Episode #108 "Miracle Man"

[Adrian321]

1 minute ago, ViceFanMan said:

True...but there’s usually one that’s considered the worst out of all of them. As for the rest—really for me, when they’re bad...they’re bad. Maybe for different reasons, but they still are bad episodes that probably shouldn’t have been done either. 

The community is ALMOST unanimously certain that Missing  hours is indeed the worst of them all...... for good reasons.

Atleast Miracle man and the rest are grounded in reality, and have a police-theme, that sometimes involves drugs; and a nice chunk of action and scenery (like Viking Bikers)

[Adrian321]

8 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

True...but there’s usually one that’s considered the worst out of all of them. As for the rest—really for me, when they’re bad...they’re bad. Maybe for different reasons, but they still are bad episodes that probably shouldn’t have been done either. 

I think there is another thing we can agree on....... 

I would have loved shorter S4 and S5, with the condition that the scrapped episode budgets were added up for less episodes. Imagine how many millions of dollars worth of financing actual good episodes from the money of bad ones.....

Yea........ some of my favourite episodes are from these very bad seasons (Freefall, Deliver us from Evil and Forgive us our debts) are episodes emerged in decaying seasons....... That means that there was actual possibility for better; but there was either too much stupidity or wrong people in the wrong place, spending the money in a wrong way......

If it wasn't for episodes like these in the last 2-3 seasons, I wouldn't have watched any bit of them altogether.

Do not get me wrong; I kinda like both ways of athmoshpere of the show, the dark and light one, because if each handled specifically can make great results, but if the episode quality is bad from the start, not even the best actors, the best atmoshpere, the best music, special effects, or cars can save the "ship from sinking".

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:39 PM, ViceFanMan said:

“Viking” isn’t quite as bad as “Miracle”, and no where near as bad as “Missing”...but it’s still terrible & garbage, in my opinion. I don’t know if I have 10 episodes that would be considered the worst...but there’s around 5 for me, and “Viking is definitely one.

I will say that I don't really like 'Viking Bikers from Hell' overall, but I do like some things about it (the flowers gag, the Nietzsche angle). As a whole though, I find the whole deal a little off in tone, and weird in a way I don't find all that fun (also, I can't like an episode that much in which Tubbs ends up in the hospital; that was worse than him getting beat up in 'Nobody Lives Forever', or being in love with Valerie).

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:46 PM, Adrian321 said:

The community is ALMOST unanimously certain that Missing  hours is indeed the worst of them all...... for good reasons.

Atleast Miracle man and the rest are grounded in reality, and have a police-theme, that sometimes involves drugs; and a nice chunk of action and scenery (like Viking Bikers)

Oh yeah, I think 'Missing Hours' is the worst...yet still, I can't take my eyes off of it (every time I've viewed it I hope to understand it a little better, but it's like insanity, I end up the same at the end...and hungry for peanut butter)!

[ViceFanMan]

17 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

Oh yeah, I think 'Missing Hours' is the worst...yet still, I can't take my eyes off of it (every time I've viewed it I hope to understand it a little better, but it's like insanity, I end up the same at the end...and hungry for peanut butter)!

I can’t even hardly stand to watch “Missing Hours”! I end up thinking about other things or doing something else while it’s on...and if I try & force myself to focus on it, I just get upset & disappointed all over again that this piece of “poop” was actually done—and under the realm of MV no-less.   

I grew up with too much peanut butter I think...plus this episode definitely doesn’t help...as I don’t really like it that much anymore, lol! 

[Adrian321]

26 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I will say that I don't really like 'Viking Bikers from Hell' overall, but I do like some things about it (the flowers gag, the Nietzsche angle). As a whole though, I find the whole deal a little off in tone, and weird in a way I don't find all that fun (also, I can't like an episode that much in which Tubbs ends up in the hospital; that was worse than him getting beat up in 'Nobody Lives Forever', or being in love with Valerie).

