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The huge, glamorous Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas was the backdrop for this high-energy drama that was really about a small group of close-knit co-workers. At the center of the action was Head of Security ‘Big Ed’ Deline (James Caan), a hard driving former CIA agent and father figure of sorts to others. His protégé was smart young stud Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel), a local boy who was plugged into everybody and everything in Vegas. Others included Mary Connell (Nikki Cox), the Montecito’s savvy Special Events Director and Danny’s sometime girlfriend; Mike Cannon (James Lesure), the dapper valet / driver (with a degree from MIT) who kept a careful eye on going-on; Samantha ‘Sam’ Jane Marquez (Vanessa Marcil), the shark-like hostess who steered “whales” (big spenders) to the Montecito’s tables; Delinda Deline (Molly Sims), Big Ed’s sexy daughter who taunted Daddy with her dalliances (including Danny); and Neesa Holt (Marsha Thomason), aka ‘The Ice Queen’, the tough pit boss with a British accent. Mitch (Mitch Longley) was a wheelchair-bound member of the surveillance team and Jillian Deline (Cheryl Ladd) was Ed’s frustrated wife.
There was plenty of action at the Montecito, some of it caught on Big Ed’s security cameras, including robberies, murders, gambling cheats, bomb threats, sex in the elevators and scams beyond counting. Sometimes celebrities passed through, such as Jean-Claude Van Damme who was ‘killed’ performing a stunt for a movie being made on the premises. In 2004 Danny, an ex-marine, was temporarily recalled to duty and Mike joined the security team in his absence. Ed was eventually promoted to President of Operations and Danny became Head of Security.
There were several cross-over episodes with the series ‘Crossing Jordan’ in which Jordan and Detective Woody came to town, with the latter involved in an off-and-on relationship with Sam. Delinda almost married Dr. Derek, but left him at the altar to resume her slow mating dance with Danny.
A new owner, Monica Mancuso (Lara Flynn Boyle) bought the Montecito in 2005, blew it up and rebuilt it. Despised for her imperious ways (she made her money by marrying an 83-year-old billionaire at age 25), she was killed in a freak accident in November 2005 when a gust of wind blew her off the roof of the hotel, down the strip and into a shoe store (surely one of TV’s more memorable deaths). The Montecito’s employees disposed of her ashes by flushing them down the toilet in her suite. Subsequently the Montecito was taken over by none other than hostess Sam, who it turned out, had married her own billionaire.
The series was filmed in part at the real Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay casinos in Las Vegas.
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