User Reviews

Viva Laughlin is perhaps the most strange new show to come along in quite some time. Lloyd Owen, who was excellent in Monarch of the Glenn is terrible in this role. He does perhaps the worst job ever for an English actor attempting to do an American accent. Close on his heels is executive producer/ actor Hugh Jackman. Both come off sounding totally flat and could do to take some voice lessons. While they're at the lessons, perhaps some singing lessons would also be in order. The show has an annoying habit of the actors spontaneously launching into song at totally irrelevant times. Thus far all the singing has been terrible with the only bright spot being Elvis singing back-up. Think of the t.v. show Las Vegas on a really bad hair day combined with Grease and High School Musical. It's not a pleasant combination.

The overall plot is generally interesting and there are some big name actors involved but the package as a whole probably appeals to far few people to be viable.

I live close enough to the real Laughlin to be able to spend lots of time there, and so I was looking forward to this series. But what a joke! It was obvious that nothing was filmed there, except a few establishing shots of the Colorado Belle. I also laughed at references to 'Laughlin PD' (the town is considered a rural area and is served by Las Vegas Police) and especially the aged boyfriend introduced as 'a professor at the University'. Um...would this be Bullhead Community College, the closest thing to higher learning and a considerable distance across the river? It follows that I was so very disappointed at the lack of realism. This is Laughlin! Where are the queues of old people waiting for the buffet to open? Where are the chain-smoking old ladies with their key rings full of players cards? The folks hooked both to their oxygen and their slot machines dropping their dollars? The man arguing that his two-for-one should be valid at weekends? Thinking about it, I lament the show's cancellation; sometimes something so bad is actually quite good - for laughs.

It is amazing how terrible this show is. The original series, the BBC's Viva la Blackpool is well acted, original, and surreal. It is a joy to watch. I would highly recommend it.

There have been a lot of British shows that have been butchered by their American adaptations, but none have missed the mark as badly as Viva Laughlin. The original works because the music punctuates the feelings of an otherwise very serious and dark story. The result is surreal and edgy.

Laughlin is a painful over the top Broadwayisation of the original. Laughlin's horrible acting and reworked script makes it impossible for you to connect to any of the characters.

Laughlin fails miserably at capturing any of the emotion or beauty of the BBC version.

It would be almost decent if the actors would stop bursting into cheesy (and I'm talking extra cheese with a side of cheddar) musical/dance numbers every five minutes. I'm not kidding.

I can understand how Melanie Griffith (playing a character named "Bunny" - yeah, a real stretch!) and Wings Hauser (the kiss of death to any show) would be desperate enough to sign up for this train wreck, but Hugh Jackman? At least he has talent.

I'm all for trying out new concepts for TV shows, especially because the industry is so resistant to innovation. But with innovation comes a lot of flops. And Viva Laughlin is the flip-floppiest!

Sorry, guys! Try again!

This may be the WORST television show EVER made!!! Forget the bad acting. Forget the bad plot and story. It's a television musical! How much worse can it get? Melanie Griffith looks like a jack-o-lantern with all of the surgery she has had. The rest of the cast is a bunch of nobodies you have never heard of and should never have to hear from again. I mean really, breaking into song after almost every scene? What a nightmare! This show has to go!! I can't believe they pre-empted "Without a Trace" for this garbage. Who wrote this garbage? CBS should be ashamed of themselves for airing this junk! Is CBS really this desperate? It is AWFUL! Cancel, cancel, cancel, PLEASE!

Viva Laughlin is fun to watch, but only in the same way that the movie "Plan 9 From Outer Space" is fun to watch: It's such a train wreck, you can have fun seeing how bad it gets: The premise is uninteresting. The characters are uninteresting. Most of the musical numbers are lamely choreographed without flair or style. The dialogue is hilariously bad, replete with clichés and bizarre mixed metaphors.

The one bright note (pun intended) in Viva Laughlin is Hugh Jackman's delightfully cheesy interpretation of a gangster-businessman and his rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil." Unfortunately, that character is not a regular character so he would not appear that often.

The other major actors are just awful--and so is the show.

Could be a good show if they drop the music crap! What are they thinking? Vegas went into the crapper when they spent less time on James Caan catching crooks and too much on the girls P.R. Did you ever see The Godfather break into a song before he "Made an Offer?" These guys would never survive the first round of American Idol! Won't watch it again unless they get rid of the sing-along. I hope the producers read these and maybe try and spruce it up and replace the Sopranos with some newer mobster show. Maybe we have too much to choose from in America than England does but this will never fly here. And does Melanie Griffith need the money that bad she would humiliate herself and waste good acting abilities on a show like this?

