TVSquad

NBC's Las Vegas ended abruptly in February with two couples -- Danny and Delinda and Sam and Vic (her deceased ex-husband's brother) -- just about ready to tie the knot. But the shocking news that Cooper had died in a plane crash blanketed the ceremony in a gloomy pall -- the same pall that Vegas fans felt upon learning that the series had been canceled. Here are my top six reasons why Las Vegas needs to come back for a wrap-up movie, if not another season:

1. Spin-Off Opp. A TV movie would be a great opportunity to spin Las Vegas into a new series for Josh Duhamel and James Caan. I've sorely missed watching Caan rough up the bad guys this season, and he and Duhamel would make a great P.I. duo, collaring modern-day Vegas criminals a la Crime Story's Lt. Torello. Are you listening, Michael Mann? Pretty please, with wing-tip shoes on top?

"This place is cursed." - Danny McCoy during the Las Vegas season series finale.

Danny couldn't be more right. Over the years, Las Vegas switched timeslots so many times that I've lost counts. It also went through as many casino owners as timeslots! No matter, the show was an entertaining one. It's the type of show I enjoyed watching on Friday nights (or in most cases Saturday afternoon thanks to my old VCR) because of its lightness. I didn't have to think much while watching the gang try to catch the bad guys, Delinda put her foot in her mouth and Sam try to please her whales so they would lose big bucks on the tables.

A few days after a cliffhanger season finale, NBC decided that fans would have to do without the Montecito crew from now on; Las Vegas was canceled.

Can you recall last Friday's episode of NBC's Las Vegas, the one that was touted as the show's season finale? Well, the network made a small grammatical faux pas. You see, they really meant to say that it was the 'series-finale-because-we're -canceling-the-damn-show' finale instead. You could see where the confusion was.

Yep, you read right. Straight from the The One Known As Ausiello we hear that the casino drama is ending its run after five years on the air. It's not like they didn't try to keep the series afloat after anchor star James Caan left last season. Heck, they replaced him with a fairly stoic Tom Selleck as owner of the Montecito. However, rather than increasing the ratings, the change led to a double-digit ratings decline.

Now that about half of the season of NBC's Las Vegas has aired, it is probably time to analyze if the series still works, especially since James Caan and Niki Cox have departed after the September 2007 season premiere.

Back when I reported the news that both actors wouldn't report, I was pretty sure the show would do fine without Cox but I wasn't sure it could survive Caan's departure, not only because his character was a pivotal one that brought a unique flavor but also because of Caan's presence on screen. Would they do the show without replacing Caan's role? If so, who had enough small screen star power and on-screen presence to fill in those shows? Well, that person turned out to me Magnum, P.I.'s Tom Selleck.

I just finished watching the now cancelled Viva Laughlin and I can totally understand why nobody watched the show. It was a total mess!

I was a fan of the BBC version (Viva Blackpool) and I really had high hopes for the Americanized drama. Sadly, the producers made way too many mistakes for this show to have even the slightest chance.

The first mistake they made was the decision to have the leads sing over the original songs. In the original version of the show, the actors lip-synced all the musical numbers which gave the show a really creepy quality. Especially when the male characters are doing a number like "These Boots Were Made for Walking." It was creepy and funny and weird and enjoyable to watch.

Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, Co-chairs of NBC Enterainment and Universal Media Studios, start off their first TCA executive sessoin by reading some programming changes.

Deal or No Deal is moving to Friday night at 8, providing a nice lead in for critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas, which has Tom Selleck joining its cast.

Isaiah Washington is going to join The Bionic Woman. He'll be in five of the first eight shows.

Thomas Magnum has a new job: he's going to be the new boss of the Montecito Resort and Casino.

Tom Selleck is joining the cast of the NBC drama Las Vegas this fall. He'll play the new owner of the casino, taking over from James Cann, who has left the show along with Nikki Cox. The only way the show was going to be renewed was to cut the budget, so they're gone (though I wonder how much Selleck will cost?)

This is good news for Selleck fans. It will be great to see him in a regular television gig again. Yeah, I kinda wish they'd bring Magnum, P.I. back for at least a reunion TV movie (as the years go by it looks less and less like that's going to happen), but this is a good replacement for now. Hopefully Rick and T.C. can make guest appearances.

(S03E03) Okay, after watching the first five minutes of this week's Boston Legal I have come to the conclusion that Jeffrey Coho is definitely the new Alan Shore, or at least his younger-looking identical twin. I came to this decision after the very first scene where he confronts Judge Brian Hooper, whose wife was shown murdered last episode. His inflections, his syntax, even his mannerisms all feel like Alan's. Not complaining, mind you, since Alan's tactics have, for lack of a better word, matured over the last three seasons. So, another maverick is welcome at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.

All right, let's move forward to murder, postnuptials, and The Badger.

U.S. News and World Report, which is right up there with Page Six as far as entertainment rumors are concerned, has an item in their "Washington Whispers" column this week that says Tom Selleck's name is being bandied about as Charlton Heston's successor as president of the NRA. Heston's been president for five terms, but will no longer be able to do the job due to the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

The reason why Selleck's name has come up is because he has been a member on-and-off for years and he currently is on the gun lobby association's board. But he may not make the cut because his "leading man" status will keep him from devoting the time needed to stump for the organization. I was going to say something snide here, but looking at Tom's IMDb profile, it looks like he's still the lead in a lot of projects (last year's Eisenhower biopic and the Jesse Stone TV movies being two examples). I'd like to see him take the job just so he can go on The View and mix it up with Rosie again. Not sure who would win in that fight.

[via The Huffington Post]

Jon started off by excitedly talking about the night's moustache guest, Tom Selleck. According to Jon, many celebrities look completely in person than they do on TV/film (he used himself as an example). Tom Selleck looks exactly as he appears on TV, one BAMF. In fact, Jon walked around backstage and saw Selleck wrestle a crocodile.

Tom Selleck is currently filming the second Jesse Stone TV movie for CBS (the first, Stone Cold, aired last year and was well received). This one is called Night Passage, and it's a prequel, showing how the character became Chief of Police in Paradise, MA.

I saw the first movie, and it was rather good. I'm still holding out hope for a Magnum, P.I. reunion movie, but this will do for now.