SHOOTING STARS: TV pilot spoofs ‘Vegas Schmegas’

  Anyone who calls Las Vegas home knows all the clichés of life in Neon Nirvana, from the always-on lounge lizard to the showgirl-by-night, brain-surgeon-by-day.
  And that’s exactly the kind of humor behind the locally produced TV pilot “Vegas Schmegas,” currently shooting weekends through November.
  The pilot, from Las Vegas-based Vision Dynamics Entertainment, spoofs comical, commonly held stereotypes about Las Vegas.
  You know the drill: “People live in hotels, showgirls wear their headdresses everywhere,” explains producer-director Kelly Schwarze, who hit on the idea of a Vegas sketch-comedy project while watching the British comedy troupe “Little Britain.” (Canada’s Kids in the Hall also provided inspiration, he says.)
  “There are so many colorful people” in Las Vegas, Schwarze notes. So he and collaborator Shae Wilhite, a Las Vegas-based writer and comedian, came up with the “Vegas Schmegas” concept and created a variety of comedy sketches.
  One focuses on a mom who takes the kids to school and shops in full showgirl regalia, another on a mobile wedding chapel that ambushes couples forces them to tie the knot. And then there’s the crabby cabby who’s always deflating visitors’ dreams.
  Locals Elly Brown (a real-life showgirl who also appears in local theater productions) and Nathan Ferrier are among the performers featured in “Vegas Schmegas,” Schwarze reports.
  A half-hour pilot, to be presented to various cable television producers, will feature “the best of the best” sketches being shot this month.
  Double occupancy: Las Vegas is a popular dating destination, even (and maybe especially for) reality TV. Which explains why Quebec’s “Occupation Double” (or, if you prefer the English translation, “Double Occupancy”) is in town for a four-day visit.
  Now in its fifth season on Quebec’s TVA, the reality show “about love and traveling” — as segment producer Julie Lamontagne puts it — visits Las Vegas with the five contestants still in the competition. (The show started with 17 players living in separated-by-gender houses in Montreal.)
  On their Las Vegas itinerary: activities ranging from gondola rides at The Venetian and indoor sky diving to a fake Elvis wedding and a performance of “O” at Bellagio.
  One of the show’s contestants initially suggested the visit, sending producers a note to “take us to Las Vegas,” Lamontagne reports, “but he got eliminated.”
  Fired up: The World Firefighter Combat Challenge (which aired on ESPN for a dozen years and is now seen on TV’s Versus channel) returns to the Fremont Street Experience for a third year, capturing competition Friday and Saturday for telecast in late January.
  One of the big reasons for the competition’s Glitter Gulch finale: the Fremont Street Experience’s giant VivaVision light canopy, according to operations manager Trey Hunt, because it enables organizers to show information on the firefighters on “the biggest TV screen in the world.”
  The contest, which tests firefighter fitness, attracts hundreds of U.S. and Canadian municipal fire departments annually — and has expanded to including other nations from New Zealand to South Africa to Argentina.
  Poppin’ up: While we’re on the fiery topics, a cross-country ad campaign for Anchor stuffed jalapeño poppers hits Glitter Gulch for a three-day shoot.
  Anchor’s No. 1 fan, Jimmi Billis, is expected to cruise Fremont Street East and environs in a 1959 Cadillac convertible, interviewing folks about his favorite poppers for YouTube-style videos popping up on PopperNation.com Nov. 25 and Dec. 20.
  Boris boom: “Netherlands Idol” winner Boris (no last name needed — at least not to his fans) may be a European idol, but that’s not keeping the singer from shooting a music video, destined for MTV Europe, in Las Vegas this week.
  Plans call for three linked videos, shot in an abstract documentary style, to follow the singer from Los Angeles through the California desert to Las Vegas, according to co-producer Jason Hafer of The Vault L.A., which is co-producing the spots with Dutch-based Venswich Films. The Las Vegas finale will feature the song "Stupid Again," notes Hafer, who's also cinematographer for the shoot. Netherlands-based commercial director Henri de Maar calls the shots.
  Coming attractions: The feature “Rough Hustle,” about blue-collar workers trying to get their lives together in Las Vegas, is currently shooting in Los Angeles but plans a Glitter City location visit soon.
  Matt Bushell and Michael Welch (soon to be seen in “Twilight,” opening Nov. 21) lead the cast for director Delaney Dragon and executive producer Brendan Davis.
  As always, stay tuned to future installments of Shooting Stars for more details.