‘CSI’ cameras to cruise the Strip

Cruising the Strip is a time-honored Vegas tradition -- one CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" plans to follow in the wee small hours Tuesday morning.

Starting about 2 a.m., "CSI" cameras will capture "a car driving up and down the Strip" -- a car to be driven in the scene by one of the show's investigators, according to "CSI" location manager Paul Wilson. The footage is destined for the show's seventh episode.

The actors won't be making the trek, however. Behind-the- wheel footage will be shot at Universal Studios, "CSI's" home base.

Ante up: NBC's late-night "Poker After Dark" returns to tape 10 weeks' worth of new episodes at the South Point.

The closed shoot, which was scheduled to begin Sunday, is expected to wrap Saturday at South Point's Events Center, featuring six-player, winner-take-all games. The new episodes will air starting in January.

"The South Point exhibit halls are so film-friendly," says Mori Eskandani, president of Las Vegas-based Poker PROductions, which produces the NBC show. "We love the place."

In addition to the games, the shoot includes a new opening sequence featuring an aerial view of the Strip, he notes.

Games people play: In Las Vegas, gaming generally means gambling. Unless it's the Major League Gaming Championships, which wrap up a three-day run at the Sands Expo Center with today's Halo 2 championship.

The competition will be taped for later telecast, according to producer Fred Boucherle.

"We would love for as many people to come out as they can," Boucherle says.

To that end, Vegas Background is looking for audience members to watch the action and blend in with the crowd.

For more information, call 866-5924 or go to www.vegasbackground.com and click on "Casting Calls."

Hair apparent: Speaking of Vegas Background, casting director Heather Sampson also needs a new group of men and women with receding hairlines for an upcoming informercial. (Those featured in a previous informercial will not be considered.)

For more information on the project -- and to register with Vegas Background -- click on "Casting Calls" at www.vegasbackground.com or phone 866-5924.

British invasion: Two British-based productions also turn up on the week's location calendar.

Headquartered at DreamVision Studios, the BBC's "The Real Hustle" continues an eight-week Southern Nevada visit.

And the Discovery Channel Europe series "Kings of Nitro," from London-based Gamma Project, zooms into town Saturday to follow Swiss drag racer Urs Erbacher as he prepares for next week's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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