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 Tony and Emmy Award-winner Hugh Jackman (guest starring as Nicky Fontana) is executive producer of Viva Laughlin, which mixes drama and musical interludes. (Supplied photo) |
The question is whether Viva Laughlin will leave ya laughin'.
Sure, at various intervals characters suddenly start singing along with well-known tunes. But Viva Laughlin, which debuts tonight on E! and CBS, isn't supposed to make you snicker, apparently.
"We didn't want the audience being in on the joke, because it's not a joke," co-creator Bob Lowry said when asked why the actors don't acknowledge the cameras, per se, at those moments when Viva Laughlin lurches from drama to musical.
"We felt that breaking the 'fourth wall' sort of removed the viewer from the actual story we were telling. But we had a very high learning curve on the pilot about the music. We are striving for it to be seamless."
Well, it's not.
But Viva Laughlin isn't quite as bad as it sounds, either, if that stands for high praise.
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Viva Laughlin is derived from a six-episode BBC series called Viva Blackpool, which aired in 2004. In this theoretically extended U.S. version (the ratings will have the ultimate say), British actor Lloyd Owen stars as Ripley Holden, whose dream is to run a casino in Laughlin, Nev.
The debut episode also sets up recurring roles for Hugh Jackman as a slimy rival casino owner and Melanie Griffith as a lustful cougar. Griffith, by the way, always has struck us as an alarmingly poor actress and she makes no bold manoeuvres toward changing our minds this evening.
Four songs are featured tonight, with Owen getting things started by singing along with Elvis Presley on Viva Las Vegas.
"(Elvis) was very generous to me till we had to hit that last note," said Owen, expressing fitting humility about his own singing ability. "The difficult thing for that one was his range is a lot higher than mine. He's a tenor and I'm a bass baritone.
"But I loved it. I mean, that's a cracking tune."
Viva Las Vegas is followed by Sympathy For The Devil by the Rolling Stones (Jackman), One Way or Another by Blondie (Owen and Griffith) and Let it Ride by Canada's own Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Owen).
That's a pretty fine classic-rock arsenal, although there will be some predictable limitations if Viva Laughlin lasts.
"The Beatles -- we can't get the Beatles," Lowry said. "There are certain songs that are just not available to us."
Now, if all of this sounds distinctly terrible to you, you're not alone.
Keep in mind, though, that not all the songs are played out in their entirety. And the music isn't horrifically distracting, although you do find yourself anticipating the arrival of the next quasi-MuchMusicRetro video.
Viva Laughlin looks great. And conceptually speaking, the creators should be given credit for trying something different.
"I don't think it's so much teaching (the audience) how to watch a drama with music as much as it is allowing them the opportunity to become engaged and still tell a good story," Lowry said.
Still, whether anyone really is interested in watching a series like this remains to be seen.
After all, late-night comedians still are regularly cracking wise about Cop Rock.