Cop shows trying to copy MV?

[SonnyCrockettBurnett01]

I've seen in a lot of cop shows lately that have been trying to copy the style of Miami Vice, including CSI Miami and Burn Notice (CSI Miami isn't even shot in Miami, yet it went on for 12 seasons and 200+ episodes). I think it's funny that they're so unoriginal that they have to resort to even trying to copy one thing, let alone many others from the show. Even though MV lasted for 5 seasons and 111 episodes, it's still Top Dog in terms of cop shows. Even Starsky & Hutch and Magnum P.I. (Even though Magnum P.I. isn't really a "cop show") didn't come close to holding the reins. 

[James]

Burn Notice technically wasn't a cop show though. It's more like Magnum PI, a private investigator show. The main plot was investigating who burned him, with PI side-gigs. He always put himself undercover with drug dealers and gangsters, which is the "Miami Vice" part of the show.

 

But it was a really good show, it's my second favourite of all time. Don't need to say what's #1.  

Edited April 26, 2014 by SL1DE

[MrsEvanFreed]

New York Undercover: Seasons 1-3 reminded me  of Miami Vice in many ways.  My pick for a well done imitation. 

 

 

Fastlane: Not so much.

Edited April 26, 2014 by MrsEvanFreed

[BlueAir]

New York Undercover: Seasons 1-3 reminded me  of Miami Vice in many ways.  My pick for a well done imitation. 

 

 

Fastlane: Not so much.

New York Undercover was pretty good.I would occasionally watch an episode after Vice on Centric.I'd say it was like the Miami Vice of the '90s except more grittier.Sandra Santiago was in one episode

[MrsEvanFreed]

New York Undercover was pretty good.I would occasionally watch an episode after Vice on Centric.I'd say it was like the Miami Vice of the '90s except more grittier.Sandra Santiago was in one episode

 

Still hoping for a dvd release, though it's not likely at this point.

 

 Due to music rights. 

[Crockettt]

New York Undercover was pretty good.I would occasionally watch an episode after Vice on Centric.I'd say it was like the Miami Vice of the '90s except more grittier.Sandra Santiago was in one episode

 

Saundra appeared in episode "The Shooter"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw3rjAIVbMA

[James]

Anyone remember that show 'Life on Mars' which aired in 2008/2009? I felt that was similar to MV, the way they used the styles and music. It's about a modern day cop who gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. If you put the "time travel" stuff aside and watch it as a cop show, it's alright. 

I really enjoyed that show, too bad it was only a 17 episode run, it's actually based on a British show with the same name, but I prefer the American remake.

 

If they just made it as a whole new cop show instead, a show being based in another era - that would have turned out pretty successful, in my opinion.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFUZu8TerXs

Edited April 27, 2014 by SL1DE

[Joe]

Very interesting topic!

 

In my opinion, "21 Jump Street" has also similarities with VICE. For ex., the camera style (big close-ups of faces) is similar and a few episodes (esp. the darker, depressive stories) are made in the fashion of VICE!

 

2 good examples: Season 04 E 19: "La Bizca" and Season 2 E 16 "Orpheus 2.2"!  

[agent 47]

I've seen in a lot of cop shows lately that have been trying to copy the style of Miami Vice, including CSI Miami and Burn Notice (CSI Miami isn't even shot in Miami, yet it went on for 12 seasons and 200+ episodes). I think it's funny that they're so unoriginal that they have to resort to even trying to copy one thing, let alone many others from the show. Even though MV lasted for 5 seasons and 111 episodes, it's still Top Dog in terms of cop shows. Even Starsky & Hutch and Magnum P.I. (Even though Magnum P.I. isn't really a "cop show") didn't come close to holding the reins. 

Yeah, Miami Vice left it's mark on television and even movies to an extent. CSI: Miami felt like it wanted to be the next Miami Vice but was stuck under the label of the first CSI which presented them more limitations with what the could do with it although it was that label which helped the show become popular in the first place as well as it's location which tend to Miami Vice in people's heads when it comes to crime shows. Burn Notice I think worked better than CSI: Miami because of the espionage elements which set it apart from other Miami-set shows following Vice (plus Bruce Campbell was in it which automatically puts it way ahead of CSI: Miami).

