Episode #67 "Everybody's In Showbiz"


Ferrariman

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  • 1 year later...
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This is a dire episode. I have to hand it to Season 4, at least when it was bad it was entertainingly bad, this episode was just plain awful. Let’s start with the one positive; there is a good shootout towards the end. That’s it. The rest of this episode is so bad, awful story, over the top acting, Mikey is a dick head, Crockett seems to have gone insane, there isn’t any vice style, Jan Hammer’s music is recycled AGAIN. As much as I love the first half of Season 3, the second half is consistently boring or awful (bar a few). Atleast in Season 4 you’d have one amazing episode, then a **** one, then an amazing one. I hate this episode, can’t believe I gave it 4/10 on .org; this gets 2/10 now, therefore placing it nicely in my bottom 5 episodes of the whole series.

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2/10 now, therefore placing it nicely in my bottom 5 episodes of the whole series.

X2 on that, all the way. I couldn't agree more and now don't have to go thru the anguish to come up with it. Thanx Pal, As a pick me up, now's the time to put in any disc from season two and enjoy!! This one makes Junk Love a great episode if watched back to back...:p...Mike-I'll be nice and toss this one a two...:rain::rain::rain:
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I saw this one twice a few years ago & really didn't like it. Now that I pay more attention while watching for these reviews, I notice things that flew by me before. The feel of the whole episode is still depressing to me. Mikey's musings make me feel like I'm in a drug induced stupor! That caused me to give it a lower rating. Crockett was commendable in the fact that he saw Mikey's creative potential to make something of himself & tried to help him escape Don Gallego's wrath! He even felt pity for Mikey at the end to put a couple hundred bucks in his hand, although he borrowed it from Rico. That was funny when he asks Rico," will you take a check?" & Rico shakes his head no! Poor Switek, doing his Elvis impersonation & Mikey tells him it's a poor imitation of an Elvis Impersonator! He WAS a little off-key. Good shootout at the end & I loved the build-up in the music's intensity! Good poetry, although kind of sick. Gallego's briefcase looked like the one in "El Viejo". Gallego's part was played well. Mikey was some con man to get a handful of money from Crockett when he knew he wasn't going to die. What stones! Overall an enjoyable episode but I only give it a 6.5/10 which my wife rated it, because it was depressing. I rated it a 6 for this poll.

