Little Fish  Season 1/Ep. 16

After a month-long break, Vegas returns to the airwaves.

Violet, the movie star we met last month wants to leave the Savoy and rent a house. Her manager says she won’t last a day without room service. The Lamb brothers arrest a man for having sex with a minor (she’s 17 going on 20). She’s not cooperating and Ralph just wants to know who her pimp is.

Jack comes clean to the DA and Kathryn about the death of Daddy Rizzo. The DA, who remember is in Savino’s back pocket, gives Jack a hard time. Kathryn is on Jack’s side as is Ralph. The DA is outnumbered, so he folds and this storyline basically comes to an end (except the Jack and Mia storyline will continue).

Welcome back, Vegas.

Wait, what’s this?  A title sequence (!!!!) that emphasizes gaming, smoking and guns. It’s a short title sequence, no shots of the stars, but it is a title sequence. Is CBS having second thoughts about canceling the show?

Ralph is still his usual taciturn self. Dixon is still chasing Violet and Jack is still in love with Mia. Which is pretty much the story tonight.

The john who got arrested at the top of the show is being grilled by Ralph when Agent Burns,on orders from the governor, offers the guy, who is a dealer at the Savoy, a deal, deal if he’ll roll on the syndicate. He agrees to and Ralph’s attempt to find out who the pimp is goes out the door.

The writing is not any better than it was a month ago, still pretty much superficial. Guess all the deep thinking went into the title sequence.

Jack tells Mia that they have an informant from inside the hotel and he tells her that Savino set up not only him but Daddy Rizzo. When she asks why she should trust him, Jack tells her he is still in love with her. Feel the heartstring tug?

No smiling Ralph. Mia asks Savino if he called her a rat. She gets the run around but not a denial. She doesn’t seem to notice that Savino didn’t actually answer the question.

Agent Burns tells Mia he is going to take her down unless she rolls over on Savino and if she doesn’t, she will spend her child-bearing years in prison.

Jack and Savino get into a fight. Jack gets in a punch or two as does Vince. Vince threatens Jack.  Are you worried? I thought not. This is not Vic Mackey making threats.

Savino calls the DA on the carpet because of Agent Burns. The DA balks at doing Savino’s dirty work. Savino puts the screws to the DA and tells him to get his hands filthy. Again, unfortunately, this is Vince Savino talking and not Vic Mackey, so there really won’t be any severe consequences or in-depth story telling.

Is it just me or did the music score on this show get better since the break? Not the historic songs but the music score.

Seems Miss Sanchez really just wants to sing on the stage, just one song. Dixon is surprised by how good Miss Sanchez can sing.

The girl at the top of the show, of course, wants out of her life as a prostitute. Ralph, of course, wants to help her, but only in fatherly fashion (it is Dennis Quaid after all). But first, her “mother” shows up to spring her from jail. Everyone falls for the mother routine, even Kathryn. The only ones who don’t are the viewers.

The “mother” delivers the girl to Mia, who gives her $3000 to go to Chicago, go to secretarial school and graduate. When she does, another $3000 will be sent to her.  Mia wants the charges dropped against the dealer so that the case goes away.

Jack bugged Savino’s office. He didn’t go to Vince’s office just to fight it seems. Is it legal, Ralph asks. It’s not illegal, Jack tells him. Aah, the early 1960s wiretapping.

Violet returns to Hollywood, leaving Dixon with a broken heart. Jack tells him to go get his girl with a cow analogy. That’s classy.

Mia has the dealer thinking she’s going to be lenient on him. She fires him and tells him to what will happen to him if he ever decides to talk. He gets a major beating.

She goes to see Jack and gives him a letter from the girl. She tells him she is safe and we see her on the bus. She tells Ralph who is looking for and where he lives. There’s a chase on fire escapes.

Miss Sanchez is going to LA with a side trip (and a shout out to Langer’s Deli in McArthur Park). The Savoy entertainment director seems a bit taken with Miss Sanchez.  Dixon hitches a ride with her to win Violet back.

The DA sends a package to Chicago (briefcase full of money) and then calls Savino which means the wire tap picks the call up.

But Jack does not recognize the DA’s voice. This is Vegas, after all.

And with that, the episode comes to an end.

Hit the comments and tell us what you think!

Vegas returns this Friday night, April 5th, at 9:00 pm as the lead-in to the popular Tom Selleck starrer, Blue Bloods.

The final six episodes of this freshman season will air in order without any more breaks. We, unfortunately, have other plans that preclude from us doing an immediate recap but

The show needs to garner ratings at least as good, if not better, than CSI: NY, in this current time slot. Right now, it is "on the bubble" as they say. Last week, CBS renewed over a dozen shows but Vegas wasn't one of them. So, it's now or never.

Stay tuned!

It was one of the first hotels on the famed Las Vegas Strip. With Bill Miller and Stan Irwin helming the Entertainment duties, it quickly moved to the forefront.

As it's popularity grew, so grew the hotel. Stan Irwin arranged for The Beatles to come to Las Vegas but quickly realized that the Sahara showroom would be too small. He arranged for the English mop-tops to stay at the hotel and they played the old Convention Center in 1964.

Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera and the Witnesses created the Las Vegas lounge scene when they started playing the Casbah shortly before Christmas in 1954. Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene and Don Rickles were the comedians they rotated with.

Johnny Carson graced the stage of the Congo Room (and was part owner of our independent televsion station, KVVU-5 that broadcast out on Boulder Highway).

Jerry Lewis brought his MDS Labor Day telethon (and many a star) from New York to the Sahara Space Center in the late 1960s.

The Sahara was home to fine dining at the House of Lords and you could have a mid-century modern dining experience at Don the Beachcomber.

For more on the history of the Sahara: http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/2008/1/22/the-swinging-sahara-hotel-history-1950s.html

The original camels and signage at the Sahara Hotel

Menu from Don the Beachcomber at the Sahara

It's really the House of Lords at the Sahara Hotel

Original rendering for the main lobby of the Sahara

The Congo Room at the Sahara Hotel

Aerial view of the Sahara Hotel before the Nascar and roller coaster were added to the front.

The original pylon sign for the Sahara

A blast from the past, the Halloween Love-In in 1967

Letters from the Sahara's pylon sign at the Neon Museum

We will miss the Sahara and her swinging history. How about you, share your memories of the "swingingest" hotel on the Strip!

How many of these do you remember?

We saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Hot Rock and on one particular New Year's Eve, The Poseidon Adventure at the wonderful Fox Theater.  Took the bus all the way from Charleston Heights. Afterwards, we went across the street to Macayo Vegas for Mexican food. I took guitar lessons at Ted Vesley's Music Store, also across the street.

How about you?

We had a Woolco at the corner of W. Charleston and Decatur. It was a giant store (today it is a Walmart). In the early 1970s, an underground blast at the Nevada Test Site rattled the Las Vegas Valley so badly it took out the front display windows.

Across the street (kitty corner) from the Woolco. Always loved that signage! (today it is a Walgreen's)

Across W. Charleston Blvd. from Nevada Savings, this Zick and Sharp building has always been a bank building but not always a Bank of America. I had my first checking account at this bank.

The wonderful Hill Top Supper Club out on the way to Mt. Charleston. They had frog legs on the menu, real frog legs.

Vegas Village in Commercial Square

Hit the comments and share your memories with us!

Well since we have no new episode of Vegas tonight, here are some images of classic Las Vegas:

Benny Binion's Horseshoe Club

The Ambassador Motel

Playing the slots