By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 hour ago
For the most part, I hate what YouTube has done to the modern state of film and TV criticism. For every diamond like Red Letter Media, there is plenty of rough like Cinema Sins (plot hole that’s not actually a plot hole? Ding!) and The Critical Drinker (the movie has a woman? Woke garbage!). The internet was designed to democratize information, but countless YouTube channels seemingly exist solely for dumb streamers to make dumber audiences even stupider until the modern state of film discourse has a collective IQ stuck at room temperature.
However, I’m still eternally grateful to YouTube for helping me discover films and TV shows from before my time. For example, I was only two years old when Miami Vice (1984) came out, so I never watched it growing up. I probably never would have watched it because, if I’m being honest, an ’80s cop drama didn’t sound like my cup of TV. But YouTube clips of the series convinced me how effortlessly cool this Michael Mann-produced show really was, and watching it kind of changed my life. It’s now streaming on Tubi for free, making this the perfect watch for anyone who likes police procedurals and wants something far, far better than another serving of NCIS slop.
The Ultimate Ridealong
The premise of Miami Vice is that two unconventional police detectives must team up as undercover detectives in sunny Miami Beach, Florida. The first detective is James “Sonny” Crockett, a gruff divorcee and former football star with more than a few quirks, including a pet alligator. The second detective is Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, a street-smart ladies’ man from New York who comes to Miami as part of a case. There, he teams up with Sonny, forming arguably the weirdest and most charming buddy cop duo in television history.
It helps that the lead actors were dripping with charisma. Don Johnson brought a laid-back swagger to the role of Crockett that basically exemplified the ‘80s: he was colorful and casually cool, but in his relations with his ex-wife and children, you could tell there was a roaring river of hidden vulnerability. Meanwhile, Philip Michael Thomas portrayed Tubbs as the emotional rock of the duo, one whose confidence was as clear as his appreciation for the ladies. Miami Vice wasn’t always consistent across its five-season run, but these two actors always gave 110 percent to their performances and ended up defining an entire decade.
Sleek, Sexy, And Stylish
When Miami Vice came out, it was like no other police procedural before it. The origin of the show was a two-word note written by NBC Entertainment head honcho Brandon Tartikoff: “MTV cops.” Showrunner Michael Mann took this idea to heart, and he did something that now seems unthinkable: he aimed this cop show squarely at a younger, MTV-loving audience. As such, the show is all about vibes and the rule of cool rather than boring detective work. As occasional Miami Vice director Lee H. Katzin once put it, “The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions, and energy than plot and character and words.”
A big part of aiming for the MTV generation was having the coolest needle drops in television history. Episodes frequently featured long excerpts of killer ‘70s and ‘80s tunes that played out during extended scenes of atmospheric, visual storytelling, effectively transforming major segments of the show into a stylish music video. It’s a technique that works shockingly well from the very beginning. The first episode has our heroes driving to almost certain death while Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” plays and the camera lingers on shots of their beautiful black Ferrari as the detectives load their guns. It’s just the greatest scene, and one that instantly made me a fan of the entire series.
One Smoking Hot Show
Another reason to check out Miami Vice is that it’s one of the most visually striking shows ever made. Under the guidance of Michael Mann (who later became one of Hollywood’s most stylish directors), the show was filmed in Miami, which aesthetically dominates (or “frame mogs,” as the kids say) so many shots that it’s practically its own character. Speaking of characters, the ‘80s fashion on display is mind-bogglingly wild, with bright colors that contrast with dark and dirty cases. Don Johnson deserves particular credit for somehow making combinations like a white jacket and light purple pants look like the coolest, most masculine ‘fit on the planet.
Finally, it’s worth watching Miami Vice to experience the groundbreaking series that changed how other major shows were made. For example, Dick Wolf was a writer and producer on this show, and he took the lessons he learned from Michael Mann to create Law & Order, spawning the most successful procedural franchise in television. In terms of influence, Crockett and Tubbs’ looks were so iconic that many still consider them the faces of the ‘80s. This includes Rockstar Games, which took countless cues (in terms of music, fashion, and so much more) from Miami Vice and its heroes to create their best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Are you in the mood to watch a police procedural that could turn into a music video at any minute? Got a hankering for a show filled with the coolest tunes and the absolute hottest people? Or maybe you just want to experience Florida in the safest possible way: from hundreds of miles away, in the comfort of your living room. Whatever your motivation, it’s time to ring up your partner and grab the remote. Together, you can do a ride-along with the world’s wildest detectives on Miami Vice, currently streaming for free on Tubi.