I agree it was pretty bad, and boring most of the time....... but you've gotta admit the action there is very good; and the Testarossa scenes also....... this makes me rate it a 6/10......... and Tubbs getting into hospital is a rare occurance, which is also a bonus; since most of the time, the main characters defy probability, dodging bullets like balls in dodgeball.....

[ViceFanMan]

26 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I will say that I don't really like 'Viking Bikers from Hell' overall, but I do like some things about it (the flowers gag, the Nietzsche angle). As a whole though, I find the whole deal a little off in tone, and weird in a way I don't find all that fun (also, I can't like an episode that much in which Tubbs ends up in the hospital; that was worse than him getting beat up in 'Nobody Lives Forever', or being in love with Valerie).

I really don’t care for “Viking Bikers”....I don’t hate it as much as “Missing Hours” or “Miracle Man”...but it’s close, and definitely on the list of one of the worst episodes of the show. Just a bizarre, and pathetically created & acted episode. 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

5 minutes ago, Adrian321 said:

I agree it was pretty bad, and boring most of the time....... but you've gotta admit the action there is very good; and the Testarossa scenes also....... this makes me rate it a 6/10......... and Tubbs getting into hospital is a rare occurance, which is also a bonus; since most of the time, the main characters defy probability, dodging bullets like balls in dodgeball.....

I agree, I do feel the action/kill sequences are top-notch; for me though the whole plan just doesn't come together for me (could've used more A-Team, maybe?). Beginning with this episode, I feel the show gets a little funky for awhile, and not always a good kind of funky.

[Adrian321]

1 minute ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I agree, I do feel the action/kill sequences are top-notch; for me though the whole plan just doesn't come together for me (could've used more A-Team, maybe?). Beginning with this episode, I feel the show gets a little funky for awhile, and not always a good kind of funky.

The action sequence and Testarossa chase was the life-saving vest of the sinking episode...... Without these, I would've given it a 3/10 or 4/10 AT MOST; just because it presents a rare situation when a Vice member finally stops dodging probability like a magician.

[ViceFanMan]

20 minutes ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I agree, I do feel the action/kill sequences are top-notch; for me though the whole plan just doesn't come together for me (could've used more A-Team, maybe?). Beginning with this episode, I feel the show gets a little funky for awhile, and not always a good kind of funky.

From “Viking Bikers”, “Everybody’s in Showbiz”, “Missing Hours”, “Cows of October”, to even the Burnett-saga episodes & “Miracle Man” towards the end...the show had sadly definitely got funky & ridiculous. The writers had not only dropped the proverbial ball...but I don’t think they even bothered to pick it up anymore.

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

3 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

From “Viking Bikers”, “Everybody’s in Showbiz”, “Missing Hours”, “Cows of October”, to even the Burnett-saga episodes & “Miracle Man” towards the end...the show had sadly definitely got funky & ridiculous. The writers had not only dropped the proverbial ball...but I don’t think they even bothered to pick it up anymore.

I really can't disagree with you, especially Season 4 (putting myself in the mind of someone watching in 1987-88, I think it looks even worse). I do like Season 5 a lot though (I do recognize that the Burnett arc isn't everyone's bag, and the whole thing is far-fetched at best); I find it pretty dark and freewheeling, and those are two elements I can get on board with!

[ViceFanMan]

1 minute ago, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I really can't disagree with you, especially Season 4 (putting myself in the mind of someone watching in 1987-88, I think it looks even worse). I do like Season 5 a lot though (I do recognize that the Burnett arc isn't everyone's bag, and the whole thing is far-fetched at best); I find it pretty dark and freewheeling, and those are two elements I can get on board with!

Yeah, there were a few good episodes still “sprinkled” in throughout Seasons 4-5...but no where near enough to save the show. In my opinion, if they had not done the Burnett arc & did something else to try and get ratings back...the show might have lasted a little longer. But, everyone has their likes and dislikes. 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

2 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

Yeah, there were a few good episodes still “sprinkled” in throughout Seasons 4-5...but no where near enough to save the show. In my opinion, if they had not done the Burnett arc & did something else to try and get ratings back...the show might have lasted a little longer. But, everyone has their likes and dislikes. 

