‘Defenders’ debut grabs big audience

The debut last Wednesday of CBS' set-in-Vegas "The Defenders" with Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell averaged an impressive 12.08 million viewers.

It received mixed reviews. Brad Oswald of the Winnipeg Free Press described it as "both stylish and smartly entertaining" while combining "gritty courtroom action with the glitz and mischief of Las Vegas."

"O'Connell delivers a solid performance," added Oswald, "but it's Belushi -- yes, the same guy who seemed to be phoning it in for almost a decade's worth of 'According to Jim' -- who is the heart and soul of what could become an addictive 'Boston Legal'-sized hit."

Mandi Bierly of Popwatch.com called the premiere "enjoyable but not essential."

The show is based on Las Vegas law partners Michael Cristalli and Marc Saggese, who held their premiere party at Piero's Italian Cuisine on Wednesday night.

Earlier in the day, Belushi and O'Connell called Alan Stock's show on KXNT-AM, 840, to kibitz with Cristalli and Saggese.

Later, during the party, text messages kept pinging all night on Saggese's cell phone. Before the premiere was over, Saggese, whose character is played by O'Connell, had 40-some messages from well-wishers, including one from Fort Sam Houston in Texas.

It read: "My old Army buddy has gone Hollywood." Eight years ago, Saggese had served there as an on-post expert at legal issues on The Geneva Conventions on the Laws of War.

Piero's owner Freddie Glusman was beaming from the pre-show publicity. Belushi bragged about Piero's during a lead-in interview on KLAS-TV, Channel 8.

"He said he had never seen bigger martinis," said Cristalli, who was handed one of the sadistically strong bad boys moments after the premiere ended.

Before our chat ended, Cristalli remembered someone he wanted to thank in print: the guy who gave him a big break as a legal clerk.

"When I arrived in Vegas in 1995," Cristalli said, "I began working with Judge Joe Bonaventure almost immediately and stayed with him for a year. I was 24 years old. Judge B was a mentor to me, and I am grateful for the opportunity that he gave me."

THE SCENE AND HEARD

KLAS-TV, Channel 8, reporter Alyson McCarthy is leaving the TV business after 21 years in the Las Vegas market. She's moving to the newly created position of public relations coordinator with the Nevada Donor Network, a nonprofit organization in Las Vegas. She leaves KLAS, after eight years, on Oct. 8. Starting in 1989, her 12-year run at KTNV-TV, Channel 13, included weekend anchor/nightside reporter duties before moving to main weekday anchor and investigative reporting. ... "Divas Las Vegas" star Frank Marino, back home after two more surgeries, plans to reschedule his 25th anniversary on the Strip next month. He needed a second bladder operation and had a kink in his esophagus corrected after a setback that "turned my skin neon yellow."

SIGHTINGS

At Vanity (Hard Rock Hotel) on Saturday: Rob Dyrdek, hosting the official Street League afterparty, which included the winner, Shane O'Neil, fellow skater Felix, Monster drift champion Terry Kennedy and "Pawn Stars" Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison and Austin "Chumlee" Russell, who made it rain with $1 bills. Also spotted: Actor Taye Diggs and actress Meta Golding. ... Motocross and stunt star Travis Pastrana, celebrating his 27th birthday with friends at Moon (Palms) on Saturday.

THE PUNCH LINE

"In a very roundabout way, we were trying to put pressure on North Korea." -- From David Letterman's "Top Ten NFL Referee Explanations"

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.