Vega$ – The First Season, Volume One (aka Vegas/1978/CBS
DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C+
When the Spelling-Goldberg juggernaut was helping to make
ABC the #1 network, they decided to expand after the success of Charlie’s Angels with another sexed-up
crime drama where the mysteries were just about eclipsed by the sex and
flashiness of the set up. This time, the
show would take place in the original version of Sin City and make a star out of
up and coming character actor Robert Urich (Soap) and the resulting hit would
be Vega$.
Surprisingly, the series only lasted three seasons, but
the makers went all out in the beginning as we were reminded looking at The First Season, Volume One DVD set
CBS DVD just issued. Driving around in
his ’57 Thunderbird, Dan Tanna became an icon of the era, a slick detective who
did more thinking than he got credit for and certainly more sleeping around
than most TV detectives of the time.
Much money went into the pilot (included here) then the show moved on
with Tony Curtis and Greg Morris, as well as regulars Bart Braverman, Judy
Landers and Phyllis Davis.
Now a time capsule of the time as well as Las Vegas, the show has its moments, but was
never the most challenging show of its kind and was never intended to be. That could explain why it ended more quickly
than Charlie’s Angels, for which a
cross-over episode was arranged. The
show also had Will Sampson, Chuck Vennera and was created by a then
not-as-known Michael Mann, now a major filmmaker. But the camera liked Urich and he had many
more hit shows before his recent, sad death from cancer long before his time.
For all the poker and gambling interest out there, it is
surprising the show took this long to get to DVD, but here it is and you get
the first 11 episodes on 3 DVDs.
Sometimes campy, sometimes silly, Vega$
at least was trying to be entertaining and have a sense of humor and that is
sorely missing from TV today.
The 1.33 X 1 image was shot in 35mm film and these
transfers can be soft more than we would have liked, but the film sources are
clean and these look like new transfers.
Color and depth make up for the detail limits and of course, old Las
Vegas looks pretty good, though don’t expect color as good as the Blu-ray of
the Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas,
but we bet this show will look really good when a Blu-ray is issued. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is good for its
age and as clean as you have ever heard it.
The combination is consistently good between episodes. The only extras are promos for most episodes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