Attention, there will be no talent! This is what should be played before the show starts. I haven't seen "Blackpool" but if it's anything like Viva Laughlin then i don't really care. Not only was this show hard to watch but it was incredibly presumptuous. With annoying, unrelatable stock characters trying to slip smoothly into likable characters was like watching the proverbial grass growing. And just when you think that maybe halfway through the show they might have a twist to interest you in seeing the next episode.. well there isn't! No one wants another compulsively suspicious detective chasing thin air or a family who is so boring and cliché that you'd rather go to sleep because that'd be more entertaining than watching this show! And what on earth is with the singing(miming)? And who wants yet another casino show? HUH? SERIOUSLY??!! ARGH!! Can I be the first but hopefully not the last to say, "What the hell Hugh Jackman!" I mean talk about cringe-worthy experiences! I am all for a new series, i'm very open to new ideas and even old ideas made better but this "Viva Laughlin" is garbage, maybe worse because some garbage can be recycled into something better.

The critics are ripping this one apart but not many have seen more that what those of us who tuned in last night, saw. I like it and enjoyed it.

I like daring shows and I can't think of not too many things more daring than singing along Elvis, Jagger and Blondie in national television. The acting is pretty decent and the show is tremendously entertaining.

The questions would be, how long can't Viva Laughlin! maintain the entertaining factor? How many good songs that are familiar to their target audience can they find to shoehorn into the script? That is not an easy task.

I am not sure of the answers, but what I know is that I am tuning again next Sunday and that I am recommending the show.

Lambast the singing all you want, but that's exactly what makes this show something different to watch. I applaud the execs who had the guts to try something off the mainstream. Everyone knows Las Vegas is hot, and NBC already has that cornered.. so why try to compete with the same format? All of you who complain about the singing are missing the point, totally. I expect that every person (men usually) who say they can't stomach musicals have deep down inside, in that dark closet, a soft spot for song in a movie. Or a TV show in this case.

Yeah, it didn't work in Cop Rock, because WE ALL know what cops are supposed to be like. And singing cops is just plain weird.

But the characters in Viva are meant to be cartoonish- almost larger than life... I mean, how many Nevada casino owners do you know? And who says what they're supposed to be like? Most casino owner stereotypes are built of fiction. So why is it so far fetched that they break out into a number once in a while? It's a refreshing change of pace in a TV show, and for that reason alone, I say it deserves a FAIR shake!

The first time the hero starts dancing to "Via Los Vegas" and hops on the casino table I let it pass. The third time, when Bunny starts singing "One Way or Another" by Blondie, and go into a dancing routine, I clicked the show off an erase it from my DVR.

Why did they do this? Were they trying to make it different then "Las Vegas"? They succeeded but it's awful. I suppose if you like musical it will work for you but I don't find the musical form that entertaining.

It looked like it could of been a good story but they messed it up for me my making it into a musical. What next, turn CSI into a musical? Have singing, rotten corpse?

Viva Laughlin looks like it was done in Bollywood.

Very enjoyable. The combination of musical and series was refreshing. Is there another episode in the making? I hate being left hanging. The plot is interesting and light. Viva Laughlin also had a comic part to it. It's fun and creates enough curiosity to watch the next episode. It didn't have too many characters, which often makes these shows too confusing. Viva Lauglin is different from the ordinary television show. I think it could be a hit if it was advertised showing the musical parts of it. As long as the musical scenes aren't overdone I think it will be fine. The type of music that was used was excellent. I am glad it wasn't too opera like. The Viva Laughlin's cast is interesting and adds to the show.

I congratulate the Americans for being brave enough to take some thing British with an edge and try to make their audience accept something that does not have a laughter track, go for 15 minutes plus adverts, and include "in" jokes that will not last 6 months of currency.

It just worked with "The Office", but even it is not exportable.

Unfortunately Viva does not work and the terrific Blackpool original needed an understanding of the working class of the UK, which the yanks will never comprehend.

The music and songs is an escape from the drab cloudy dirty streets of Britain and Blackpool is their escape to fun (sitting on a beach in socks and sandals with a handkerchief with knotted corners on their heads, and trouser legs rolled up - the only escape from normal working life - a 'fun parlour'.

Viva should have taken a New York beach resort like Brighton Beach or Coney Island during the colder months and the carnival type characters who live in the shadows conning the punters.

Was the show cheesy? Yes -- of course it was. How could something with its premise not be? That said... I had a smile on my face the whole time. Too many of the shows now have such dark themes, sets, etc... that you end up enrapt in the plot, but depressed about the state of the world. Viva Laughlin dealt with real life themes, but made the whole process fun. It had an excellent cast, the sound track and performances were witty and professionally executed. For all that the plot included some heavy issues, it was not an intense show and left you feeling well entertained. I wanted to applaud after Fontana's opening number.

Again, I'm sorry its gone. I'm not surprised, but I am sorry.

I had never heard of this show before,I stumbled onto it trying to find something on at 8pm Sunday night. I don't know if they are advertising it very much. This could be a really good show if they would stop SINGING! I like the plot and the characters are OK although I have only heard of Mellody Griffith before,and the acting is well done, I just don't know how long I can hang with them bursting out in song right in the middle of a dramatic scene. Wasn't there a show that tried this before? Some kind of court show,right in the middle of the trial the lawyer would start to sing. I didn't watch that one either. I hope the Writers or Producers (not sure which ones make that kind of decision (SP)).