Mark Turner *The following review is about the release of the complete series on disc* You may be wondering why I've been highlighting TV series being released on disc lately. The fact is that CBS has been releasing a large number of complete series at affordable prices, even though that $100 or more price tag seems high. When purchased as individual seasons most series can get pretty expensive and take up a lot of room on your shelf. So these new editions are a welcome treat for collectors and fans of those series. This week…VEGA$.VEGA$ was on TV fewer years than I remembered. In fact it only lasted three seasons. It was one of the many Aaron Spelling productions filled with great looking people, more often than not women, snazzy locations and filled with wealthy people. The situations found in this series didn't revolve around the mom and pops on vacation in Las Vegas but around the high rollers and celebrities there.Robert Urich starred as the good looking private detective Dan Tanna. Employed by hotel magnate Phillip Roth (Tony Curtis) his job was to do anything Roth required of him. In return he was allowed to remodel a warehouse owned by Roth's Desert Inn Hotel to use as his apartment, complete with a garage that was in his living room. Driving a red '57 convertible Ford Thunderbird, Tanna looked cool, acted cool and took on any and all bad guys. And when there wasn't a job for Roth to be done, he took on other clients as well.While Curtis only appeared in a few episodes at first and fewer later, there were plenty of guest stars on hand in this series. Each week another one had some problem for Tanna to take care of as well as several other guest stars either playing side characters or themselves as performers in town. The series also featured regulars in supporting roles including Phyllis Davis as an ex-showgirl and Tanna's right hand woman Beatrice, Judy Landers as a bubblehead second assistant and Bart Braverman as Binzer, a protégé of sorts for Tanna. On the police force Tanna counted on Bella Archer (Naomi Stevens) when he needed information and Lt. David Nelson (Greg Morris) when he needed bigger help.So what made the show special? Mostly the locations and the gorgeous people on display here. Urich was a handsome man and destined for leading man status. Davis and Landers were easy on the eyes. The scantily clad showgirls were on display long before the movie SHOWGIRL and with more on than that movie offered.The neon signs and flickering lights of Vegas began each episode. This was the sin city every mother warned her son about and every son flocked to. We never saw the underside of the town or where the normal folks like blackjack dealers or waitresses lived, those would be on display in episodes of COPS years later. No here we got to see the good looking side of Vegas where the high rollers swept in to be courted and played losing money in the process.Looking back what is truly interesting is the fact that the series captured Vegas as it was at the time. Having been there a few year after the show had been canceled it had changed in only a short period of time. And if you were to go there today it would look nothing like it did at either of those times. Vegas is a non-stop changing town.There was never anything too serious about the series, no life shattering world in danger type story. These were stories we'd grown used to and found comfort in when it came to mysteries and crime stories. They were stories that could be handled by a private eye and a few friends instead of the entire police force or military. Better than anything else is they were entertaining. It was the right combination of action, adventure, mystery and humor and it kept us coming back week after week but only for those three short years.If you were a fan of the show you'll be glad to find this box set available. The entire series, including the pilot which I was told was not available in the separate first season box, is on hand and for less than $50. So if this was one you loved then make sure you pick up this set, you'll be happy to find it fits easily on your shelf.

lfowden84 Used to watch the series on TV a long while ago.I have since visited Las Vegas and would love to see this series released on DVD. I have also bought through Amazon.com the VHS tape of the pilot movie.I have not watched it yet but am looking forward to it.I thought the drive- in garage into the living room was so "cool" but also unique.Only other car which did this was an episode of Everybody loves Raymond.Remember Doris Roberts expression when she realised she was in her son's living room?.Back to Vegas,I also always liked Robert Ulrich and enjoyed his acting in Spenser for Hire.Please " the power that be " release this ASAP. Ta very much. Millie

