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Sstorylines differed from those of earlier police shows with a glitzy and gritty feel of 1980s culture, cocaine trafficking a common theme in episodes.
While the series had many regulars, it focused primarily on two lead characters. James "Sonny" Crockett, is a former University of Florida college football star (wide receiver), who became a police detective after a shattered knee and 2 tours in the Vietnam War. As the series begins he is a vice officer with the Metro-Dade (now Miami-Dade) Police Department's Organized Crime Bureau using an elaborate cover named "Sonny Burnett." Elements of his cover included a Ferrari Daytona Spyder (the car used on the show was actually a modified Chevrolet Corvette), a "Scarab" offshore power-boat, and a sailboat on which he lives with his pet alligator Elvis. Later on, Crockett's Ferrari Daytona Spyder was replaced by a Ferrari Testarossa. Creator Anthony Yerkovich originally used the name Sonny Crockett for a criminal on the seminal cop series Hill Street Blues. Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, a former New York police detective, travels to Miami on a mission involving a personal vendetta against Calderone, the man who killed his brother, and after teaming up temporarily with Crockett in the pilot episode, follows his advice to transfer to "a career in Southern law enforcement", joining the Miami department and becoming Crockett's permanent partner. Tubbs often poses as "Rico Cooper," a rich out-of-town buyer, with Crockett posing as Sonny Burnett, serving to broker his deals with criminals, thus setting them up for arrest. The series finale saw Crockett and Tubbs throwing down their badges and walking off the job after being setup by a government agent to set free a Latin American drug dealer, whom Crockett and Tubbs had just killed. Crockett and Tubbs say goodbye in an emotional scene in which Tubbs says he'll probably go back up to "the big bad Bronx," while Crockett, when asked what he'll do, says "I don't know, go somewhere further south. Somewhere where the water's warm, the drinks are cold and I don't know the names of the players..." Crockett then offers to drive Tubbs to the airport in his 'stolen' car, the white Testarossa he still has, and he and Tubbs laugh while they drive off together. There is then a voiceover from the end of the pilot episode of Crockett asking Tubbs if he'd ever consider a career in Southern law enforcement, to which Tubbs replies, "Maybe, Maybe." perhaps as means of showing how far the two characters had come in five years, from optimistic and engaged to cynical and burned out, but still sharing a close friendship.
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; cocaine trafficking and culture, for instance, were common themes in many episodes, and the graphic, casual violence and the relatively exotic, subtropical urban setting of Miami (the series was shot on location) were significant departures from most earlier cop shows. The locale gave the series a pronounced internationalist Latin American and Caribbean flavor, which occasional location shoots in Latin America intensified.
Style
The truly revolutionary aspects of Miami Vice, however, lay in its music, cinematography, and imagery, which made large segments of each episode resemble a protracted music video. Perhaps the best example of the combination of three 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 drug lord as "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins surrealistically plays along. As Lee Katkin, 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).
Fashion
The show had a huge influence on (men's) fashion at the time, arguably inventing the "T-shirt under Armani jacket"-style. Pastel colors dominated the series in clothes as well as in architecture. Crockett's perpetually unshaven appearance sparked a minor fashion trend, inspiring men to wear a small amount of beard stubble, also known as five o'clock shadow or "designer stubble", at all times.
Lasting Impact
Miami Vice was one of the best-known shows of the 1980s, and it had a huge impact on the decade's popular fashions as well as setting the tone for further evolution of police drama. Series such as Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, and Law & Order, though being vastly different in style and theme from Miami Vice, followed its lead in breaking the genre's mold; Dick Wolf, creator & producer of Law & Order, was a writer & later executive producer of Miami Vice. Although sometimes heavily disputed by their producers, the movies Bad Boys (1995) and Bad Boys 2 (2003) borrowed heavily on the concept of two undercover cops in the glitzy, upscale yet seedy world of southern Florida law enforcement.The show has been so influential that the style of Miami Vice has often been borrowed or alluded to by much of today's pop culture in order to indicate or emphasize the 1980s decade. Examples of this includes the episode "The One With All The Thanksgivings" from the American sitcom Friends. Flashback scenes from the 1980s in this episode shows the characters Ross and Chandler in pastel coloured suits with rolled up sleeves like that of Sonny Crockett. Another more obvious example would be the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was published by Rockstar Games and is set in a stylised 1980's Miami. Two undercover police officers appear in a police sports car within the game when three felony stars are obtained by the player. It is believed that the two officers (one white and one black) represent the two leading characters of Miami Vice. One of the main characters, Lance Vance, was actually voiced by Philip Michael Thomas.Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the t-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Rayban sunglasses have today become the standard image of 1980s culture. Ironically, people today will often recognise the decade's image, yet are unfamiliar with the TV show, despite it being the phenomenon that gave birth to the style in the first place.However, it must be noted that pastels and the fashion accessories mentioned above were not emblematic of the entire decade, but that they stood for an era during the mid-eighties which lasted approximately two to four years. With the show's popularity notably waning around 1988 and different color schemes being adopted by the producers for the third season (1986-1987), "Vice"-themed, pastel-toned clothing went out of style, and fashion in general saw a departure from pastels and linen suits with the advent of bright, harsh neon colors, which became the next fad towards the onset of the 1990s. Likewise, the early 1980s were much more about earth tones in fashion and style.
Cars
During the first two seasons and two episodes of the third season, Detective Sonny Crockett drove a midnight black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 with a Florida license plate ZAQ178, until it was blown to pieces with a hand held stinger missile launcher during an illegal arms deal. Lt. Castillo told a still-grieving Crockett to check back for his new car.
