Penn & Teller looking to be tricked on new show

Penn & Teller don't start shooting their new Discovery series, "Secrets of the Universe," until June.

But that doesn't mean the Rio's resident headliners won't be making a TV show this week.

They're back at a local studio -- the same one where they did seven of eight "Bullshit!" seasons for Showtime -- to shoot seven episodes of the British series "Penn & Teller: Fool Us!"

The hourlong shows, to air on Britain's ITV, follow a successful 90-minute special. The shows repeat the special's format, as aspiring British magicians try to baffle the duo (and the rest of the audience) while performing their most mystifying tricks. (Those magicians who succeed in fooling P&T get a shot at opening for the duo in Las Vegas.)

"Magic is always evolving, with different performers constantly innovating. We believe there are performers out there who can do it so we've sent out this challenge," Penn Jillette (the tall, talkative half of the team) comments in an ITV news release. "Nothing would give me or Teller more pleasure than to hand over Vegas tickets to someone -- anyone -- who has the nerve to stand in front of us, monkey with us, leave us baffled and ultimately blow us away with their brilliance."

'Talent' time: NBC's "America's Got Talent" heads into the final stretch of shooting sixth-season callbacks at Planet Hollywood's Theater for the Performing Arts, wrapping up a scheduled eight-day stay Tuesday.

But the Planet Hollywood stage isn't the show's only location, reports executive producer Jason Raff.

"We like to inspire the contestants," he says, noting side trips "all around the city" to get the competitors out of the theater, and give them a taste of Las Vegas' trademark glitter.

After all, "we are taking over Las Vegas," he points out, with several former "America's Got Talent" alumni (among them ventriloquist Terry Fator and singer Michael Grimm) turning up in the local spotlight. "The talent we are finding is winding up here."

Here and there: Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel is located far from Nevada -- literally -- at the entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cherokee, N.C.

But there's a definite Southern Nevada connection between the two, as Las Vegas-based Casino Arts Corp. films at Floyd Lamb State Park today and Tuesday for a new attraction at the North Carolina casino.

The park provides an appropriately scenic backdrop for the shoot. Eventually, live-action high-definition footage, blended with 3-D computer animation, will play at a new high-tech casino entrance depicting original Cherokee tales in a "high-tech, computer-animated, multidimensional spectacular that includes a host of original characters," according to CasinoArts founder Andy Flessas .

"We are creating animated animals and flowers that are photo-realistically generated on computers and composited into live-action hi-def scenes to look real," he explains. As for the state park setting, it "has so many natural treasures such as beautiful water scenes, a wonderful free collection, a fantastic serene natural environment," Flessas observes. "Its array of geological assets is awesome; it's exactly what we needed" for the attraction, which is scheduled to open next year.

Quick takes: Also on this week's location schedule, an hourlong French TV documentary focuses on chef Guy Savoy, following the culinary star from his Caesars Palace restaurant to the bicycle trails of Red Rock Canyon. A Converse shoe commercial planned to film downtown and at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign this week, while the iconic sign and other Strip sights will be featured in background shots for an as-yet-untitled feature film. And the Tokyo TV variety show "Yarisugi Koji " also was expected to shoot downtown and on the Strip over the weekend.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or ccling@reviewjournal.com.