VEGAS - tv pilot - cbs
Season- 2012- 2013
Ex. Prods. Greg Walker, Nicholas Pileggi, Arthur M. Sarkissian, Cathy Konrad, James Mangold, Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis, Carrie Ann-Moss
The idea for Vegas first came to Pileggi while he was researching the book Casino, and as a result of his research into the Las Vegas of the 70s and 80s, he decided to also write about the city in the era of the 60s. However, it was 25 years before the idea came to fruition as a TV series. Pileggi had initially planned to write the idea as a movie but found it difficult to make it work in the traditional three-act cinema form. Watching The Wire convinced him that the long-form TV series was a more suitable creative outlet for the story.
Set in 1960s Las Vegas, the series centers on Sheriff Ralph Lamb (Quaid) and his dealings with Chicago mobster Vincent Savino (Chiklis), who moved west to set up his own operation. The Lamb character is based on a real-life former rancher of the same name who served as Sheriff of Clark County from 1961 to 1979.
Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis star in VEGAS, a drama inspired by the true story of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher tasked with bringing order to Las Vegas in the 1960s, a gambling and entertainment mecca emerging from the tumbleweeds.
Ralph Lamb wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is now swelling with outsiders and corruption which are intruding on his simple life. Recalling Lamb's command as a military police officer during World War II, the Mayor appeals to his sense of duty to look into a murder of a casino worker - and so begins Lamb's clash with Vincent Savino, a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own. Assisting Lamb in keeping law and order are his two deputies: his diplomatic, even-keeled brother, Jack, and his charming but impulsive son, Dixon.
Ambitious Assistant District Attorney Katherine O'Connell, who grew up on the ranch next to the Lambs, also lends a hand in preserving justice. In VEGAS, two powerful men - Lamb and Savino - are engaged in a fierce battle for control of the budding oasis, and for both of them, folding is not an option.
