In keeping with the show's title, most episodes focus on combating drug trafficking and prostitution. Episodes often end in an intense gun battle, claiming the lives of several criminals before they can be apprehended. An undercurrent of cynicism and futility underlies the entire series. The detectives repeatedly refer to the "
Whac-A-Mole" nature of drug interdiction, with its parade of
drug cartels quickly replacing those that are apprehended. Co-executive producer Yerkovich explained: One of the show's directors,
Lee H. Katzin, stated that "The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions and energy than plot and character and words." While the first few episodes contain elements of a standard
police procedural, the producers soon abandoned them in favor of a more distinctive style. Influenced by an
Art Deco revival, no "
earth tones" were allowed to be used in the production by executive producer
Michael Mann. It is mixed in stereo for its entire run. Each episode of the series cost $2 million.
Casting Nick Nolte and
Jeff Bridges were considered for the role of Sonny Crockett, but since it was not lucrative for film stars to venture into television at the time, other candidates were considered.
Mickey Rourke was also considered for the role, but he turned down the offer.
Larry Wilcox, of
CHiPs, was also a candidate for the role of Crockett, but the producers felt going from one police officer role to another would not be a good fit. After dozens of candidates and a twice-delayed pilot shooting,
Don Johnson and
Philip Michael Thomas were chosen as the vice cops. He asked to read the scripts of Johnson's work on those failed shows. He reported back that the scripts were the problem, not the actor, and NBC acquiesced.
Locations Despite the Miami setting, the producers initially planned to film the series in Los Angeles. However, by the time production began, the decision had been made to shoot in Miami itself. Many episodes of
Miami Vice were filmed in the
South Beach section of
Miami Beach, an area which, at the time, was blighted by poverty and crime, with its demographic so deteriorated that there "simply weren't many people on the street. Ocean Drive's hotels were filled with elderly, mostly Jewish retirees, many of them frail, subsisting on meager Social Security payments. ... They were filming all over Miami Beach. ... They could film in the middle of the street. There was literally nobody there. There were no cars parked in the street". In early episodes in particular, local elderly residents were frequently cast as extras. Some street corners of South Beach were so run down that the production crew actually decided to repaint the exterior walls of some buildings before filming. The crew went to great lengths to find the correct settings and props. Bobby Roth recalled, "I found this house that was really perfect, but the color was sort of beige. The art department instantly paints the house gray for me. Even on feature films people try to deliver what is necessary but no more. At
Miami Vice they start with what's necessary and go beyond it."
Miami Vice is to some degree credited with causing a wave of support for the preservation of Miami's famous
Art Deco architecture in the mid-1980s to early 1990s; Other places commonly filmed in the series include locations around
Broward and
Palm Beach counties. Interior scenes were initially supposed to be filmed at
Universal Studios in Los Angeles, but to simplify cross-country logistics, the decision was made to use the facilities of Greenwich Studios in
North Miami instead, and only carry out post-production in Los Angeles. In a few scenes, particularly in earlier episodes, Greenwich Studios' rear loading dock is repeatedly used as the back room of the Gold Coast Shipping building, where the offices of the vice squad are located.
Music Miami Vice is noted for its innovative use of stereo broadcast music, particularly
rock and
pop hits of the 1980s, and the distinctive, synthesized instrumental music of
Jan Hammer. While other television shows used made-for-TV music,
Miami Vice would spend $10,000 or more per episode to buy the rights to original recordings. Some newspapers, such as
USA Today, would let readers know the songs that would be featured each week. Among the many well-known bands and artists, as well as underground or 'new wave' associated acts, who contributed their music to the show were: Several artists guest-star in episodes, including
Leonard Cohen,
Phil Collins, Jan Hammer credits executive producer
Michael Mann with allowing him great creative freedom in scoring
Miami Vice. The collaboration resulted in memorable instrumental pieces, including
the show's title theme, which climbed to the top of the
Billboard charts in November 1985. The
Miami Vice original soundtrack, featuring the theme song and Glenn Frey's "
Smuggler's Blues" and "
You Belong to the City" (a No. 2 hit), remained at the top of the United States album chart for 11 weeks in 1985, making it the most successful TV soundtrack at the time. The theme song was so popular that it also garnered two
Grammy Awards in 1986. It was also voted the number-one theme song of all time by
TV Guide readers. "
Crockett's Theme", another recurring tune from the show, became a No. 1 hit in several European countries in 1987. During the show's run, three official soundtrack albums with original music from the episodes were released. Hammer also released several albums with music from the series; among them are
Escape from Television (1987),
Snapshots (1989), and after many requests from fans,
Miami Vice: The Complete Collection (2002).
