The 7 Best TV Shows Filmed in Vegas

For some of us (me), an annual trip to Las Vegas isn’t enough. Heck, even when I could afford to go twice a year, I couldn’t get enough of Sin City.

To scratch that itch, it can be fun to watch TV shows filmed in Vegas.

Here are the 7 best tv shows filmed in Las Vegas:

1 – High Stakes Poker

High Stakes Poker aired from 2006 to 2011 on GSN. AJ Benze and Gabe Kaplan hosted the first 5 seasons, but Kara Scott replaced Benza in the 6th season. In the 7th season, Norm Macdonald took over for Gabe Kaplan

The premise is simple enough – amateur and pro poker players play no limit Texas hold’em on television. That’s about as high concept as it gets.

The casino at which High Stakes Poker was filmed varied from season to season. In the first season, they shot at Golden Nugget, but they moved to The Palms for the 2nd season. The 3rd and 4th seasons were shot at South Point Casino. Later seasons returned to the Golden Nugget, and one season was filmed at the Bellagio.

If you follow celebrity poker players, you’ll recognize many of the players on the show, especially:

• Doyle Brunson
• Daniel Negreanu
• Phil Hellmuth Jr.

The big difference between High Stakes Poker and other poker programs of the time has to do with format. Almost all televised poker besides High Stakes Poker takes place during tournaments, but High Stakes Poker features a cash game.

2 – GLOW

GLOW is a dramedy about women’s professional wrestling during the 1980s. GLOW is an acronym for “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.” Such an organization actually existed in the 1980s, but the show is a fictionalized version of those events.

GLOW is a streaming series that aired on Netflix in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The show was renewed for a 4th season, but that season was later canceled.

Much of the show takes place in Los Angeles, but plenty of action happens in Las Vegas, too – that’s where many of the actual wrestling events took place.

Community’s Alison Brie stars, but Marc Maron steals the show as Sam Sylvia. Several real-life wrestlers are featured in various capacities throughout the series, too.

If you’re a child of the 80s (like I am), you’ll probably enjoy the 80s pop music featured throughout the show, too.

3 – Poker After Dark

Poker After Dark is the other poker show on this list – it was an hour-long poker show on NBC from 2007 to 2011. It was canceled after poker’s “Black Friday.” Full Tilt Poker was a major sponsor of the show, and most people reading this blog already knows what happened with them that year.

They relaunched the show in 2017, filming at ARIA Resort and Casino. It’s not on NBC anymore, though—now, if you want to watch Poker After Dark, you need to steam it on PokerGO, which is basically Netflix for poker players and fans.

Shana Hiatt hosted the first 2 seasons, but multiple hosts served after that, including Leeann Tweeden.

Poker After Dark initially used a tournament format, but they experimented with other formats – including cash games – during later seasons. The original iteration of the show was on 6 nights a week on NBC, although some NBC affiliates refused to air the show because of their moral stance regarding gambling.

The usual pro poker suspects played during these events, including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, Gabe Kaplan, and Chris Moneymaker (among many others).

4 – CSI: Crime Scene Investigations

CSI: Crime Scene Investigations was a long running series on CBS that aired from 2000 to 2015. It’s a procedural crime drama, and it launched a big franchise. CSI boasted plenty of star power, too, at various time starring William Peterson, Ted Danson, Laurence Fishburne, and Elisabeth Shue.

Like many of these shows, the investigations into the crimes are only part of the story. CSI also had some significant soap opera elements. The main characters investigate crime scenes on behalf of the Las Vegas Police Department.

William Peterson was the original leading man, but he’s later replaced by Laurence Fishburne and then by Ted Danson.

Even though it’s one of the top-rated TV shows on this list, CSI: Crime Scene Investigations was only occasionally filmed in Las Vegas. Many episodes were shot in Santa Clarita, California. After the 5th season, most of the episodes were shot in Universal City, California.

One of the fun aspects of CSI is the music, especially the song, “Who Are You.” That’s the theme song, but that’s not the only musical aspect of the show. Throughout its run, various musicians have appeared in notable roles.

Roger Daltrey, the lead singer for The Who, appeared in the 7th season of CSI. Other musicians featured during the shows run include John Mayer, Ozzy Osbourne, and the Wallflowers.

Plenty of pop hits are playing in the background of many episodes – too many to count, really.

The show aired for 15 years and 335 episodes and launched multiple spin-offs, including CSI: Miamia, CSI: NY, and CSI: Cyber.

Cold Case and Without a Trace share the same fictional universe but are not direct spin-offs.

5 – Pawn Stars

Pawn Stars is a long-running reality show on the History Channel. It features supposedly-true stories from World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a Las Vegas pawn shop that’s open 24/7. Pawn Stars premiered in 2009.

The main characters include Richard “Old Man” Harrison, who originally managed the shop, and his son Rick, and his grandson, Corey. Austin is Corey’s childhood friend who also works at the pawn shop.

The premise is simple enough. Customers bring in stuff to sell, and the staff negotiate with them about whether they’re going to buy that stuff and at what price. One or more of the characters provide narration for each interaction.

Pawn Stars also has a soap opera aspect. Some of the more important storylines on the show have to do with the interactions between the characters.

Guest stars include local subject-matter experts who help appraise stuff that the staff don’t have as much experience with.

Pawn Stars is one of the longest-running shows on this list, having been on the air since 2019.

6 – Sin City Diaries

Sin City Diaries wasn’t on the air for long, but it was so popular and highly-rated that I felt like I couldn’t exclude it from the list. Unlike the other shows on this list, Sin City Diaries is from a premium channel (Cinemax).

The idea behind the 2007 series was to expose some of the attempts to live out fantasies that various high-rollers make. It focuses largely on Angelica and her staff of concierges and their efforts to satisfy these customers.

Plotlines include planning a secret wedding, filling in a showgirl in a Vegas show, and using blackmail to get into a high-stakes poker game.

Sin City Diaries only aired for 13 episodes, but in terms of capturing Vegas, it’s more apropos than many of the other shows on this list.

7 – American Restoration

American Restoration is another reality show on the History Channel, and it’s also a spin-off of Pawn Stars. Rather than a pawn shop, it’s set in an antique restoration shop owned by Rick Dale. The plotlines usually feature their efforts to restore various antiques to like-new condition.

American Restoration is known for its Vegas celebrity cameos, including appearances by the cast of Pawn Stars. David Copperfield and Lance Burton both made appearances, as well as Billy Joel and Sammy Hagar.

If you’re in it strictly for the Vegas stuff, stick with the first 6 seasons. It’s not really the same show after season 7, anyway.

Conclusion

Those are my picks for the 7 best TV shows filmed in Las Vegas. Maybe I left out your favorite? If so, be sure to mention it in the comments or send me an email in care of this website. Maybe I’ll update the list.