This Week In Miami Vice History


mvnyc

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March 3rd - 10th:

"Made For Each Other", the 18th episode of the 1st season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 8th, 1985 at 10PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):
* This episode was one of a very few that focused on the close-knit friendship of Switek and Zito, which survived Zito's personal tragedy (his house burning down) and having to move in with Switek while he lived with Zito's ex.
* Darlene puts up a picture of Princess Diana and Prince Harry as a baby.
* Most of the non-Jan Hammer music in this episode is by Elvis Presley, as Switek is a big Elvis fan.
* Philip Michael Thomas was injured doing a stunt in this episode and doesn't appear for over half of this and all of the next episode ("The Home Invaders").
* During the original broadcast of this episode, the two bikini-clad girls walking down the steps in the intro were wearing Miami Vice staff jackets. This has not been seen since, be it syndication, on DVD, on Hulu, or on Netflix.
* One of the counterfeiters in the opening scene is playing with one of the then-brand new "Transformers" toys, specifically that of the character "Shockwave." Noogie can also be briefly seen wearing a "Transformer" watch, when he and Izzy steal the cement truck.

"The Fix", the 18th episode of the 2nd season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 7th, 1986 at 10PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):
* Bill Russell was credited by his full name, William F. Russell, in this episode.
* The University of Miami reinstated basketball at the school starting with the 1985-86 season after a 14-year hiatus.
* Bernard King was a star NBA player for 16 years, playing with the New York Knicks at the time of this episode.
* This episode's visual quality is significantly lower than any other of the second season, with the images often appearing blurry and poorly defined. The reasons behind this are not known.

**There was no Season 3 premiere episode this week**

"Honor Among Theives", the 16th episode of the 4th season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 4th, 1988 at 9PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):
* This is one of the few episodes where Crockett & Tubbs are so undercover, they can't even get out to OCB.
* Palmo's house appears to be the same one used for Alexander Dykstra's house in Season 3's "Lend Me An Ear", while the building where Delgado is put on trial is from this Season's "Death And The Lady" (as Milton Glantz's house).
* The moody lighting and cinematic style of this episode, particularly the scenes in the doll room and the trial room, foreshadow the style of Season 5.
* This episode borrows heavily from the 1931 Fritz Lang film "M."

"The Cell Within", the 13th episode of the 5th season, premiered on NBC on Friday, March 10th, 1989 at 10PM EST. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):
* Crockett appears only briefly at the beginning of this episode, taking his son Billy fishing. This is due to the fact that this episode and the previous one ("Jack Of All Trades"), were filmed simultaneously because of the 1988 writer's strike.
* This is considered one of the best episodes of the final Miami Vice season and is the last true "Tubbs episode", where the action focuses solely on Tubbs; although "Too Much, Too Late" also focuses on Tubbs and can technically be considered the final "Tubbs episode", it was not broadcast during the show's original run due to its then-controversial dealings with child molestation.
* Jake Manning was in prison well before the time Tubbs arrived in Miami in 1984, meaning there is no way Tubbs could have busted him in Miami as a Metro-Dade Detective. It is possible Manning was busted when Tubbs was with the NYPD, then moved to Miami to plan his revenge, knowing Tubbs was there, although this also seems implausible as a convicted murderer would never be told the location of the officer who arrested him. Furthermore, Tubbs' employment with an undercover division of the police force would impart even tighter secrecy on his presence in Miami.

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Did they ever say which stunt Tubbs was injured by in Made for Each Other?

The "Honor Among Thieves" house is also the "Evan" house, right?

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Why do I get the feeling that some, if not all of the above listed points about the episodes are from the Miami Vice wiki?

Edited by Assasinge
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1 hour ago, Dadrian said:

Did they ever say which stunt Tubbs was injured by in Made for Each Other?

The "Honor Among Thieves" house is also the "Evan" house, right?

The stunt must have been in the opening scene when they shoot their way out of the building.

Yes, that house was featured in Evan and also Little Miss Dangerous.

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55 minutes ago, Assasinge said:

Why do I get the feeling that some, if not all of the above listed points about the episodes are from the Miami Vice wiki?

Because they are from Miami Vice Wiki, I clearly state that in the first sentence of each paragraph. 

