NBC's Las Vegas
The Culver Studios
Culver City, CA
July 26, 2006

Vegas, here we come!  The nice guys at Las Vegas invited me and my friend, Laura, to visit them on the set.  Laura is Las Vegas' biggest fan so I told her she could come only if she kept her bra and panties on.  She said, "I have to wear a bra and panties?"  We weren't really supposed to take pictures but we snuck in as many as we could.  Thanks to I and M for taking the time to arrange our visit and giving us a tour!

The Culver Studios.

Oh my god...there's Josh Duhamel!  We saw him walk across the parking lot and by the time I got my butter fingers to take a picture he was disappearing into the set...that's him, next to the white arrow.  Inside that building is where all the interior shots are filmed.  (On a side note, Deal or No Deal is also taped here - I love that show!.  That's what the sign said, the one with the black arrow on it, next to the guard station.)

This is Mike, the Big Mean Security Guard Who Wouldn't Let Us In Until He Checked Out Our Credentials.  I said, "Oh my god...there's Josh Duhamel...did you know he's the star of Las Vegas?"  He said, "I let him in this morning."  Show off.

Finally walking into the studio headquarters.  The Montecito logo in the hallway.

Vegas in the good ole days.

The famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

Here we are on the set, in the casino itself.

The elevator to nowhere.

Hey, no pictures allowed.  But look, I didn't win...just like in a real casino.

This is nicer than most of the real lounges in Vegas.

They just got done shooting a scene here.  It was very cool because we were able to sit right next to the director and show runner while several takes were done.  To give you guys a little taste of what we saw, it was a scene where Josh and James walked down the aisle talking.  At first they started the scene with them already in the aisle, but I guess that didn't look right so they had them start from the ramp at the lounge.  All the background actors had to be quiet, so when they walked by a girl who won a jackpot, she raised her hands and cheered, but silently.  All casino noises would be dubbed in later.  Josh and James stopped walking, said a few more lines, then Josh exited.  At this point Vanessa Marcil was supposed to walk up to James and say her line.  Well, she is short so they placed a box for her to step on before speaking.  In one of the takes she tripped and everybody laughed (she didn't get hurt) so they had to re-shoot.  Not exactly the world's funniest outtake, but it was funny just the same.

Oh my god...it's Josh Duhamel!  For all his fans out there, let me just say that this guy is so genuinely nice.  But I think he was stalking us because he kept following us around, begging us to take a picture with him.  And yes, he is physical perfection in real life.

Oh my god...it's James Lesure.  This guy has the most beautiful eyes, his eyelashes are a mile long, and he's just like his character - funny, goofy, and likable.  We saw him walking outside after shooting this one scene and he said he was done for the day.  Must be nice!

I went to Las Vegas and all I got was this $25.00 chip.  Our generous host let us take one home as a party favor.  Hmmm...I think I smell an eBay sale here...if you look real close you can see the virgin Mary eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

They're building the outside entrance of the Montecito so from now on they can stay on the lot to shoot the exterior scenes instead of coming to Vegas and using a real casino.

One of these trailers is Josh's and we wanted hide out and surprise him but there were already girls under the bed and in the bathroom, and they hissed and threatened to mace us if we didn't leave.  Just kidding...they didn't have mace; they had guns.

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