS: Production on 'The Casino' set to begin at Golden Nugget

Timothy Poster, left, and Thomas Breitling , the co-owners of the Golden Nugget, will be at the center of the new reality series "The Casino" airing this summer on Fox.

Reality reigns this week on location in Las Vegas -- or at least what passes for reality in the genre known informally as "reality TV."

Leading the charge: "The Casino," a new 13-episode Fox series from "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett, which launches production today at the Golden Nugget.

The show, scheduled for a summer debut, focuses on the Nugget under new owners (and Internet pioneers) Timothy Poster and Thomas Breitling, who hope to transform the Glitter Gulch landmark into a hip destination reminiscent of Las Vegas' Rat Pack heyday.

As for why that's worthy of a network reality series, "Las Vegas is like a magnet," Burnett explains in a news release. "The city attracts people from all over the world with two things on their mind -- getting rich quick and having as much fun as possible in a short period of time."

And it's "the magnetism of Las Vegas that we will try to capture on camera," Burnett promises, "as we tell the story of two young entrepreneurs who found remarkable success during the Internet boom and are now living out their dreams of owning a Las Vegas casino."

Camera crews have been shadowing Poster and Breitling for the past few weeks, getting preliminary footage for the show.

This week, however, the action shifts to the casino itself, with the emphasis on visitors and employees alike.

"The Casino" plans to showcase a variety of colorful characters.

One of them: Las Vegan Dan Sherbondy, whose locally produced comedy romp "The Dan Show" resumes filming this week.

This week, "The Dan Show" plans a variety of hidden-camera tricks in restaurants, "so beware," warns Sherbondy. Another planned skit finds Sherbondy portraying Saddam Hussein, who's holed up in a cave and touting "Saddam Perignon" champagne.

This week's broadcast (1 a.m. Saturday on KVVU-TV, Channel 5) also will feature Sherbondy announcing a $50,000 reward to anyone who introduces him to the woman of his dreams.

"I'm searching for my dream girl," he says. And he figures offering a $50,000 reward "is cheaper than buying drinks and dinner for years."

Sherbondy's search already has attracted attention -- from none other than "The Casino," which has cast him as a featured character, he notes. "Casino" cameras are scheduled to follow him next week as he tapes his comedy show -- and searches for his dream girl.

"They're looking for anybody who has a different story," Sherbondy notes.

Meanwhile, back at Green Valley Ranch Station, the Discovery Channel's "American Casino" -- from the folks who brought you "American Chopper" -- begins its fourth week of production at Green Valley Ranch.

"The Casino" is scheduled to shoot through March 16; "American Casino," another 13-episode series, is expected to roll through May and begin its Discovery run in June.

Super Bowl Sunday, meanwhile, marked the scheduled end of production -- very appropriately -- for a Showtime reality pilot titled "The Whale Hunter," focusing on the everyday life of a casino host.

And the MTV reality pilot "Ultimate Party" also has a tentative Vegas date this week, with the Fremont Street Experience among the expected shooting sites for a show devoted to exotic party locations.

An overseas reality show, meanwhile, joins the Vegas party this week: Britain's "I'd Do Anything," a Saturday-night BBC "wish-fulfillment program" geared toward transforming a special someone's dreams into reality. (Following a series of mental and physical challenges, that is.)

The Vegas visit involves a grandmother eager to make her granddaughter's dream come true. Among the expected stops: the Fremont Street Experience, a ride on the Stratosphere's High Roller and shopping at a local outlet mall.

But the highlight of the journey will be a Thursday trek to Caesars Palace to see Colosseum headliner Celine Dion -- followed by a "meet and greet" with the singer herself.

"It's a great show, family-oriented, and it gets fairly decent ratings," notes Dion spokeswoman Kris Lingle. "We do what we can to help."

Dion "does get quite a few" such requests, Lingle adds, and chooses which she'll do "based on timing. This one worked out."

While we're on the subject of timing, it's time to catch up on some location work last week that materialized too late to meet the previous Shooting Stars deadline.

The activity centered on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a veritable hotbed of location work thanks to NASCAR test sessions at the track.

Among the projects visiting the Speedway last week: the Speed Channel's reality series "NBS 24/7," following driver Kasey Kahne, who's moving up to the Nextel Cup circuit from the Busch Series; "Extra," which captured NASCAR stars Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson in action (at the track and at the Sahara's NASCAR Cafe); and Fox Sports Net's "Beyond the Glory," focusing on defending NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth and his wife, Katie. They'll all be back March 7 for the annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.