Monday, March 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOOTING STARS: Food Network's `$40 a Day' prepares to film episode

Considering Las Vegas' seemingly endless influx of high-end eateries, it's possible to spend $40 on a single menu item.

Food Network host Rachel Ray, by contrast, will limit herself to "$40 a Day."

Now in its third season, "$40 a Day" makes its second Vegas visit Tuesday and Wednesday, with an itinerary stretching from Bellagio's buffet to Stratosphere's X-Scream.

But the show also plans to venture away from traditional tourist areas, according to segment producer Alana Kerbein of Pie Town Productions.

"Part of the goal with our show is to go to a hot tourist area" and explore a variety of dining options, she explains. "Some are really popular and some are off the beaten track. A lot of it is about finding deals."

To that end, "$40 a Day's" dining options range from breakfast at Bellagio's pricey buffet to lunch at the Hard Rock's Mr. Lucky's 24/7 and dinner at the new tapas restaurant Firefly on Paradise.

In between, Ray will ride X-Scream, take a poker lesson at Excalibur and stop for at drink at the Hookah Lounge at Paymon's original Mediterranean Cafe on Maryland Parkway.

The half-hour Vegas visit will be featured on an upcoming edition of the show, which airs on the Food Network at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 a.m. Thursdays and 6 p.m. Saturdays.

Another Food Network show also rolls this week under the working title "Bobby Flay's Vegas Restaurant." The star chef's future Vegas venture is currently in the planning stages.

Background footage of the Strip, downtown and the Fremont Street Experience will be the focus of this week's shoot; the production will return to Las Vegas several times over the next several months, according to officials from the show's production company, New York-based Dan Cohen and Sons.

Meanwhile, out at Valley of Fire State Park, Ford's F-150 pickup truck stars this week in a regional TV commercial.

The spot's intended for TV audiences back East, notes associate producer Garrett Freberg of Oasis Productions, and will feature shots from several different locales, including Valley of Fire.

"It's one of my favorite places to work," Freberg says of Valley of Fire. "It's gorgeous and it's got a really great desert look."

(That explains why Valley of Fire has been a favorite locale for auto commercials since Shooting Stars started trucking back in 1995.)

Returning to Las Vegas, the reality-TV bandwagon rolls on with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" expected this week.

Forced to hit the trail while the show's crew transforms their abode, a Southern California family will visit Vegas during their temporary exile, according to ABC officials.

The BBC game show "Jet Set" also gets into the act this week, following a winning couple enjoying the perks of Vegas VIPs.

The show, geared for the European market, may include locations at Bellagio and The Venetian, along with other Strip locales, according to Nicholas Savalas, the show's Las Vegas-based location coordinator.

Speaking of Europe,"City of Illusion," for Europe's Arté network, moves into its second week of production on a TV special devoted to Las Vegas' magical past and present.

Last week, "City of Illusion" focused on, among others magical names, Monte Carlo headliner Lance Burton, the Tropicana's Rick Thomas, the San Remo's "Showgirls of Magic" and New York-New York's "Zumanity," along with Las Vegas-based performers Steve August and Maria Gara, alias "Snake Babe."

Bill Smith of Magic Ventures, who builds props for magicians, also participated in last week's filming, according to Las Vegas-based production coordinator Allen Dewey of Photographic Equivalents.

This week's schedule includes visits with the Amazing Johnathan, Harrah's favorite Mac King and "Splash's" Arian Black, as well as a return to a weekly gathering of illusionists overseen by Las Vegas magician Gary Darwin.

Although based in New York, director Charlie Atlas will head to Paris to oversee editing of the hour-long special, which is scheduled for a holiday season broadcast, Dewey notes.

Back on the domestic TV beat, the Sci-Fi Channel's "Scare Tactics" is scheduled to return this week to a favorite location, the PABCO gypsum mine. Fox's "Cops" continues its Metropolitan Police ride-along through mid-April, while the Discovery Channel's "American Casino" extends its stay at Station Casinos' Green Valley Ranch.

The all-Vegas satellite channel VTV, meanwhile, boogies into its third week of production on "The Night Club" Friday and Saturday nights inside OPM, located atop Chinois at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

And a half-hour NBC reality pilot featuring Jason Davis -- the 20-year-old grandson of billionaire businessman Marvin Davis -- hits town this week after a Southern California shoot last week. According to Internet reports, the show focuses on the young Davis' quest to prove to his entrepreneurial relatives that he has the chops to follow his dream of running his own hotel-casino empire. Which indicates, if the show makes NBC's schedule, that it will spend plenty of time shooting in Las Vegas. (Which is more than we can say for NBC's "Las Vegas," which films here only occasionally.)

Speaking of pilots, the doctor is in this week as staffers from CBS' upcoming "Dr. Vegas" -- which stars Rob Lowe as an in-house casino physician -- are expected to scout in-town locations.

The Warner Bros. Television pilot comes from writer-director John Herzfeld (whose credits include "15 Minutes," "Two Days in the Valley" and the Emmy-winning "Don King: Only in America") and producers Lawrence Bender (whose credits range from "Pulp Fiction" to "The Mexican," which filmed here), Kevin Brown and Mark Sennet ("Martin and Lewis").

As always, stay tuned to Shooting Stars for updates on "Dr. Vegas" and other upcoming Vegas projects.