Miami Vice was a popular and innovative television series starring Don Johnson (James "Sonny" Crockett) and Philip Michael Thomas (Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs) as two Miami police detectives working undercover. The show ran for five seasons on NBC television stations from 1984–1989. The USA Network later broadcasted unaired episodes after season five. The Miami Vice motion picture was based on the series and was released on July 28, 2006. The series currently airs on the Sleuth network in The USA, and Men & Motors in the UK.History
Legend has it that the head of NBC's Entertainment Division, Brandon Tartikoff, wrote a brainstorming memo that simply read "MTV cops".[1] The result was Ethan Inglis's production of Miami Vice. However, according to series creator Anthony Yerkovich, the initial idea for the show came from a Time Magazine article on a then-recently enacted law that allows law enforcement agencies (the DEA, FBI, etc.) to use items recovered in the commission of a crime to further other unrelated investigations. This allowed a confiscated Ferrari, for example, to be used to enhance an undercover officer's cover as a high-profile drug dealer, which is exactly what happened on Miami Vice.[citation needed][edit] Storylines
The storylines of the series differed from those of police shows from earlier decades, simultaneously reflecting the more glitzy and gritty feel of 1980s "New Wave" culture. As Crockett and Tubbs were vice cops, most episodes focused on drug trafficking and prostitution. Stories more often than not ended in a large gunbattle, usually costing the lives of several villains. Miami Vice also broke new ground in its treatment of crime and society. Complex themes of corruption, politics and abuses of power were often featured, and an undercurrent of cynicism and futility underlies the entire series. The detectives repeatedly reference the "whack-a-mole" nature of drug interdiction, with a seemingly-endless number of dealers and cartels willing to risk everything for drug profits. The relatively exotic, subtropical urban setting of Miami (the series was shot mostly on location) was also a significant departure from most earlier cop shows, generally set in large Northeast cities or West Coast suburbia. The locale gave the series a pronounced internationalist Latin American and Caribbean flavor, which occasional location shoots in Latin America intensified.Whilst the show didn't invent pastels it made them popular, the other aspects of Miami Vice considered revolutionary lay in its music, cinematography, and imagery, which made large segments of each episode resemble a protracted music video. Perhaps the best example of combining these three aspects is found in the pilot episode Brother's Keeper when Crockett and Tubbs are in the Ferrari Daytona Spyder, driving through a damp, nighttime Miami downtown heading to a somber showdown with a sinister, murdering druglord as "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins surrealistically plays along. As Lee H. Katzin, one of the series' directors, once stated, "The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions and energy than plot and character." These elements made the series into an instant hit, and its first season saw an unprecedented number of Emmy Award nominations. While the first few episodes contain some echoes of cop show convention, the producers soon abandoned them and fully developed the trademark Vice style. One key to the complete transformation was the early death of Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (Gregory Sierra) and introduction of the Vice Division's new commander, former DEA agent Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos in an Emmy-winning performance). Distant, imposing, and utterly competent and professional, Castillo was an intriguing character with a somewhat mysterious background and a highly distinctive style that perfectly counterbalanced the flamboyancy of Crockett and Tubbs. While Crockett and Tubbs were usually dressed in pastels, Castillo's dress was usually a white shirt with a black suit and tie to reflect the character's view of life (that he sees things in black and white).
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