About a month ago, for reasons I do not remember, I stumbled up the 1980’s classic Miami Vice series. Having never actually watched the show, I decided to check it out.
There. I said it. It’s true. As a child of the 80s, as a Gen Xer, I never watched a single episode of Miami Vice from beginning to end…until last month.
Of course, I remember Miami Vice. You didn’t have to be a fan of the show to know how popular and culturally significant it was at the time. For much of America, it was the epitome of cool. Two trendy, well dressed narcotics officers busted bad guys in a very action-packed one hour weekly drama. It’s theme song actually got lots of airplay on the radio back in the day. The show was loaded with appearances with then- contemporary music. Occasionally, musicians would appear as themselves, performing in the back ground on the show. Others, like Phil Collins and Gene Simmons, showed off their acting skills as a “villain of the week”
But for all of this, I had never actually watched an episode. Years after the series ended, I would come across executive producer Michael Mann directed movies such as Ali, and of course the movie version of Miami Vice. I would also learn Dick Wolf, the creator of the Law and Order franchise, worked as a writer on …Vice late in the show’s run.
There are a handful of things in popular culture that become elevated to an almost folk, hero or folktale kind of status. Take Elvis Presley, for instance. For the last few generations of Americans, he’s probably best remembered as a caricature of himself. The big fat bald guy in the one piece jumpsuit, making all kinds of goofy noises as tries to sing.
People forget that Elvis was a real guy. People forget that he was a talented musician, who had his origins and gospel music. People forget the fact that he and his management crew had the idea of using Elvis’s deep, soulful voice to bring the true fusion of jazz and rhythm & blues to white audiences… In a genre that would later become known as rock ‘n’ roll.
The same can be said about Miami Vice. People look at the two protagonist, Crockett and Tubbs, and they almost look like a cartoon characters them selves. People have a hard time getting past Don Johnson’s pastel T-shirts and ivory white suits. People forget that the show was a gritty look at the explosion of illegal narcotics in south Florida in the early 1980s. It was intense. It was violent. There were sex scenes that even watching the show 40 years later I ask myself, how did they get away with this on network TV?
The series begins with Detective James “Sunny“ Crockett, Vietnam War veteran- turned undercover, Miami cop. He works in the department’s vice squad, which deals with mostly narcotics, but also prostitution, gambling… vices. at the same time, Detective Ricardo “Rico“ Tubbs – of the NYPD, tracking lacrosse, who murdered his brother.
His pursuit take some to Miami, where he and Tums ultimately join forces against the common foe. This team up sets the tone for the series, what Tubbs deciding to stay in Miami and partner with Crockett.
This brings me to one more point about the series – it’s age. Granted, I’ve just started the second season, but I have noticed that some of the action sequences, especially early in season one come across as schlocky today. . Watching the show, I had to remind myself that this show is probably inspired by the movie Scarface. The action sequences early on remind me of some of the scenes in Scarface; both across as campy by today’s standards. But, like watching the original Star Trek, if you’re able to take some of the data elements with a grain of salt, this is a really enjoyable, action-packed drama. Just chalk it up to the evolution of Cinema and television.
FINAL TAKE: recommended to fans of the 2006 Miami Vice movie, fans of cop dramas in general, and 80s nostalgia buffs.
I’m just not looking forward to hearing Don Johnson’s “street wise“ during season three…
Miami Vice is currently streaming on Tubi
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The article “Rob’s Retro Review: Miami Vice” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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