wizardgmb I just wanted to note a couple of errors in the comments by raysond and add a couple of comments of my own.Antonio Fargas was a guest star on Vega$ but never had a recurring role in the show. Bart Braverman played Dan Tanna's sidekick Binzer for the run of the show. Greg Morris played the proverbial police force contact for Tanna rather than his boss. Morris left the show after the second season and Naomi Steven's role was expanded to fulfill Tanna's need for somebody who could get the bad guy's records and deliver backup at just the right time. Tony Curtis, as Philip Roth, was as close as Dan Tanna had to a boss. Since Tanna lived on the premises of Roth's hotel, he had first dibs on his services but Dan was very much his own man.Poster raysond also suggests that Robert Urich subsequently reprised the Dan Tanna role in the Spenser for Hire television series. Vega$ was actually a reprise of the Dan Tanna character which had first appeared in Charlie's Angels. However, the only commonality between Vega$ and Spenser for Hire was Urich's tough guy personality. Both shows had their own very unique styles, having to do as much with the values and lifestyle of the lead character as with their vastly different locales. Vega$ was the product of David Mann who would go on to greater fame as the creator of Miami Vice, another show that was known as much for its back drops as its actors and scripts.Spenser for Hire was based upon the Boston private investigator in a series of novels by author Robert Parker (Parker continues to write Spenser novels although the character is getting a bit old in the tooth:)). As much as Vega$ and Miami Vice were dependent upon their backdrops: locales, clothing and vehicles; Spenser for Hire was dependent upon character and dialog. This was due in part to the ongoing participation of Robert Parker who is known for very well crafted dialog. The show was as much about Spenser's relationship with sidekick Hawk and love interests Susan and Rita as it was about the cases he handled. Urich played Spenser in four TV movies several years after the series ended.Urich was a good actor who could be depended upon to deliver a credible performance in whatever role he took on. He will never be mentioned in the same breath with a Jack Nicholson or Clint Eastwood but his presence on the small screen has certainly been missed.

delattig Funny story, I went to Vegas when I was 16 in 1980 and my Dad kept teasing my buddy and me we'd see Dan Tanna. We went by the "warehouse" where he lived and it was there alright, right behind the strip but instead of a bachelors pad with cool antiques and props there was an older contractor inside smoking a cigarette and cutting a board with a power saw. He said he owned the warehouse and leased it to the "TV Folks". I did see some props, like a jet ski that you'd see hanging on the garage wall when Tanna pulled in..it was nothing more than a painted jet ski on a paper thin piece of wood. There were plastic plants in the planters outside though complete with the Desert Inn sign..Anyway, we left and were heading down the strip. There I sat, slumped down in the back seat, dejected that I'd never see Dan...when low and behold and pickup truck with a guy operating a film camera passes us. I look out the window and up pulls ol'Dan in his flame red t-bird..white suit jacket and a nun in the passenger seat! I was going to a catholic high school at the time so I said it figured there would be a nun involved. My buddy and I start hollering for my Dad to pull over because the entire film crew pulled into a nearby parking lot. While my Mom ran to get film from a souvenir shop, we ran over to the T-Bird. There it was, the car of my dreams in all it's glory with an overheated engine. The production director told us not to get to close, but we looked over and Urich was talking with the "Nun" while holding a script. WOW. We were in hog heaven. I talked to the guys about the car for about half an hour and they told me all kinds of things about it, like there were two of em..One stock for up close shots and another that was for stunts..it had a big dodge engine in it, and a button on the shifter that would lock the back wheels, so they could screech around corners. The guys also pointed out the hub caps were bolted on with tiny screws because they kept flying off during chase scenes. They also told me it was originally a white 57 that had been painted a 1978 corvette red rather than the flame red that ford produced. The funniest part of the whole day was that Urich was trying to lay low and had taken off his white jacket and was wearing a green dress shirts with blue tennis shorts and sneakers..As he was standing in the shade, a dozen or so Asian tourist saw him and the car and ran over like a buffalo herd yelling.."Dan Tanna" Dan Tanna!!!" Urich was swamped and signing autographs..one of the tourist showed me a piece of paper Urich had signed and he had written.."Dan Tanna" instead of "Robert Urich"..Anyway, I was thrilled to see the car and some 18 years later I found the car(s)..but thats another story for another time.