Centurions at Caesars Palace surround "Queer Eye's" Carson Kressley. The cast filmed new episodes while in Las Vegas recently.

It was inevitable, really.

The fashion. The cuisine. The Liberace Museum.

The only surprise was that it took the boys from "Queer Eye" this long to get here.

The once-white-hot series, which kicked off its fourth season last week by making over Strip magician Max Clever, helps lovebirds Asher and Tsiliana elope with a Vegas wedding (10 p.m. Tuesday, Bravo) and gives a new look to local poker pro Ed Miller (10 p.m. June 20) before leaving Las Vegas.

And like generations of performers before them, the Fab Five have come to the Strip looking for a fresh start. It's not that their act has gotten tired; they've just become victims of their own success.

Where once the subjects of their makeovers looked panic-stricken as though they were being besieged by howler monkeys, they now throw open their doors like there's a Publishers Clearing House check on the other side. Or at least howler monkeys bearing gifts.

Carson Kressley, "Queer Eye's" "fashion savant" -- speaking on the phone from Pennsylvania in between working on his upcoming clothing line and competing in a horse show --acknowledges the change.

Now that "people know that they're going to get a wardrobe and a free sofa, there is a little bit more glee when we arrive." But in some ways that familiarity makes his job easier, he says, "because you're not worried about getting beaten up, which brings back all those fun high school memories."

It's not just that the reactions have changed, it's that the pool of available straight guys seems to be drying up. In the earliest -- and best -- episodes, Carson and pals would be as apt to find pizza boxes in the hamper and clothes in the fridge as in their rightful places. Now, thanks to the exposure the show provides -- not to mention the free sofa -- "Queer Eye" is attracting some fairly presentable types.

During the local audition process, I talked to a couple of Strip entertainers who were practically salivating over thoughts of what an appearance on the show could do for their careers. But Carson says the transformation process is still largely pure. "Most guys, 99.9 percent, have had a genuine desire to improve themselves."

During their three weeks here, the Fab Five -- which also includes "food and wine connoisseur" Ted Allen, "grooming guru" Kyan Douglas, "design doctor" Thom Filicia and "culture vulture" Jai Rodriguez -- had plenty of help from locals Lance Burton, Rita Rudner, Penn Jillette, George Wallace, David Brenner and Susan Anton.

They also picked up assists from Caesars Palace, the Forum Shops at Caesars, the Fashion Show mall, the Fantasy Suites at the Palms and the wine tower at Aureole. But for sheer giddiness, as someone who once made a second home there, nothing can match the scenes of the five of them running amok in the Silverton and the adjacent Bass Pro Shops.

This is all part of a production schedule that Carson says keeps the five of them as hands-on as they were in the beginning -- which means no outsourcing. "I'm there looking at every article of clothing," he says of the show's prep time. "It's still our primary focus and our primary job."

The one cheat he will admit to is the show's timing. Each episode is presented as one afternoon in the straight guy's life, but Carson says the makeovers really take an average of three days, or what he calls "one gay day."

"Queer Eye" may not be what it once was, but now that "Will & Grace" is gone it's the only source for your weekly fix of witty gay banter. (Although "Two and a Half Men" often comes close.)

Another example: Carson, still taken aback by the number of Cirque du Soleil shows in town, says he's waiting for one at the airport. "Dragone presents 'Baggage Carousel,' " he says. "I mean it's everywhere. Do they have one at the Albertsons, too?"

Still, if given the chance to use his superpowers to make over anything in town, he wouldn't take it. "I think kind of the whole idea behind Vegas is that it's kinda perfect the way it is," he says. "It's almost (like) the world's largest rhinestone. Does it need much more improvement than that?"

Getting "Dirty": The Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" features Randy "Turtle" Williams, who cares for all the birds in Lance Burton's show, and North Las Vegas' RC Farms, where pigs are treated to buffet leftovers (10 p.m. Tuesday).

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