MUSICAL DRAMA
If only what happened in Laughlin stayed in Laughlin. Then we'd be spared this creatively bankrupt mess about a businessman (British actor Lloyd Owen) scrounging up cash to open a Nevada casino. As Viva—which premieres Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. before moving to Sundays—flails along, its characters (including executive producer Hugh Jackman, in a recurring role as a rival casino owner) abruptly start singing along with whatever obvious tune is playing on the soundtrack ("Viva Las Vegas," "Sympathy for the Devil"), adding a few shakes of limp choreography. It's like being trapped next to someone warbling along to their iPod.