I thought when the Season 4 episodes were good, they were REALLY good ('Contempt of Court', I feel, is outstanding; kinda fools people into thinking that the season will be normal, a notion that's put to rest early for sure!), but most of the time it's more off-the-wall than Hank Weldon (maybe Hank Weldon was the actual showrunner in this period, and not the Wolf). I think Season 5 gets back on track in terms of having a consistent tone, it's just amazing to me how all over the place Season 4 is: it's like 18 different shows wrapped in one series, wrapped again, then freeze-dried.

[Jack Gretsky]

On 9/13/2020 at 10:08 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

Well, he finally did it.  Sonny finally ate a gun.  I guess it was only a matter of time...oh wait, it was just a chocolate gun!

This is yet another "awful" episode that is actually quite good.  Absorbing, eccentric, offbeat, and moving.  Jose Perez is great as the diminutive Robin Hood who turns out to be a very tortured soul.  

Good ol' Iz: "David Lettersmang" 

We need a Miracle Man movie franchise!  It even already has its own heroic theme music.

Is this near the start of reality TV?  It begs the question - a fantasy crime fighter and TV news manipulation.  Which is the more fake?

Izzy is a Monty Python fan! "Pining for the fjords."  His concern for Jorge is touching.  It's something when Izzy of all people asks if someone else is a nut!

A nice "summer fair" atmosphere during the scene of Miracle Man throwing the money around and Izzy hawking products.  And did you see how hot some of those "miracle girls" were?

This is one of those quirky oddball episodes, but ultimately really sad - especially when we get a glimpse how distressed Jorge's family is.   

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 12/5/2021 at 8:29 PM, Jack Gretsky said:

We need a Miracle Man movie franchise!  It even already has its own heroic theme music.

Is this near the start of reality TV?  It begs the question - a fantasy crime fighter and TV news manipulation.  Which is the more fake?

Izzy is a Monty Python fan! "Pining for the fjords."  His concern for Jorge is touching.  It's something when Izzy of all people asks if someone else is a nut!

A nice "summer fair" atmosphere during the scene of Miracle Man throwing the money around and Izzy hawking products.  And did you see how hot some of those "miracle girls" were?

This is one of those quirky oddball episodes, but ultimately really sad - especially when we get a glimpse how distressed Jorge's family is.   

I do like the episode. Did it all work the way it was supposed to? Well, I think for the most part, and I liked the messages of people exploiting someone for their own goals, as Eric Terry did, the rise of "Reality" TV, and it TRIED to do something w/ manic depression at least, even if today it looks a bit uninformed. But yeah, Izzy selling "Miracle Man" products, the "Miracle Girls", and Jorge giving away money? Not bad, better than being a nerdy guy from Wichita getting solicited by a Miami hooker.

[Augusta]

Miracle Man is an episode I've been watching a lot recently.  I don't like it much, and I know it gets a lot of negative criticism.  After just the first ten minutes, I though it was going to have a too predictable ending, with the poor misguided, cape-wearing man being killed in some hoodlum's gunfire.... and I was right.

NOT a BAD story idea, really.  It's a regularly used tv series idea, but I think Miami Vice has enough "wild city" latitude to allow the idea too be played out with more uniqueness and unpredictability,... and the writers/director just didn't try to that.    But if I recall, that was also the period in Hollywood where writers were in disputes, and the freelance writer stand-ins were pretty poor about thoroughness or depth,... so you end up with boring lines for Tubbs/Switek/Gina/Trudy/...(and that commish guy who speaks his words like Count Chaaculaaa).  

Surprisingly to me, the only actor in that episode who spoke his lines and always sounded convincing, was Jose Perez the Miracle Man himself.  Everyone else speaks like they felt uncomfortable reading the cheesy script lines they were given.   Jose is the one who sells his character to me without any cornyness or insensitivity.  Always a guy who needed mental help, never just a "superhero kick-me jerk".  With better script lines and a more thought out ending, it could have been a cool episode.

