Las Vegas Forums: Seamless Olympics Commercial

On tonights episode of Las Vegas, they had a seamless commercial where they had guys in the show and they where walking out of the Hotel and got in cars and it went straight into a seamless commerical for the olympics with the same guys. What does every one think of the commerical and how they did it?

Looks like the network held the producer over a barrel because of advertising money considerations. I didn't care for it. It reminded me of Weekend at Bernie's, but with less depth.

At first glance I didn't know what the hell was going on. I figured I spaced out for a second and missed the end of the segment. Pretty clever idea, but it really didn't work for me personally.

Chewie

Found this article elsewhere on the site:

Las Vegas Bets on "Golden" Guests
by Deborah Starr Seibel
Las Vegas courtesy NBC
Las Vegas' James Lesure with Kelly Clark and Gretchen Bleiler

NBC's Las Vegas is coming down with Olympic fever. For tonight's episode (airing at 9 pm/ET), three top U.S. snowboarders — two of them 2002 gold medalists — will be the reigning celebrities at the show's Montecito Resort & Casino and star in a two-and-a-half-minute "minimovie" to promote the 2006 Winter Games at the end of the show. According to Olympics host NBC, the strategy of embedding hopefuls in a prime-time drama before the games is unprecedented.

The idea came from Las Vegas creator and executive producer Gary Scott Thompson, who says he wanted to take advantage of his network's preparations for broadcasting the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, beginning Feb. 10. "If NBC has the Olympics, then why can't we get some Olympians?" Thompson says.

The athletes — gold medalists Ross Powers and Kelly Clark, along with up-and-comer Gretchen Bleiler — aren't Olympic contenders quite yet. They're still in the last weeks of training for five qualifying events that run through January. But the U.S. Snowboarding Team gave its blessing to whisk them off the slopes of Copper Mountain, Colo., for one day of shooting on the Vegas set in Culver City, Calif. — as long as no gambling is involved. While they're in the casino, the trio will have no lines but will sign autographs for an adoring crowd. Why the choice to include snowboarders, of all athletes? "Because they're cool," says Scott Thompson, "and we hear they like to party. They seem really Vegas-like."

They also seem completely disoriented. "It's amazing in here," Powers, 26, reports from the set. "It feels like you're in a real casino." Sure, they can expertly talk about their boards, bindings, snow conditions and the death-defying tricks they'll perform on the half-pipe. But with their Vegas visit, they've chosen an all-together different game of chance, and Hollywood may as well be Mars. "I've never seen the show," admits Clark, 22, "but I'm kind of a dork. I like the History Channel."

Hated the whole concept. Then again I'll probably not watch the Olympics anyway. I might catch some hockey, but that's it. The winter Olympics is about as exciting as well...watching water freeze. Too bad we are losing NBC programming for a few weeks because of it.

I haven't watched an Olympics since 1972, and have no intention of doing it now.

I haven't watched an Olympics since 1972, and have no intention of doing it now.

Well Las Vegas has always been willing to sell its soul for product placement so it hasn't bothered me in a while. but yeah, the way they did it was crazy. i actually thought it was part of the show, they occassionally do weird things like that, so i didn't figure it out until the end of the commercial.

Yeah like others I didn't know what was going on till the end of it then I thought it was kind of cool. As long as it didn't bother the story it was fine with me.