Fashion The clothes worn on
Miami Vice had a significant influence on
men's fashion. They popularized, if not invented, the "
T-shirt under
Armani jacket"–style, and popularized Italian men's fashion in the U.S. Crockett initially wore an 18k
Rolex Day-Date "President" model in the first season, until
Ebel won the contract for the remaining seasons. Similarly, Crockett's perpetually unshaven appearance sparked a minor fashion trend, inspiring men to wear
designer stubble at all times. which increased sales of Ray Bans to 720,000 units in 1984. In the spring of 1986, an electric razor became available named the "Stubble Device", allowing users to have a beard like Don Johnson's character. It was initially named the "Miami Device" by
Wahl, but in the end the company opted to avoid a trademark infringement lawsuit. Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the T-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Ray-Ban sunglasses, have become the standard image of 1980s culture.
Firearms Miami Vice also popularized certain brands of firearms and accessories. After Johnson became dissatisfied with his gun holster, the Jackass Leather Company (later renamed Galco International) sent their president, Rick Gallagher, to personally fit
Don Johnson with an "Original Jackass Rig", later renamed the Galco "Miami Classic". Several firearms never before seen on TV were featured prominently for the first time in the show, including the
Glock 17 pistol. In addition, firearms not yet well known to the public, including the
Steyr AUG, and the
MAC-10, were showcased to a wide audience on this show. Even heavy guns came to use, as Zito is seen maneuvering an
M60 machine gun from a rooftop in the episode "Lombard".
Cars Two automobiles drew a lot of attention in
Miami Vice, the
Ferrari Daytona and
Testarossa. During the first two seasons and two episodes of the third season, Detective
Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972
Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 The car was fitted with Ferrari-shaped body panels by specialty car manufacturer
McBurnie Coachcraft. Once the car gained notoriety, The Ferrari Daytona is the subject of a huge continuity error on the show, when it suddenly reappears in "El Viejo", six episodes after its destruction, without explanation. Originally "El Viejo" was set to be the third season premiere, but studio executives felt the Daytona's destruction would serve as a more dramatic opening to the season. Don Johnson's contract holdout at the start of the season also played a part, delaying filming to the point where "El Viejo" could not finish in time for the season premiere. The series' crew also used a third Testarossa lookalike, which was the stunt car. Stan Switek drove a turquoise 1961
Ford Thunderbird.
AMG Mercedes-Benzes,
BMWs,
Maseratis,
Lotuses,
DeLoreans,
Porsches, and
Corvettes. Crockett piloted a
Chris-Craft Stinger 390 X – a 39-foot deep-v offshore racing boat. For the other four Stingers, Chris-Craft showed the production crew a color scheme that included the red – however, since Michael Mann decided that the color red was to never show up on the show, a blue color scheme was chosen instead. The Stingers used on the show were not free from Chris-Craft. This situation caused the production team to switch to using
Wellcraft 38
Scarab KVs for the remainder of the show. The Scarab 38 KVs were a 28-hued, twin 440-hp boat that sold for $130,000 in 1986. As a result of the attention the Scarab 38 KV garnered on
Miami Vice, Wellcraft received "an onslaught of orders", increasing sales by 21% in one year. The
Miami Vice graphics and color scheme, which include turquoise, aqua, and orchid, was available by special order on any model Scarab from 20 to 38 feet. The DJSS was powered by twin 650-hp
Lamborghini V-12 engines, which caused some problems to the design of the boat due to their size. Joining him were
Hollywood stars including
Kurt Russell and
Chuck Norris. Johnson won the Offshore World Cup in 1988 and continued racing into the 1990s. In the latter episode, Guerrero made an attempt to escape from the vice team in N2969 but ran out of fuel and was killed after he stole a fisherman's boat which then ran ashore and exploded. In December 2005, N2969
suffered a catastrophic structural failure when the right wing separated from the fuselage as the plane climbed out of Miami bound for the Bahamas. Both crew members and all 18 passengers were killed upon impact with the water. ==Episodes==