Before "C.S.I." and "Las Vegas," there was ABC's "Vega$."
Aaron Spelling's fascination with Las Vegas turned into a three-year prime-time show that was equal parts glitz and grit.
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"Aaron loved Las Vegas. I got the impression he wanted to live here," film legend Tony Curtis recalled Saturday. Curtis played casino mogul Philip Roth the first season of "Vega$."
Spelling, one of Hollywood's most prolific TV producers, died Friday at age 83 in Los Angeles.
Robert Urich played private detective Dan Tanna, who chased criminals and chicks in a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. His office was in the Desert Inn, and his home featured a living room drive-through.
"Vega$" was among Spelling's assembly-line TV hits that ran the gamut from "Love Boat" to "Fantasy Island," "Starsky and Hutch," "Charlie's Angels" and "Beverly Hills 90210."
Spelling and co-producer Duke Vincent named the star of "Vega$" after Dan Tana's restaurant, one of their favorite L.A. haunts.
They based the detective's life on real-life Las Vegas private investigator Eddie La Rue, a leg man for everyone from Elvis to then-mob attorney Oscar Goodman.
"Some (Hollywood) people came and talked to me and followed me around for a week or two," La Rue, 65, said by telephone Saturday.
"Vega$" didn't make an early impression on Burton Cohen, longtime president and CEO of the Desert Inn.
"I had seen the pilot they shot at the Maxim and a warehouse. Aaron and Duke came up to my office and asked if I had seen the pilot.
"I said 'Yes,' and I told them I thought it sucked. Aaron got up and came over kissed me on the cheek.
"He said, 'If you had liked it, we would have missed our target audience,'" Cohen said.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Olivia Harrison, widow of The Beatles' George Harrison, says Las Vegas was the third choice for the Cirque du Soleil show "Love." (The Mirage). She told Newsweek's Las Vegas freelancer Steve Friess: "When George was alive, there was a plan to create it here in London. That didn't happen, and then it was going to be in New York, and, of course, September 11 happened, and that was a very difficult time."...
Civil rights icon Vernon E. Jordan Jr. presents the inaugural Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Civic Award to Las Vegan Robert Siller tonight at the Urban League dinner at Bellagio. Siller, former head of the Las Vegas FBI office, is a member of the state Gaming Control Board.
SIGHTINGS
Leonardo DiCaprio, taking in the 10:30 p.m. performance Saturday of "O" (Bellagio) with four friends, including his new girlfriend, Bar Refaeli, a 20-year-old Israeli swimsuit model. ... Adam Levine of Maroon 5, dining at N9ne Steakhouse (Palms) on Friday with family and friends. The band is working on its new album at the Palms studios. At another table: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, having dinner with Palms owner George Maloof. They ended up at Tryst (Wynn). ... At Stack (The Mirage) on Friday: Former NBA star Spud Webb, downing Kobe chili dogs. Also there: Former UNLV basketball star Greg Anthony and Robert Horry of the San Antonio Spurs. ... At Light (Bellagio): ultimate fighter Chuck Liddell. ... Boxer Antonio Tarver, at OPM (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Friday.
THE PUNCH LINE
"The U.S. finally has an exit strategy. Unfortunately, it's for the World Cup." -- Jay Leno