 

I think what Miami Vice does well viewing it years later is it kept everything balanced, there was stone cold realism at times but it was balanced with some humorous scenes every now and then. The pace was fast and it usually didn't wast time setting up the story but they still left enough room for character development. Sure the show had some dumb experimental episodes later on but I think the  show was an experiment to begin with and I think the good outweights the bad by a wide margin. I agree it's top dog, we've had some good cop shows since then like Homicide and the earlier seasons of Criminal Intent but I think Miami Vice still comes out on top because even if you don't like cop shows you still might like Miami Vice given how well-made it is and just how different it is even compared to imitations.

[Bilders]

Fastlane, which I love, practically ripped off the pilot of MV with the "you killed my brother!" Storyline. Reminded me way too much of Brothers Keeper the whole way.

[Stinger390X]

Anyone remember that show 'Life on Mars' which aired in 2008/2009?

I remember it well and own the two seasons of it.

 

I thought the show was absolutely brilliant!!! Story line was excellent and the way he communicated back to the present through the TV and radio was heartbreaking. You never knew if he was back in time, in a coma or just dreaming the whole thing. Kept the audience in suspense for sure!

 

I also liked the British humour which, if your savvy about that may seem a bit dry, but I liked it.

 

I was appauled that HBO in the states redid the series and of course I had to watch it to see what happened. Let me tell you........IT WAS PAINFUL! The plot was almost identical, instead of soccer it was football, the twin towers were up, and instead of a Cortina hotrod police car he drove a Chevelle. I HATED the American Version.

[Tony D.]

There are many cop shows that are more bloody & gritty than Miami Vice. Some even have the beautiful setting with palm trees, sandy beaches, etc., but as agent 47 said, "I think what Miami Vice does well viewing it years later is it kept everything balanced, there was stone cold realism at times but it was balanced with some humorous scenes every now and then."

  True,  plus Sonny & Rico were so good looking, cool and well dressed, no other show was able to compare, so far.

[Stinger390X]

A couple of weeks ago I was watching some show, I think it was CSI???????? and all the cops were getting wacked by this madman. There was some trade of hostages or something and at the end the good cop could not let the maniac go! The show ended with him putting two in the chest and one in then head right there at the van.

 

All I could think about was when Sonny put a bullet in head of Hackman as it made TV history that night. These guys are just trying to do it all over again 30  years later. 

Edited May 20, 2014 by Stinger390X

[nater86zx]

Does anybody watch Dexter?  Not a 'cop' show per say, but he does work for Miami PD as a crime scene investigator (blood splatter is his forte).  Not to mention,  early on in the series his sister is in the Vice department! (That's right, she was part of Miami Vice, in the modern world)  However, she hated Vice (dressing up as a hooker, etc) and left Vice to become a Detective.  As a die-hard MV fan, I thought this was odd, but oh well.  It is actually a good show, and I recommend it to anyone looking to start a new series.  It is on Netflix streaming!  

[James]

Does anybody watch Dexter?  Not a 'cop' show per say, but he does work for Miami PD as a crime scene investigator (blood splatter is his forte).  Not to mention,  early on in the series his sister is in the Vice department! (That's right, she was part of Miami Vice, in the modern world)  However, she hated Vice (dressing up as a hooker, etc) and left Vice to become a Detective.  As a die-hard MV fan, I thought this was odd, but oh well.  It is actually a good show, and I recommend it to anyone looking to start a new series.  It is on Netflix streaming!  

My second favourite show of all time. Lots of MV references, a couple of MV actors. I'd love to see a "Miami Homicide" spin off of it.   Because Dexter basically was a cop show with a twist. The twist being he's a serial killer, but they did work on cases.Also, it's blood spatter, not splatter.

Edited June 6, 2014 by SL1DE

[Matt5]

Miami Homicide theres a great idea

[nater86zx]

Hahaha sorry I meant 'blood spatter'!  Miami homicide sounds like a show I could get into.  

[James]

I remember it well and own the two seasons of it.