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Episode 67: Everybody's in ShowbizI really enjoyed this episode a lot, the story is well done and something a little dfferent, Benicio Del "Dario from Licence to Kill" Toro has a small role, and Swaitek does an Elvis impersonation, only complant is the cringeworthy "my heart is coated in oatmeal!" line ... ugh!:pI stil give it a 9.
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My original review 27 August 2007 at 7:12pmThis is not one of my favorite episodes I�d rate it about a 7 Music: I enjoyed the various musical selections from Jan Hammer and recognized a few from episodes in season 1 or 2. I also felt the Chris Debergh medley The Leader, Vision, and What about me were good enough for the ending scenes, though they were definitely not my favorites, but they worked OK. I heard or read once (probably on here) that this episode was written as a message to Miguel Pinero. If so I guess I can see why they cast the guy who played Mikey. He looked a lot like that one Reville brother in Prodigal son that Pinero played. I also thought that DJ did a good job acting in this. Sonny so much wanted to save Mikey from himself. Rico had to remind him time and again that Mikey was a junkie and once a junkie always a junkie. Crockett was the only one who still had a glimmer of hope for Mikey even though in his gut he knew Mikey was a lost cause he wanted to believe that Mikey could be saved and turned around. The scene in the park where Crockett is reciting lines (I guess from one of Mikey's poems or plays) and Mikey finishes it and Crockett asks Mikey what he wants, and Mikey admitted he didn't know. Also Crockett explaining to Rico that Mikey has snakes in his head. Also the first time I saw this episode I was shocked when Crockett 'interrogated' him alone but didn't really lean hard on him. Compare that scene to other scenes where Crockett is threatening the criminal. He threatens Izzy more than he did Mikey! Then there's the scene in the hospital where Crockett is conned by Mikey to give him some money (although it turns out to be Rico's) Mikey mentions playing touch football with Crockett. So at one time he was close enough to Crockett to know about the football thing. I enjoyed the scenery in this. The way they made up the Clay hotel to be that Theater place. The scene by the Cameo where Rico was with the drug dealer, and Sonny was watching and listening. One interesting thing was Rico was speaking Spanish at the beginning and Sonny comments "that's a little over the top, Rico." Crockett understood what Rico was saying? I loved Crockett's look when he heard buster and then Giuago starts vacuuming the limo. Them getting out of the car after being robbed and then driving away. (Why was Rico whstling the National Anthem when the deal was ruined and Guiago was driven away without his briefcase?) That was a lovely night scene. The scene where Rico talks to Giuago on that bridge or warf or whatever it was over the water I enjoyed. The scene where the two girls find Mikey in the boat on the water I liked also although I wondered how Mikey climbed into a boat when the last time we saw him was being thrown into the water practically unconscious. The mortuary scene outside was also one I enjoyed. I loved the chase at the morturary where everybody but Castillo was involved in it. Gina and Trudy notice smoke coming from the morturary chimney. Sweitek is watching Guiago's car and mentions a shoe. Rico asks him if he heard right and Sweitek confirms. Then Crockett makes the decision they can't wait for backup and the chase is on. I liked the shootout at the end and the cutting to Guiago and his gang frantically trying to get rid of all the evidence and the Vice Squad getting there in time to stop them from destroying it all. I also liked Sonny catching up to Guiago and asking if he needed a lift and then to tell him "don't even twitch or I'll blow your ears off." I also found it comical that after Mikey makes his escape with Rico's money Crockett turns to Rico and asks will you take a check? and Rico barely but does shake his head no. Dislikes: I still need to leave the room when Sweitek does the Elvis impersonation and Mikey yells at him and does his own pained filled one. I really don't like that scene all though I can see what Mikey was getting at. It's just an uncomfortable scene for me. This is a depressing episode but it's helped some by the few light moments, and Crockett's real concern for Mikey. The Chris Debergh medley coming at the end seems kind of last minute. Since this episode was mainly all Jan Hammer I think it should have remained so.2/5/2010 - I recently watched this on DVD Last weekend, and again when Centric ran it Tuesday 11 PM. I feel mostly the same. I did notice a pink hotel buidling in the background by the water area where they were in the Ferrari, and they heard the girls screaming when they found Mikey. Was that the Alexander? I don't know how I could ever have given this a 7! I still really don't like this episode, and it depresses me. I'm downgrading my rating to weak 5.

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I give this episode a moderate 6. It seemed to focus too much on a community theater group for released convicts, and Mikey the director loosing all sense of rationality and good judgement. In fact, I found it to be tragically comic, or comically tragic, lol.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I heard or read once (probably on here) that this episode was written as a message to Miguel Pinero.