The writers should have done their homework straight back to Don Quixote (the book that arguably is the basis for all the "lofty vigilante" episodes that get recycled in our tv shows). Don Quixote's author ended his character without killing him off in one of his own antics,.. and the ending was a far more tearful and thought provoking for the audience.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Augusta

[ViceFanMan]

2 hours ago, Augusta said:

Miracle Man is an episode I've been watching a lot recently.  I don't like it much, and I know it gets a lot of negative criticism.  After just the first ten minutes, I though it was going to have a too predictable ending, with the poor misguided, cape-wearing man being killed in some hoodlum's gunfire.... and I was right.

It was a pathetic, terribly written & acted episode; it should never have been done!  A complete total embarrassment for the show...and possibly/probably the 2nd worst episode of the series (2nd only to “Missing Hours”).  The only somewhat decent acting was ironically from one of the usual morons—Izzy. But, that still wasn’t even near enough to ‘save’ this crap...no matter how hard you try, you can’t polish a turd. 

[Augusta]

Hahahahaaaha, oh my Lord, ViceFanMan you certainly,... didn't appear to like the episode very much.

 
If the writer were around to receive this, and your post were a box of kleenex tissues (even the extra soft kind with lotion in the tissues), the writer would be sitting in the corner of the floor with crosses in his eyes and 4inch high lumps all over his head like in the Popeye cartoons.
We have to call the police to pull ViceFanMan off the poor guy before he dies from this beating.  

 

(Meanwhile, you've got me looking up "Missing Hours" to refresh my memory).

Edited December 10, 2021 by Augusta

[ViceFanMan]

8 minutes ago, Augusta said:

Hahahahaaaha, oh my Lord, ViceFanMan you certainly,... didn't appear to like the episode very much.

 
If the writer were around to receive this, and your post were a box of kleenex tissues (even the extra soft kind with lotion in the tissues), the writer would be sitting in the corner of the floor with crosses in his eyes and 4inch high lumps all over his head like in the Popeye cartoons.
We have to call the police to pull ViceFanMan off the poor guy before he dies from this beating.  

 

(Meanwhile, you've got me looking up "Missing Hours" to refresh my memory).

Naaa...I wouldn’t of wasted my time & energy beating the writers up (maybe a couple smacks to get their attention )...I’d of just fired their sorry butts & hired ones that actually cared about the show & characters (referring to the last couple seasons as a whole...not just “Miracle Man”).  

But, you’re correct, episodes like this (as well as “Missing Hours”—the ultimate worst one, “Cows of October”, “Viking Bikers” & “Everybody’s in Showbiz”) are absolute ridiculous or pathetic garbage that made a superb, iconic show like MV look bad...they caused it to go out on a “sour” note. So, I don’t tend to look upon them with favorable views or thoughts. 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

Not to sound random, but I also like Izzy's "Miracle Manure" line, and when Gina says to Jorge that maybe he really is a miracle man, it kind of makes me feel good actually (I think Gina's sweetness really comes out in this episode).

I do understand the complaints other viewers have about this episode. It isn't Vice's finest hour (or 49 minutes, depending on how you look at it), but it is a minor episode that's at the back end of the series. Now, those wacky ones that end Season 3 and even wackier ones that are featured heavily early in season 4? Well, I feel there's still a problem that even Big Pig or what my momma told me (which was mostly the Sheena Easton subplot, back when the show was current) couldn't solve.

[Augusta]