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3 hours ago, mvnyc said:

Philip Michael Thomas was injured doing a stunt in this episode and doesn't appear for over half of this and all of the next episode ("The Home Invaders").
* During the original broadcast of this episode, the two bikini-clad girls walking down the steps in the intro were wearing Miami Vice staff jackets. This has not been seen since, be it syndication, on DVD, on Hulu, or on Netflix.
* One of the counterfeiters in the opening scene is playing with one of the then-brand new "Transformers" toys, specifically that of the character "Shockwave." Noogie can also be briefly seen wearing a "Transformer" watch, when he and Izzy steal the cement truck.

3 hours ago, mvnyc said:

This episode's visual quality is significantly lower than any other of the second season, with the images often appearing blurry and poorly defined. The reasons behind this are not known.

3 hours ago, mvnyc said:

This episode borrows heavily from the 1931 Fritz Lang film "M."

3 hours ago, mvnyc said:

Crockett appears only briefly at the beginning of this episode, taking his son Billy fishing. This is due to the fact that this episode and the previous one ("Jack Of All Trades"), were filmed simultaneously because of the 1988 writer's strike.
* This is considered one of the best episodes of the final Miami Vice season and is the last true "Tubbs episode", where the action focuses solely on Tubbs; although "Too Much, Too Late" also focuses on Tubbs and can technically be considered the final "Tubbs episode"

A lot of interesting background details in these episodes. To me especially the ones quoted above. Had no idea, that "The Cell Within" was viewed as one of the best episodes of Season 5. Will have to watch it again at some point to make an opinion.

I have always enjoyed/loved those episodes, where the story goes deeper into telling about the characters personal lives and the viewer gets to know the character better, where it isn't just seeing the squad around their workplace and following the cases they have to solve. And the episodes with humor, which worked well for Season 1 and Season 2, until they changed the characters to being rather serious in Season 3. And exaggerating with the comedy parts in Season 4. 

I love Miami Vice for it's originality, but it looks like there have been more than once, where the episodes storyline overall has been used already in other TV shows. Disappointed to learn, "Honor Among Thieves" is such case.  

 

 

Edited by summer84
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22 minutes ago, summer84 said:

 Had no idea, that "The Cell Within" was viewed as one of the best episodes of Season 5.

LOL, it isn't.  It frequently shows up when fans list the worst 5 eps of the entire series.

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21 minutes ago, airtommy said:

LOL, it isn't.  It frequently shows up when fans list the worst 5 eps of the entire series.

If I had to mention one top quality episode of S5, that would be "Hostile Takeover." I wonder, why it states that about "The Cell Within" on Wiki...

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By the way...in Season 3, when Crockett gets the Testarossa...I think the episode after that or something they're suddenly using the Daytona again, and then the episodes after that it s back to the Testarossa. Any explanation as to why they did that?

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because they were shown all out of order from what they were shot and they wanted When Irish Eyes are Crying to be the season opener.

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...not to mention the repaint/refilming for all the Testarossa scenes in Stone's War. Season 3 started out as quite a fiasco, production-wise. 

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12 hours ago, summer84 said:

A lot of interesting background details in these episodes. To me especially the ones quoted above. Had no idea, that "The Cell Within" was viewed as one of the best episodes of Season 5. Will have to watch it again at some point to make an opinion.

I have always enjoyed/loved those episodes, where the story goes deeper into telling about the characters personal lives and the viewer gets to know the character better, where it isn't just seeing the squad around their workplace and following the cases they have to solve. And the episodes with humor, which worked well for Season 1 and Season 2, until they changed the characters to being rather serious in Season 3. And exaggerating with the comedy parts in Season 4. 

I love Miami Vice for it's originality, but it looks like there have been more than once, where the episodes storyline overall has been used already in other TV shows. Disappointed to learn, "Honor Among Thieves" is such case.  

 

 

When it first aired, I thought "The Cell Within" was a decent episode.  But over time and numerous viewings since, I literally have to skip over that one, just a little too unbelievable. 

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8 hours ago, AzVice said:

because they were shown all out of order from what they were shot and they wanted When Irish Eyes are Crying to be the season opener.

Ah, I see. NBC always had a thing for messing up episodes out of order every now and then...

Edited by Assasinge
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9 hours ago, Dadrian said:

...not to mention the repaint/refilming for all the Testarossa scenes in Stone's War. Season 3 started out as quite a fiasco, production-wise. 

and Shadow in the Dark before Stone's War with one scene of the Testarossa added later.  :)

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3 hours ago, AzVice said:

and Shadow in the Dark before Stone's War with one scene of the Testarossa added later.  :)

I either forgot or never knew about that one!

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