It was, and that's why although this is not one of my favourites, it's also a very interesting episode. I think that they did a very good job of paying tribute to Pinero, and getting to the heart of his problems head on, rather than avoiding the issue. Unfortunately, this attempt at a wake up call probably came too late for Pinero, considering that he died from cirrosis (due no doubt to his addictions), only a year after this episode was filmed.There are a number of obvious comparisons between Mikey and Miguel Pinero (writer of "Smugglers Blues", and the actor who played Tubbs' Nemesis Calderone and the leader of the Rivillas in "The Prodigal Son"). For a start there is the name. "Miguel" is obviously Spanish for "Michael", and "Mikey" is shorthand for "Michael". Secondly, Michael Carmine (who played Mikey, and also played the leader of the gang of idiots in "Nobody lives forever", was obviously done up to look like Pinero, particularly how Pinero looked in "The Prodigal Son". Carmine even talked in a similar way to the way that Pinero did in that role. Both Mikey and Pinero were poets, and both wrote plays whilst in the joint. Finally, the drama group which Mikey was supposed to have founded, appeared to be based on the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which was pretty much an identical group which Pinero co-founded. The group is based in New York City, and is still going strong today.Other notable coincidences... Paul Calderon, who acted alongside Pinero as fellow Rivillas gang member in "The Prodigal son", played Don Gallego in this episode. Also Michael Carmine's first name is (as mentioned above), the Anglo version of "Miguel". Thirdly, Carmine tragically died himself only two years after this episode was filmed, only a year after Pinero himself. Anyway, back to the episode. Goofs. There was another one of those careless reality slips in this episode. Tubbs has only just got out of the Limo at the beginning of the episode, and Don Guego and his driver have only just got in. Yet Crockett is clearly standing a few away with an earpiece in his ear, obviously listening in to the action. Don Gallego and his driver only had to glance behind them to put two and two together to realise that Tubbs must be a cop.Also, I thought Don Gallego was crazy to threaten to kill Conero will all those witnesses standing there. Did he plan on killing them all? Or was he so confident that he thought he could threaten them all into silence if he whacked Conero.The scene where Crockett is reciting his own poetry back to Mikey, underneath the sheltered area shows us a rarety in Miami Vice i.e the fact that it was raining. However it fitted the bleak mood of the scene very aptly. DanJ also took myself to the spot where that scene was filmed. It is literally right next to the Funeral parlour that was the location for the finale scenes. Having now finally visited my Miami, I've noticed this about Vice. They would tend to do most of the filming for one episode in one particular part of the city. Another popular filming location in this episode was the walkway at Indian Creek around 44th and Collins. This was where Don Gallego stabbed Mikey. This is also the site of where "Captain Joe's boat rental" is, where we hired out a boat during our first trip.One probably for me with this episode is that just as with the extended Boxing scenes in "Down for the count" dragging on a bit, Mikey's obscure poetry recitals also dragged on to a certain degree.What I also found surprising was the fact that during the second meeting that Tubbs had with Don Gallego, why did Gallego have to ask Tubbs what his name was again? In the limo they were like best mates, and despite having met up a second time, he still couldn't remember Tubbs (or should I say Cooper's) name.Switek's Elvis impersonation, following by Mikey's reaction was hilarious. Although Mikey's own Elvis impersonation afterwards would tend to bring the atmosphere down at any party!One thing I just didn't understand was how both Crockett knew pretty much straight away that the culprit was Mikey. Also, how did Don Gallego also work out straight away that the suspects had to be part of Mikey's theatre? On the one hand, the theatre might be the one place in Miami where ex-cons had access to stage props and costumes. On the other hand, ANY criminal in Miami could purchase a disguise.The finale shootout was a good one. Good song, with some good action.The scene near the end was funny, with Tubbs being forced to give a wad of cash to Mikey. Here we see Crockett again being the one who's judgement is clouded by his own sensitivities, while Tubbs is the objective one. I like how Tubbs waits until Crockett has left the room before he says "could you see to it that we get the money back". One thing, Mikey did not look like someone who was dying. Besides, after having Rasputin-like powers of survival after being stabbed, dumped in Indian Creek, semi submerged there all night, by the time he was in hospital I would imagine that if he'd surived all that he was pretty much out of the danger zone.I'll give this episode 7 out of 10.
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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a crappy episode, but it's not all bad. There's some very nice scenery. Lovely shots of the Spanish Village in South Beach, the Miami Beach Police Building and Collins Avenue. Nice early appearance by a very young looking Benicio Del Toro. That's all I like about this ep. Otherwise it's a complete stinker. Weak story and awful acting by that playwright dude.Very poor. 3.5/10

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  • 1 month later...

The thing about this episode that is disappointing now is the portrayal of Elvis Presley as a doped-out drug addict by the actor who portrays the Mikey character (Michael Carmine). He pushes Switek aside as incompetent because he did not show what he perceives as the "real Elvis", which is the drug addicted Elvis.The evidence now seems to support an illness as the cause of his death, not a drug overdose brought on by drug addiction. This is the statement made by longtime friend and physician, Dr. George “Nick” Nichopoulos. This was reported last week in Los Angeles:

EXCLUSIVE: Elvis Presley's Doctor Claims He Died of an 'Embarrassing' Case of Chronic Constipation

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/05/05/exclusive-elvis-presleys-doctor-claims-died-embarrassing-case-chronic/?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a4:g4:r4:c0.000000:b0:z5The reason it was not reported earlier - it was "too embarrassing".
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  • 11 months later...
  • 2 years later...

This is probably my least favorite episode of season 3. :sick: The only episode that is worse than this one is of course "Missing Hours"...and "Cows of October" probably ties this one with being the 2nd worse episode of the series. However, "Viking Bikers from Hell" is pretty bad too...but I think "Missing" and "Cows" are worse than "Vikings".The beginning of this one is pretty good...Crockett and Tubbs trying to infiltrate this drug dealer's business and then they're ripped off by some "goons" in Halloween masks. But, that's where the "good" ends. :pFirst you have a seriously OCD drug dealer, Don Gallego, who likes to freakin' dustbuster his limo every five seconds. :rolleyes: Then, you have these weirdo, goofball theater guys who don't ever seem to work. Then enter...Mikey. That dude was flippin' psycho! He just kind of screamed out whacked-out phrases like "My soul is slogging through oatmeal" :shout:, he kind of spazzed-out every five seconds almost like he was having seizures, and hardly ever made sense. His character left you in the Twilight Zone and was off the radar! :radar: Every time I watch this one I'm like, what the he**? :eek: But, Michael Carmine did do a superb job of playing a nut-job...but unfortunately not an interesting or captivating nut-job, just one you wish would shut up! :sick: Poor dude died of heart failure not too long after this...sad but I'm not surprised. :( The episode itself was just too bizarre and barely made any sense itself...other than I sort of understood the OCD drug dude wanted his briefcase back because it contained his drug business info. The rest of the episode appeared to just be crack-head babble :rolleyes:...was irritating :evil: and left you going "Huh??" :confused:Because I did find the very beginning somewhat interesting and of course enjoyed the Jan Hammer themes, I did give this one a 3...but perhaps I'm being too nice. ;)

