"Viva Laughlin" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

Sin has a new city
http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/viva_laughlin03.jpg
"The hotel Viva, anything you desire, all under one roof. Let the dream begin."VIVA LAUGHLIN is a mystery drama with music about eternal optimist and freewheeling businessman Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen), whose sole ambition is to run a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Occasionally using upbeat contemporary songs to accentuate the drama and humor and to advance the story, the series is based on the hit BBC show "Viva Blackpool." Ripley is the ultimate gambler with an infectious personality who is on the brink of making a killing... just as soon as he opens his casino that's nowhere near completion. When his financing suddenly falls through, the fearless and tenacious Ripley approaches his enemy--dashing, sarcastic, wealthy casino owner Nicky Fontana (Hugh Jackman), and his lieutenant Marcus (DB Woodside), for help. Though the odds are stacked against him, Ripley doesn't miss a beat, even when he becomes embroiled in a murder investigation headed by Detective Carlyle (Eric Winter) after the body of his ex-business partner is found at his club.

At home, Ripley uses his dry wit to adjust to the demands of his family: his gorgeous wife Natalie (Mädchen Amick) wants more attention; his teenage daughter Cheyenne (Ellen Woglom) wants his approval; and his son Jack (Carter Jenkins) wants to help him at work. All of this adversity would defeat a lesser man, but for the outgoing and passionate Ripley there's no such thing as bad news; only deals to be struck and wagers to be won in the intoxicating neon glow of Laughlin, where the cards are on the table, romance is in the air and music is on the stage.

The final piece of the fall schedule puzzle is fit into place tonight after CSI. After tonight, Viva Laughlin will settle into its 8 p.m. ET slot on Sundays, so be sure to tune in again for the second episode of the series on Oct. 21!


Tonight's episode...
"Pilot" - Series Premiere
Thursday, October 18, 2007 @ 10 p.m. ET/9 CT on CBS
When the financing on Ripley Holden’s new casino falls through, he approaches his rival, Nicky Fontana, for help. Things get even more complicated for Ripley when his former business partner turns up dead.

CBS.com - Viva Laughlin (http://alpha.cbs.com/primetime/viva_laughlin/)

[The Penguin]

Soooo, no one watched this? :shrug: With a second episode tonight, I'm going to wait before I pass a final judgment. I thought it was good and I think it could be good, but it didn't really wow me.

The singing angle was neat, but didn't play quite the role I expected it to. I can't really say what I expected, but I didn't think this was it. I think I was thrown by the characters singing along with the words rather than just singing. Good song selections though.

Perhaps I will see some of you tonight. Pending the end of the football, Viva Laughlin's second episode airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

[The Penguin]

On Thursday, Ripley Holden "Let It Ride" at Nicky Fontana's casino to make some extra money to save Viva. Now he needs to get people inside.

http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/viva_laughlin07.jpg
"What a Whale Wants"
Sunday, October 21, 2007 @ 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on CBS
Ripley tries to steal a famous high-roller from Nicky’s casino in order to attract business to the Viva. William Mapother guest stars.

[Lord Dalek]

And... CBS just cancelled it. No surprise.

[Blackstar]

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never even heard of this series before today, when I read that it had been canceled. Perhaps that's one thing that led to Viva Laughlin's early demise; the lack of promotion.

[The Penguin]

"How long can we hold out?"
"A week, tops."

As long as this thread came up, I did enjoy the second episode (although I'm guessing no one else here even watched it), the plot really kept moving with Det. Carlyle trying to get closer to Natalie to see what he could find out about Ripley; Jack finding a gun in the family garage and Ripley pulling a con on Nicky and Marcus with his buddy to get business to Viva.

I was going to make my final decision next week, but it seems CBS made that for me. I really enjoy shows with one big puzzle and I'm willing to forgive other things because of it.

It sounds like Brothers & Sisters would love to have Eric Winter back so he may be okay. I hope that 24 didn't leave D.B. Woodside behind just for this show though.

Going to CBS.com, they're really serious about cancelling Viva Laughlin, the site has been completely removed. The link is gone from navigation and I couldn't bring up an inside page either.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never even heard of this series before today, when I read that it had been canceled. Perhaps that's one thing that led to Viva Laughlin's early demise; the lack of promotion.I was interested in this show when I read about it this summer, but as a regular viewer of three CBS show plus football and 'test driving' a couple of new CBS shows for a few weeks, I saw a fair amount of advertising. Obviously they didn't connect. As I said in the TV Season 2007-08 casualty list (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=199661) thread, I think debuting last actually hurt the show because a lot of viewers were already set in what they were watching and weren't watching.


A newspaper headline in Sunday's episode fits what happened here perfectly, Viva Craps Out.
credit TVGuide.com (http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Roush-Dispatch/Viva-Dead-Long/800025298)