Green Valley Ranch executives Joe Hasson and Ninya Perna are two of the "characters" featured in "American Casino." Photo by KEITH SHIMADA/REVIEW-JOURNAL

Just as there are people who are convinced the Montecito they see on "Las Vegas" is a real place, there are apparently plenty who believe the Green Valley Ranch they see on "American Casino" is not.

"Every five to 10 minutes, someone will say 'We weren't sure if this was all real and we weren't sure if the characters were real,' " says Joe Hasson, vice president and general manager of the resort and one of the "characters" featured on the reality series that returns with new episodes on Wednesday (8 p.m., Travel Channel). "There are many people that aren't sure. 'Does the resort genuinely exist? Are the people actors?' "

They can be forgiven for doubting the "reality" of the reality series after the debacle of Fox's "The Casino," which debuted 10 days after "American Casino" in June 2004 with an emphasis on swingers, escorts and other segments of the skeevier side of the Golden Nugget's clientele. The staggering coincidences were a bit much, too. (Cameras followed a blonde dreamer as she drove across the desert to Vegas. She soon "ran into" the Nugget's then-owners, Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, and was invited to sing onstage with Matt Dusk.)

"I've seen the shows where the interesting convergence of the general manager, the high roller, the person that may have had a little too much indulgence, the strange character that only casinos know too well, somehow they all come together in a crystallizing moment," Hasson says. "And my point would be, that really doesn't happen."

As for the reality "American Casino" has presented, "everything was pretty dead-on," says hotel manager Ninya Perna, who became one of the show's most recognizable personalities thanks to her battles with her boss, the late Michael Tata. ("What a wonderful tribute that is to his life," she says of the vice president of hotel operations who died in July 2004, that his last six months were caught on tape "doing something that he enjoyed so much.")

The attention the show has provided has been a mixed blessing for Perna. She says she avoided a ticket when the officer who pulled her over for speeding recognized her. She's also experienced the creepy side of fame.

"There's been some weird ones, you know, who send you e-mails (that say) 'I watched you in the lobby for three hours, yet didn't want to interrupt.' " Not that she even reads her e-mail much anymore, after receiving 1,600 to 3,000 a day as the initial episodes aired.

Hasson, who started working at Green Valley Ranch on Jan. 1, 2004, the day filming began, is dealing with his own newfound celebrity. A few months ago, he was eating lunch with Reggie Jackson in New York. "People would come up to our table and say, 'Aren't you the guy from "American Casino"?' And I'm thinking to myself, are you kidding me? I'm sitting next to Mr. October, in New York City" and people approached him instead of Jackson. "That catches me off guard."

Since being acquired by the Travel Channel from corporate sibling the Discovery Channel on June 1, "American Casino" reruns are averaging about 260,000 viewers, says Travel Channel spokesman James Ashurst. He calls the show "a strong lead-in to our World Poker Tour franchise," the channel's highest-rated show.

In a win-win scenario, a rarity for anything involving a casino, the series has paid off big for Green Valley Ranch as well.

"I can't even tell you what a marketing tool this has been for the hotel and how much awareness it's brought," Perna says.

That awareness has translated into visitors who say they came to the resort, whether they believed it existed or not, because of the show. "That is an every day, an every hour, an every 10 minute event," Hasson says.

Adding to the confusion: In an episode sure to help blur the line between the real Vegas and the fake one, Lance Burton, Robert Goulet, Joe Maloof and Phil Maloof guest star on "Las Vegas" (9 p.m. today, KVBC-TV, Channel 3).

Can't win 'em all: After I raved last week about "Arrested Development," the series returned with what may have been its two least accessible episodes for newbies. Fox promptly took it off the air for the remainder of November sweeps and cut its season to 13 episodes. The series is set to return Dec. 5.

Christopher Lawrence's Life on the Couch column appears on Mondays. E-mail him at clawrence@reviewjournal.com.