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This is probably my least favorite episode of season 3. :sick: The only episode that is worse than this one is of course "Missing Hours"...and "Cows of October" probably ties this one with being the 2nd worse episode of the series. However, "Viking Bikers From Hell" is pretty bad too...but I think "Missing" and "Cows" are worse than "Vikings".The beginning is pretty good...Crockett and Tubbs trying to infiltrate this drug dealer's business and then they're ripped off by some "goons" in Halloween masks. But, that's where the "good" ends. :pFirst you have a seriously OCD drug dealer, Don Gallego, who likes to freakin' dustbuster his limo every five seconds. :rolleyes: Then, you have these weirdo, goofball theater guys who don't ever seem to work. Then enter...Mikey. That dude was flippin' psycho! He just kind of screamed out whacked-out phrases like "My soul is slogging through oatmeal" :shout:, he kind of spazzed-out every five seconds almost like he was having seizures, and hardly ever made sense. His character left you in the Twilight Zone and was off the radar! :radar: Every time I watch this one, I'm like what the he**? :eek: However, Michael Carmine did do a superb job of playing a nut-job...but unfortunately not an interesting or captivating nut-job, just one you wish would shut up! :rolleyes: The poor guy died of heart failure not long after this...sad but I'm not surprised. :(The episode itself was just too bizarre and barely made any sense itself...other than I sort of understood the OCD drug dude wanted his briefcase back because it contained his drug business info. The rest of the episode appeared to just be crack-head babble :rolleyes:...was irritating :evil: and left you going "Huh??" :confused:Because I did find the very beginning somewhat interesting and of course enjoyed the Jan Hammer themes, I did give this one a 3...but perhaps I'm being too nice. ;)

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Oops...somehow my review got posted twice?? :rolleyes: Don't know how that happened...sorry! :oThe one thing I don't like about this site is that you don't have the option to delete your posts if wanted or needed. So, if someone can delete one of my reviews above that'd be good.

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Guest myonlyvice

Ordinarily I'm a believer in the adage "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.". But I'm ignoring that right now because I'm morally obliged to say this episode stinks, just like the one that came before it and the one that came after it. It's deeply regrettable that season 3 was the only occasion that they chose to make 24 episodes instead of 22. Why couldn't they have done this in season 2? Why, why, WHY!!? Season three for the most part simply rides on the coattails of season two. Had season two not been such a smash they never would have made 24. They really squandered a great opportunity. I'm staunchly pro-life, but these episodes never should have been allowed to leave the womb alive. Ok, I'm done.

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Ordinarily I'm a believer in the adage "If you have nothing nice to say' date=' say nothing at all.". But I'm ignoring that right now because I'm morally obliged to say this episode stinks, just like the one that came before it and the one that came after it. It's deeply regrettable that season 3 was the only occasion that they chose to make 24 episodes instead of 22. Why couldn't they have done this in season 2? Why, why, WHY!!? Season three for the most part simply rides on the coattails of season two. Had season two not been such a smash they never would have made 24. They really squandered a great opportunity. I'm staunchly pro-life, but these episodes never should have been allowed to leave the womb alive. Ok, I'm done.[/quote']LOL! :) Very well put...and I agree, with most of it. I do think that because of the popularity of season 2, they decided to make a little longer season out of 3. But, the problem is (in my opinion) season 3 had new and all different writers. So, some of the carry-over storylines from season 2 were abandoned and left open-ended. :evil: Also, I think this was when Dick Wolf started taking over, and some of the fashion and color choices changed too. Therefore, a few episodes in season 3 were not as "polished" as season 2.However, I do still really like the majority of season 3! :thumbsup: Most of the episodes and plotlines were still pretty awesome, the guest-stars & music were still awesome, the "MV" pastel color scheme was still primarily used on the buildings/backgrounds/filming locations even if it wasn't as prevalent in the clothes, and most of the original "MV" aspects were still present.I'm very much pro-life myself, but I agree...this one, "Missing Hours", "Cows of October", and "Viking Bikers From Hell" should have never left the "womb". ;)
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One of the all-time worst episodes. Right down there with those you mentioned, plus Miracle Man, Hell Hath No Fury, Leap of Faith, etc.

