THE STRIP. “Pilot.” UPN, 60m. 7 July 2000 (Season 1, Episode 10). Sean Patrick Flanery, Guy Torry,  Joe Viterell. Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá.

   Taking full advantage of the popularity of TV shows set in Las Vegas, except for the inclusion of naked showgirls, The Strip followed the adventures of private security consultants Elvis Ford (Sean Patrick Flannery) and Jesse Weir (Guy Torry) as the in-house detectives for Caesar’s Palace owner Cameron Green (Joe Viterelli). For reasons unknown to me, the pilot was shown last, six months after a nine week run on UPN between 19 October 1999 and 11 January 2000.

   Some of their background is filled in, albeit rather sketchily. Circumstances required their resignation from the police force on unwarranted grounds, but Mr. Green saw fit to offer them a job as his personal trouble-shooters (there may be more to this). In this, the actual first story, they are asked to solve the murder of a young woman found dead in an unoccupied hotel room, without causing any fuss that would drive customers away.

   I will possibly be giving away too much of the plot here. I’ll try to be careful. It seems that a heist of the casino is in the works, and to that end a female circus body manipulation specialist (contortionist) is required to make her way through a long passage of ceiling ducts, then out two rather bland good guys have a final confrontation with the bad guys.

   It’s obvious that the producers assumed that Las Vegas glitz and a the timeworn story line of two detective buddies on the case would be all the series needed.They were at least partially correct. There was just enough in this first/last show of the series to keep me watching without looking at my watch, which is always a good sign.

   The series didn’t last long, but then again, with the exception of Star Trek: Voyager, none of the series ever shown on UPN really did, either.