 

I thought the show was absolutely brilliant!!! Story line was excellent and the way he communicated back to the present through the TV and radio was heartbreaking. You never knew if he was back in time, in a coma or just dreaming the whole thing. Kept the audience in suspense for sure!

 

I also liked the British humour which, if your savvy about that may seem a bit dry, but I liked it.

 

I was appauled that HBO in the states redid the series and of course I had to watch it to see what happened. Let me tell you........IT WAS PAINFUL! The plot was almost identical, instead of soccer it was football, the twin towers were up, and instead of a Cortina hotrod police car he drove a Chevelle. I HATED the American Version.

 

I actually preferred the American version, maybe it's because it was the one I saw first.

 

I don't think American Football was ever referenced, it was mostly basketball.

[Kavinsky]

the closest thing I've seen honestly in the past couple of years that was close to Miami Vice was truthfully the first 48.

 

as they have a crew their in person with the cops of miami, and I remember with the maryland group too there was some incident that seemed like it was right out of vice

 

a known drug dealer with a history of violence rolled up on some kid out in an open field at a park with kids in broad daylight, and tried to kill him with a drive by, unloading the entire pistol at him and not hitting him once, and thankfully no one else while the victim hid behind a tree

 

and he gets out of the car to chase after him after reloading, and the victim returns fire, firing 3 shots at him at 75 feet, and stops him with them too, latter the crime scene investigators were going over the scene and what happened?

 

and I'll always remember this, after finding out what happened there the CSI said to the detective that if the victim is this good, he should be teaching at the academy

 

I mean that is trademark Sonny and Ricardo like dialog right there lol

 

 

and yeah with Life on mars I prefer the original, the Original Gene just has so much more energy than Harvey Kietel

 

 

and ontop of that I think two of the writers for this show are going to be writing the next Beverly Hills Cop movie, so its in good hands.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Kavinsky

[James]

They're making a new Beverly Hills Cop!?  I didn't know that. Awesome!

[Kavinsky]

yup I just found out yesterday, I was doing some research on John Landis and what went wrong with the Blues Brothers 2000 as the NC had just posted a video on it,

 

and I also clicked on beverly hills cop 3, as he had done that as well to see if I could find some clue as to why they made that movie in the first place the BB 2000, and what went wrong.. and then came across the news posting about it.

 

apparently they tried to make a TV show out of it at first, gave up and then decided to go ahead with a new movie instead, using the original director and the two writers working on the screenplay were the life on mars guys.

 

so it might be a proper fun old school romp again.

 

and with BB 2000, best bet, they wanted to make a movie musical and decided to try and make it like the old one and utterly failed at it, would have been better if they sold it as a musical only DVD rather than make it a sequel to the other one.

[James]

Eddie Murphy is going to be in it, so it should be good.

 

If they made a TV show out of it, Eddie most probably wouldn't be in it, so it'll just be a fail.

Looking forward to that one.

 

 

I wouldn't mind a new Blues Brothers movie though. The younger generation need to be aware of good music. The Blues Brothers has been my all-time favourite movie since I was born, when I was 3 or 4 I used to get excited because The Blues Brothers was on TV lol. Still do.

[Matt5]

Eddie Murphy is back ha ha !!

[James]

Just got around to watching Graceland. It's basically Miami Vice on the West Coast. A group of undercover FBI, DEA, and Customs agents living together undercover.

 

What makes it like MV is that the show is mainly about vice, drugs, smuggling, etc. And it's cool. 

And there's a decent soundtrack, it isn't all unknown songs like most series'. I don't listen to the radio often, but even I knew these songs, songs you'd hear on an Indie radio station.I've only seen the Pilot episode, but it's a pretty good show.

Edited June 12, 2014 by SL1DE

[72Grabber]

Is copy the right word? Influenced would be more accurate. Miami Vice changed TV and how it's filmed. Even shows that were on before Miami Vice and still running were influenced by MV. For a good example check out the Magnum P.I. episode "Death and Taxes"  It came out in 86 amid the Miami Vice culture craze. And you can clearly see MV's influence on the mood of the show.