I was sure that the last thing CBS or I ever needed was another crime show. Of the 21 hours of prime time programming CBS airs during the week, there are 12 original hours of cop shows, 2 hours of cop show repeats and 2 hours of original lawyer shows. That's a helluva lot of crime shows.
So why even bother giving one of their newest crime shows, Vegas, a try?
Well, the cast is enticing. Dennis Quaid is making his first regular television gig. Michael Chiklis is one of my unsing acting heroes. I've enjoyed the work of Jason O'Mara (Life on Mars, Terra Nova) and Carrie Ann Moss (Matrix franchise, Chuck).
I also thought the premise was intriguing: the cowboy sheriff of 1960's Las Vegas struggles to manage both a growing town and the growing influence of organized crime. This is something that I know little about and I like to learn. If I could be entertained while doing so, then all the better.
My only concern was what the format would be. Would it turn into CSI: The 60's or The Good and Dusty Wife? Would it focus on the crime solving procedural with just a little bit of serialized storytelling, or would it be a more homogenized mix of the two?
The pilot episode aired on Tuesday night, and I was pleased. The cast is uniformly strong with great performances coming from every corner. The productions values are high, but not inappropriate for the setting. The plot is overly focused on solving crimes, but not distractingly so; there is careful attention being paid to setting up long term stories between the characters which may.
Dennis Quaid is leading an excellent group of actors; Chiklis, Moss and O'Mara are expectedly good. The only unexpected part of these four is how much Quaid has turned into Harrison Ford. Twenty years ago, Ford would have starred in the movie version of this story. Quaid plays Ralph Lamb as an ornery cuss who is as worn as broken in and well oiled saddle. There's one moment as he looks in an open but unused grave that he allows a flicker of fear of what the future holds that is brilliant and can only come form someone as comfortable in these shoes as Quaid. There's some interesting performances from Native American actor Gil Birminham who acts as the natural database for our crime solving squad. Taylor Handley plays Quaid's son, and he is having nothing but a good time; it's almost enough to make you forget that he was once Oliver on The O.C. It's like he's bitter about losing the John Ross role on Dallas earlier this year, and is now giving it his all. The always great Michael O'Neill plays the growing town's Mayor, and he brings a nervous energy that is in direct and welcome opposition to the cooler heads of Quaid and Chiklis.
Vegas is set in 1960, when Las Vegas was just starting to be the city we now know it to be. This means a lot of the show is shot in the desert, and almost any small town will work as a substitution. There's an over reliance on digitally added neon signs on the beginnings of "The Strip" but they're not too distracting. The costuming is a lot more subdued than on Mad Men, say, but half the cast are cowboys and they notoriously conservative in dress. While nothing is sumptuous, there isn't one thing that pulls you out of the moment. In fact the subtlety is quite welcome: there's one sequence with Quaid on a horse and a shiny new airplane in the background that is really cool. That juxtaposition goes a long way to making the show something more special than just another run of the mill crime show.
But make no mistake, this is a crime show. Quaid's Lamb is roped into solving a murder within the first five minutes of the show. But I was absolutely fascinated by the crime solving procedures. It goes beyond the sort of cowboy crime solver that was on display this summer in A&E's Longmire. It chucks out everything we know about crime solving, and starts form scratch. This is the last gasp of a forgotten era frightened by the shiny noise of the future. I am sufficiently intrigued by the potential conflicts at play merely in the setting, and thrilled by the added concept of cowboys vs. gangsters, which gets minimal play in the pilot. This has potential to be a whole lot of fun.
I can see myself watching this for as long as CBS allows it to happen. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it.
Vegas airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on CBS. Episodes are available OnDemand and online at www.cbs.com/shows/vegas.
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