Sonny was greeted by a white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa, with a Florida license plate ATF00M.
In reality, Don Johnson did not actually drive a Ferrari in the first two seasons. It was a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette C3 that had been modified with Ferrari-designed body panels by specialty car manufacturer McBurnie.
 As legend has it, Michael Mann spotted the car in a used car lot some time prior to shooting the pilot movie and thought it would look nice in the series. For publicity reasons and because they were unhappy with a fake getting this much attention and being portrayed as a bona fide Ferrari, the automaker donated two brand new Testarossas. One of them was partly stripped and modified and placed on a camera truck, while the other one could be seen in regular scenes. They were delivered in black but were repainted white to show up better in night scenes. For the more risky stunt scenes, yet another fake was used, this time a DeTomaso Pantera fitted with Testarossa body panels.
Ricardo Tubbs drove a 1964 Cadillac Coupe DeVille Convertible.
Stan Switek drove a turquoise 1961 Ford Thunderbird.
Also, Switek drove a green Dodge Ram Van labled "Bug Busters" with a big ant on the roof. Gina Calabrese drove a 1971 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible.
Other Miami Vice characters, such as bad guys or other cops, are also often seen driving fast, top of the line prestige marques. On the show, typical high end brands include the likes of Lamborghini, AMG Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Maserati, Lotus, Porsche and even the occasional American muscle car, such as a Corvette, GTO, Trans Am or Mustang.
Trivia
- In the movie Eurotrip, after arriving in Eastern Europe due to hitching a ride from a psychotic truck driver, the group meets a man, who after a brief conversation says "Ay man, we just got Miami Vice on television. Miami Vice is number one new show!"
- The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City references Miami Vice on several occasions, with portions of the game's 1980s setting and style heavily influenced by the show. Most notable is upon attaining a 3-star wanted level in the game, the player would eventually encounter two undercover cops in a Ferrari Testarossa-styled car. The attires worn by some of the six variations of the cops are also in the trademark style of the show. Another sports car, the Stinger, is based on the Ferrari Daytona Spyder. Lance Vance, a primary character in the game, is voiced by Phillip Michael Thomas, who portrayed Tubbs in Miami Vice. Both Vance and Tubbs also share thirst for revenge for the deaths of their brothers at the hands of drug dealers. Another overt reference to the show's influence upon the game is the inclusion Jan Hammer's "Crockett's Theme" on the romance/power ballad radio station Emotion 98.3.
- In the 1991 Christmas episode of the British sit-com, Only Fools and Horses, the episode is named Miami Twice.
- In the Family Guy episode "Brian Does Hollywood", several shots depict Cleveland and Peter driving a speedboat around a Miami-like environment while wearing pastel-colored suits, in an obvious homage to Miami Vice.
- In the movie The Wedding Singer, the character Glenn Guglia, dressed in Crockett's trademark white linen suit over a pastel blue T-shirt, and sporting a six-o'clock shadow, says he's not worried about his summer wedding interfering with seeing Miami Vice because they will be showing reruns. Later, he is shown driving and listening to the "Miami Vice Theme"
- In the British television series, Lock, Stock..., based off of the movie Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, the local crime boss was named Miami Vice.
- In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Geoffrey the Butler (played by Joseph Marcell) walks into the kitchen wearing a white suit and purple turtle-neck underneath; Will (played by Will Smith) makes a joke saying "Is that Geoffrey or Philip Michael Thomas."
- In one of the first episodes of The Sopranos to feature Steve Buscemi, he is just getting out of prison (which he had been in since the 1980s), and wears his only clothes, a white suit with a blue pastel t-shirt underneath; to which a mobster asks him, "Hey, where's Tubbs?" Buscemi also guest starred in a Miami Vice episode.
- In the late 1980s, independent comic book writer/artist Dwayne Ferguson published a series entitled Hamster Vice.
- The Children's show Sesame Street parodied the hit 1980s show with a few segments entitled Miami Mice.
- In Episode 7 of The Bill Series 3 (1987), Blind Alleys, Clogged Roads, PC Reg Hollis looks for PC Nick Shaw in the CAD Room of Sun Hill. PC Melvin mentions that he's probably off watching Miami Vice.
- The comic strip Heathcliff featured a take-off on Miami Vice. The two characters were crime-fighting mice, Sonny Sprockett and Rico Tibbs, that helped Heathcliff solve mysteries.
- Miami Vice has also been parodied in the world of professional wrestling. Fuji Vice, a parody skit featuring wrestlers The Magnificent Muraco and Mr. Fuji, was aired on the WWF's Tuesday Night Titans show in 1985.
- Bill Pullman plays a not-so-bright Miami Vice-loving character in the film Ruthless People. He owns a pair of goldfish named Crockett and Tubbs.
- The 1988 song Walk the Dinosaur by Was Not Was references the show.
- In an episode of The Simpsons, "Catch 'Em If You Can", Homer and Marge try to have a vacation without their kids by lying to them and going to Miami. When Bart and Lisa track them down and convince Grandpa to take them there, the Miami Vice theme plays while showing stereotypes of elderly people.
- In the Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, one of the recurring characters on the show is named "Vice" Principal Crubbs (played by Hamilton Mitchell). His last name is a combination of Crockett and Tubbs last names. In addition, He is always seen wearing white suits with pastel-colored T-Shirts underneath, his office is filled Miami related decor and a theme similar to the "Miami Vice Theme" is played whenever he appears.
- Something Wild, a 1997 album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom has a hidden track with a cover of Miami Vice theme.
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