Craig Ferguson bringing robot sidekick Geoff to town

They love it -- and they Luv-It.

Which explains why CBS' "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" planned a weekend trek to Las Vegas -- to celebrate the first anniversary of Ferguson's (literally) empty-headed robotic skeleton sidekick, Geoff Peterson.

As regular "Late Late Show" viewers know, "no trip to Las Vegas is complete without a trip to Luv-It Frozen Custard," the downtown mecca for sweet-treat addicts, says "Late Late Show" producer Michael Naidus .

In addition, Ferguson and Geoff planned to hit the Strip during the two-day shoot, which was scheduled to wrap Saturday.

"We heard it was a time when it's easier to move on the Strip because there are the fewest people there," jokes Naidus.

But Ferguson, a Vegas stand-up veteran, also had other destinations in mind, including local wedding chapels and Red Rock Canyon.

With Geoff marking his first year on the show (where he chimes in with enthusiastic non sequiturs from "CBS cares" to "In your pants"), Ferguson "thought it was time for a road trip," Naidus notes.

As for the Las Vegas destination, "It's a logical place to go for fun," he points out. Besides, "it's one of the places that's very hard to fake ... with four slot machines and a blackjack table in an empty TV studio."

Footage of Ferguson and Geoff's Vegas vacation will air later this week, Naidus says.

"We shoot it and put it on the air to see if it works," he explains. "And if it doesn't work, we make that work."

'Restoration' era: One hit show deserves another. Which explains the genesis of History's "Pawn Stars" spinoff, "American Restoration," which premieres Friday.

The show, which focuses on restoration expert Rick Dale as he returns battered items to like-new status, remains in "sort of continuous" production at Rick's Restorations, according to Mary Donahue, History's development and programming vice president.

After a sneak preview last year, which was "very well received," Donahue says, she's confident that "American Restoration" will duplicate "Pawn Stars' " success.

"I'm not cautiously optimistic, I'm optimistically optimistic," she notes, in part because Dale is already "a known quantity" to viewers from "the before-and-after reveals" Dale did on "Pawn Stars," Donahue observes. And, in the process, Dale was "getting more and more comfortable on camera."

As for the show's location, "Vegas, I think, is 100 percent key to 'Pawn Stars' and 'American Restoration,' " she says. After all, "what city better embodies" the notion that "you could really be sitting on a fortune?"

Quick hits: Bravo's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" -- two of them, anyway -- were scheduled to hit the Strip over the weekend, focusing on regulars Kim and Kyle Richards as they presided over Sunday's season-opener for the Palazzo's Azure pool.

And the indefatigable Ted V. Mikels continues production on "Astro-Zombies M4: Invaders From Cyberspace," filming action sequences featuring the leading characters "being chased by Astro-Zombies, who are trying to destroy them with their laser eyes," the director explains.

Incentive update: Proponents of AB506, legislation that would establish incentives to bring more movie and TV production to Nevada, are building support for the measure.

Las Vegas mayoral candidates Carolyn Goodman and Chris Guinchigliani are among those in favor of the measure, reports Joshua Cohen of the Nevada Film Incentive Task Force, which is continuing its letter-writing campaign aimed at state legislators. More information is available online at www.NevadaFilmIncentive.com.

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