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Guest myonlyvice

majority of season 3! :thumbsup: Most of the episodes and plotlines were still pretty awesome, the guest-stars & music were still awesome, the "MV" pastel color scheme was still primarily used on the buildings/backgrounds/filming locations even if it wasn't as prevalent in the clothes, and most of the original "MV" aspects were still present.I'm very much pro-life myself, but I agree...this one, "Missing Hours", "Cows of October", and "Viking Bikers From Hell" should have never left the "womb". ;)

You're correct about season 3 being extended due to season 2's wild success. The producers wanted to cash in on said success. As an aggregate, season 2 had the highest ratings of any season. Unfortunately, they decided to deviate from the winning formula that brought them the success in the first place. I've heard all the arguments that, going into season 3, a change was necessary but history (in terms of ratings) doesn't bear that out. The show changed when Mann decided to hand the reigns over to Wolf because Mann wanted to pursue his new show "Crime Story". With a change in leadership a change in style is inevitable. If Mann had elected to stay season three would have been much different. I've heard that Mann was actually in favor of Wolf's new vision for the show but I believe this was just Mann trying to put a positive spin on things to buoy the show. He's not going to speak ill of a show that still had his name attached to it. Under Wolf Vice lost much of it's originality and became more like other police dramas, a sad turn of events. Season three has several episodes that I adore but, as a whole, it is definitely more "miss" than "hit" in my view.
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Let's not be too hard on S3 as a whole. I miss the pastels, Dayton and old haircut as much an anyone, but S3 has some of the best episodes of the entire series run, and quite a few that are very strong overall. Not to the degree of S1 and S2, of course, in which very nearly every ep is a classic, but still, "El Viejo," "Lend me an Ear," "By Hooker by Crook" "The Savage," "Stone's War," "Streetwise" and "Shadow in the Dark" are nothing to sneeze at.

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Let's not be too hard on S3 as a whole. I miss the pastels' date=' Dayton and old haircut as much an anyone, but S3 has some of the best episodes of the entire series run, and quite a few that are very strong overall. Not to the degree of S1 and S2, of course, in which very nearly every ep is a classic, but still, "El Viejo," "Lend me an Ear," "By Hooker by Crook" "The Savage," "Stone's War," "Streetwise" and "Shadow in the Dark" are nothing to sneeze at.[/quote']Love Season 3 - some of the early S3 episodes have some of the best cinematography and clothes of the entire series run ( "Stone's War", "Walk Alone" and "Good Collar" ) :D:thumbsup:
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Guest myonlyvice
Let's not be too hard on S3 as a whole. I miss the pastels' date=' Dayton and old haircut as much an anyone, but S3 has some of the best episodes of the entire series run, and quite a few that are very strong overall. Not to the degree of S1 and S2, of course, in which very nearly every ep is a classic, but still, "El Viejo," "Lend me an Ear," "By Hooker by Crook" "The Savage," "Stone's War," "Streetwise" and "Shadow in the Dark" are nothing to sneeze at.[/quote']The episodes you mentioned are among the ones I don't automatically skip when re-watching season three, with the exception of "Stone's War" and "Streetwise". Replace the previous two with "Forgive Us Our Debts", and "The Afternoon Plane" and that's pretty much all I regularly watch from season three. I'll occasionally make an exception for "Red Tape" and "Irish Eyes". My only interest in "Irish Eyes" is the great scenes with Eddie Kaye, who was a fantastic villain.
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The episodes you mentioned are among the ones I don't automatically skip when re-watching season three' date=' with the exception of "Stone's War" and "Streetwise". Replace the previous two with "Forgive Us Our Debts", and "The Afternoon Plane" and that's pretty much all I regularly watch from season three. I'll occasionally make an exception for "Red Tape" and "Irish Eyes". My only interest in "Irish Eyes" is the great scenes with Eddie Kaye, who was a fantastic villain.[/quote']I really like the early S3 episodes - the way they are shot with the testarossa & Crocketts clothes - excellent :thumbsup::D
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