‘Good Behavior’ shooting in Vegas

A TV show about a family of lovable lowlifes trying to go straight? In Las Vegas?

The real question should be: Where else but Las Vegas?

ABC's drama pilot "Good Behavior," inspired by New Zealand's "Outrageous Fortune," checks in for a four-day visit spotlighting very Vegas locations from the Strip to the Fremont Street Experience.

Written by Rob Thomas ("Veronica Mars") and directed by "Desperate Housewives" Emmy-winner Charles McDougall, "Good Behavior" stars Catherine O'Hara as Jackie West, the matriarch of the shady West family, whose husband Dean (Gary Cole) has just been sent to the slammer.

That leaves Jackie trying to straighten out identical but total-opposite twins played by Patrick J. Adams (one's a petty crook, the other's a lawyer). "Caveman's" Stephanie Lemelin and "Arrested Development's" Mae Whitman play her daughters -- an aspiring model and brainy blackmailer, respectively.

Planet Hollywood Resort, a Strip condo development, the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, a downtown residential area and an industrial area west of the Strip round out the list of planned locations.

"Race" return: "Race to Witch Mountain," a big-screen update of the 1975 Disney favorite "Escape to Witch Mountain," ended a 10-day shoot earlier this month.

But that was the primary unit, featuring star Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) as a Vegas cabby who unwittingly becomes embroiled with two extraterrestrial teens.

Second-unit cameras, which capture footage that doesn't require the presence of the principal actors, have returned to Southern Nevada.

In addition to a downtown crowd scene scheduled to shoot Sunday, a second-unit crew is expected to film Monday and/or Tuesday throughout Valley of Fire State Park.

Death Valley drama: From Valley of Fire we move to Death Valley National Park, where visionary filmmaker Terrence Malick ("The New World," "The Thin Red Line") was expected to shoot scenes for "Tree of Life," a drama starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt -- the latter in a role the late Heath Ledger initially was slated to play.

The movie, which began shooting in Texas earlier this year, reportedly centers on a mythical tree reputed to possess supernatural powers.

Road warriors: Montreal's Ocean Films hits the Strip -- and the road -- this week for the Quebec cable series "Traveling in an RV," which visits Las Vegas (and the Grand Canyon) for an upcoming episode.

On the schedule: an interview with the folks from Cirque du Soleil. But of course: The Montreal-based troupe has become a Strip fixture, with five showroom extravaganzas now playing, plus two more coming soon.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or e-mail her at ccling@reviewjournal.com.