Monday, June 14, 2004 | 8:13 a.m.
Las Vegas has proven to be quite a draw for television programs.
There are endless documentaries about the city on cable, including "American Casino" on the Discovery Channel, the original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS, along with the hit nighttime drama, "Vegas," on NBC.
Now reality-TV godfather Mark Burnett is taking his turn at a Sin City series with "The Casino."
More of a documentary-style show, more similar to "The Restaurant," than an elimination series such as "Survivor," "The Casino" is a 13-week chronicle of new Golden Nugget owners (and best friends since college) Tim Poster, 36, and Tom Breitling, 35.
Beyond Poster and Breitling's ordeals in running the hotel, "The Casino" will also feature side stories centering on Golden Nugget employees, guests staying and gamblers.
It's a sure bet "The Casino" will have loads of glitz and glamour, drama and, of course, sex.
As the show is set to premier tonight at 9 on Fox, (Channel 5), the Las Vegas Sun recently met with the Golden Nugget owners in Breitling's stylish office complete with a pool table with the hotel's logo in the center, a wall-mounted widescreen plasma TV set to Fox news, and a stack of paintings and photos that have yet to be hung to talk about the series.
Las Vegas Sun: Have you seen the show?
Tom Breitling: I've only seen bits and pieces, mostly just promotional shots.
Tim Poster: It looks pretty exciting. I've got mixed emotions about it. I'm excited about the show, but I don't remember every little thing that was filmed. We'll be as surprised as anyone else by what gets on the air.
Sun: Are you excited about the series?
TB: Anxious. Las Vegas is the perfect backdrop for the show, especially with Tim and I taking over the Golden Nugget. I think it's going to be a great show.
TP:: The cameras were with us so many days. For every episode, there's 43 minutes of air time ... but they filmed thousands and thousands of hours. Who knows what made the cut?
Sun: How much of a voice, if any, did you have over what can be shown?
TP:: Any editorial control we had is that our lawyers were able to vet the episodes to make sure there nothing improper or illegal was going on.
Sun: By "vet" you mean?
TP::: Vet means to qualify it.
TB: They (the lawyers) wanted to make sure it met with gaming regulations and to protect our license. But after that, it's a realistic expose of life in Las Vegas and life in a casino.
Sun: Before filming "The Casino," were either of you fans of reality TV shows? TP:: I really got into the whole "Survivor" thing. But Tom agrees, neither one of us have a whole lot of time for TV. Once we met Burnett, they sent a lot of tapes of "The Restaurant" and I started watching "The Apprentice." I think that's really good.
TB: I really do like reality television (and) I think it's a unique show in that it blends the world of business and how Tim and I operate this casino ... with the world of the customers and tourists who come to town. Mark Burnett likes to tag this as "Love Boat" on steroids. It's all the sexiness, edginess and excitement of Las Vegas brought to consumers in a real-life format. It's nonstop action.
Sun: Some critics of reality TV maintain that the shows are anything but realistic, and are scripted and staged just as with sitcoms. Was that the case with "The Casino"?
TP: There's absolutely no acting or script at all. There are 18 camera crews in the building 24 hours a day; cameras catch whatever they catch. That's the deal.
As far as the editing they did, they're going to pick and choose the most entertaining footage they had.
TB: There was no shortage of material.
Sun: So the cameras were on you almost the entire time?
TP: Pretty much when I left the house in the morning to when I left the casino.
TB: There were many days I when I woke up and the cameras were there and when I went to bed the cameras were there.
TP: That was our biggest challenge: prioritizing our time. There was so much to do that we were just doing our best to get through it all, from a work perspective, while the cameras were on us.
Sun: Did the cameras seem invasive?
TB: It was definitely a little bit of an invasion of privacy.
TP: Not a little, a lot. We had a day off: Wednesdays. There was no filming, except when they needed something, which was most Wednesdays.
We traveled with an entourage (of camera crews) wherever we were going. It made it a little tough. Where we might have gotten used to it, others didn't want to approach us with the lights and cameras.
TB: Some people would run. Others would be drawn to it.
But they (the crew) did a good, though. Some of the crew worked on "The Apprentice." They went from New York to Las Vegas. For them, the show was just another extension of a set.
TP: It was a challenge. We go head-to-head a lot over business decisions and they captured that.
Sun: Did the show create rift in your friendship?
TP: Not in our friendship, but when it comes to business, we make the best decisions possible.
TB: That was the deal. We couldn't tell them to get out (during arguments).
Sun: For the show, a set, Pit 5, was created to film patrons playing blackjack and craps. How did the clientele react to being filmed while gambling?
TP: I thought that would scare people away. Who wants to play blackjack on camera? But I couldn't have been more wrong. Even during the 5 a.m. graveyard, the pit would be packed. It's a real study on the human condition. What people will do to get on TV was amazing. Some people would come dressed as Elvis or Hugh Hefner.
TB: If they showed everything that got on camera, it definitely would be too hot for Fox.
Sun: I'm sure you plan on watching every episode.
TB: Oh, yeah. We'll have a lot of different viewing parties throughout the summer.
Sun: As reality shows are being released on DVD, the trend is to have the participants provide running commentary. Would you guys be willing to provide commentary on "The Casino" if it comes to DVD?
TP: There's quite a bit of narration and commentary directly from both of us on the show. That was part of the episodes.
Sun: Would you consider doing another season?
TP: I think part of the appeal of the show and Mark Burnett coming to do the show was to document the challenges dealing with taking over the operations. If I do it again next year, the newness isn't part of the show any longer.
I think the real draw of the show is Las Vegas itself. Then the Golden Nugget and what goes on here. Then it's Tom and I. Tom and I are the Captain Stubings of the show. The Golden Nugget is the Love Boat. Our guests are the guest stars.
Sun: Do you think the show will have an impact on the Golden Nugget?
TB: I do. The Golden Nugget ... there's such a great history here. It really is an easy joint to be comfortable in. There's an intimacy and such a premium on customer service. People will see this.
Sun: Have you considered how the show will impact your personal lives?
TB: We're focused on the future and the future of our business first and foremost. Some of the guys create a life off-screen around the reality show. We have a business. So being on the show is just an extension of that. If we get distracted (by the show), that can hurt our business. But we're having fun with it.
TP: The things is, how do you possibly prepare for something like this? We were not prepared. We had no experience with this at all.
I think a lot of these people in reality shows tried to make a life or career on their 15 minutes of fame. But to us, whatever comes comes. But it's definitely not our lives. It's not like we're planning to hire publicists or going out on lecture tours.
TP: For me, on a personal level, I was nervous about doing it. I didn't know how it would affect my personal life. But I couldn't say no from a business perspective.
TP: I had to think long and hard about about doing the show. It's the biggest bet of our life and now we're going to put it on TV? We beat each other up over it."
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