SHOOTING STARS EXTRA: CBS picks up Vegas law series ‘Defenders’

It's official — or at least as official as unofficial word can be. CBS has another set-in-Vegas series on its schedule.

"Defenders," a new legal drama with James (which means he's serious) Belushi as a hard-charging Las Vegas defense attorney, has reportedly made the network's fall schedule.

Directed by "Inconvenient Truth" Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, the pilot filmed on the Strip and at Planet Hollywood, with Belushi as boozy Nick Mancini, the one with marital problems, and Jerry O’Connell as player Pete Kaczmarek.

But O'Connell's name hasn't surfaced in today's reports of the "Defenders" pick-up; instead, "Life on
Mars' " Tanya Fischer is listed as Belushi's co-star, along with all-grown-up "Eve's Bayou" star Jurnee Smollett.

One of the show's biggest names, however, is an off-camera one: executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, who's also a producer for CBS' long-running set-in-Vegas hit "CSI." 

As we all know, however, just because a show's set here doesn't mean it films here; "CSI" makes a few location visits a year but shoots primarily in Southern California.

Stay tuned to Shooting Stars for official details on the "Defenders" pick-up ...