VIVA Lauglin

On the eve of the last of the Rat Pack dying --Joey Bishop--rest his soul, Viva Laughlin reared its musical head and aired on CBS Thursday night.
A splash, as a diver glides through a blue pool, the swimmer emerges into the hot Laughlin sun. We meet Ripley Holden. He gets into his car in his white suit, the engine starts and the music comes on and it's Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas. Ripley starts to sing along. Okay, I thought, he's singing with the radio but no, as he gets out of the car and enters his--in the process of being built casino--he continues to sing and it turns into the campy musical that this show is apparently supposed to be.
If you caught Pushing Daisies last week there was a scene in that dramedy that was hilarious. It was in the cafe and the girl was singing about how to get her boyfriend back. You'd have to see it because I just can't describe the scene well enough. But it was similar to what Viva L is doing.
This has possibilities.
It's as if the dialogue was written around the songs so that the actors are singing but you don't realize it for about a minute because it appears as if they are just saying their lines.
The conflict begins when Ripley loses his financial backing. Enter Nicky Fontana the evil protagnist. The man with the money who won't be taken for a fool and won't relinquish his power ever.
More songs, more clever singing and dancing and eventually a dead former partner and a win at the tables moves this plot along.
I'll watch it again. I liked it.
Seedy, campy Laughlin, I'll be there.
See ya soon.
Jeri