The recipe for Vice success was really very easy (only the Hollywood moguls can't see how to make a good tv show).  No matter how gorgeous the location, no matter how ahead of its time the technology and production values, no matter how capable and charismatic the team of actresses/actors,... you needed a reasonably good story and it had to be well executed in your episode.  Once you started with a "good" story episode, Hammer's music, Miami's hot culture, and the Armarni's threads would take care of the rest of the success.
Trouble was, the music, the city, the fashion clothes, the polish of innovation of Vice were all so powerful, that critics everywhere had people believing that we were watching the series SOLELY because of those gorgeous decorations.  Even we the audience swallowed that claim from the critics.  
Those critics were wrong.  Once you put enough poorly written, poorly presented episode-stories in front of us, we the audience lose interest in...yes, even lose interest in a Miami Vice.  
You won't ever lose your audience if you give them a story like the Evan episode, or the Out Where the Buses episode.  No show was doing a story with the layered human intricacies that those two episodes had.  And you didn't even have to get too intricate, super-intellectual, or sociological with the subject in the episode---all you had to do was PRESENT the subject in the episode, and the audience would bring our own thoughts and feelings and personal baggage to the experience.  Evan had the matter of homosexuality and guilt written in it---and I don't think there was a single watcher who didn't (maybe only silently inside) bring some private experience of his own to mind, and feel that this episode was striking.  NO social debate or chit-chat necessary in the episode--just state the incident, say it hurt the characters, and the audience will define that "hurt" in any private way we want.

That kind of simple good stuff could have been done with Miracle Man.  There's the subject of drug use trickling down from you to your child (an aspect of addict behavior that NO show I know was advanced enough to state), and there's the subject of the urban Don Quixotes in our cities (who are just like one of those homeless rascals you have in your town---you love him, he's inspiring, but you know he's going to hit a wall at 90 mph unless he gets real mental treatment).    With Evan, they gave the audience a well written and well executed story.  With Miracle Man and many Season 4/5 episodes, they didn't know a story when it sat right in their laps!  
There was no need to change out the pastels, the lighting, the cops' marital status in Miami Vice.  
We the audience weren't sheep coming to the same pasture just because it's got vivid green grass and the sheepherder owns a cool-looking boat.  We came to Miami Vice because (contrary to the critics' hype) the show regularly had solid, non-lame stories filmed in that strikingly different Miami way.  Once those stories became more lame, we started leaving the pasture.

Maybe that's why I still watch Miracle Man over again.  I keep seeing that it had all the right material to be properly done.

Edited December 16, 2021 by Augusta
spelling errors

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, Augusta said:

The recipe or Vice success was really very easy (only the Hollywood moguls can't see how to make a good tv show).  No matter how gorgeous the location, no matter how ahead of its time the technology and production values, no matter how capable and charismatic the team of actresses/actors,... you needed a reasonably good story and it had to be well executed in your episode.  Once you started with a "good" story episode, Hammer's music, Miami's hot culture, and the Armarni's threads would take care of the rest of the success.
Trouble was, the music, the city, the fashion clothes, the polish of innovation of Vice were all so powerful, that critics everywhere had people believing that we were watching the series SOLELY because of those gorgeous decorations.  Even we the audience swallowed that claim from the critics.  
Those critics were wrong.  Once you put enough poorly written, poorly presented episode-stories in front of us, we the audience lose interest in...yes, even lose interest in a Miami Vice.  
You won't ever lose the audience if you give them a story like the Evan episode, or the Out Where the Buses episode.  No show was doing a story with the layered human intricacies that those two episodes had.  And you didn't even have to get too intricate, super-intellectual, or sociological with the subject in the episode---all you had to do was PRESENT the subject in the episode, and the audience would bring our own thoughts and feelings and personal baggage to the experience.  Evan had the matter of homosexuality and guilt written in it---and I don't think there was a single watcher who didn't (maybe only silently inside) bring some experience of his own to mind, and feel that this episode was striking.  NO social debate or chit-chat necessary in the episode--just state the incident, say it hurt the characters, and the audience will define that "hurt" in any private way we want.

That kind of simple good stuff could have been done with Miracle Man.  There's the subject of drug use trickling from down from you to your child (an aspect of addict behavior that NO show I know was advanced enough to state), and there's the subject of the urban Don Quixotes in our cities (who are just like one of those homeless rascals you have in your town---you love him, he's inspiring, but you know he's going to hit a wall at 90 mph unless he gets mental treatment).    With Evan, they gave the audience a well written and well executed story.  With Miracle Man and many Season 4/5 episodes, they didn't know a story when it sat right in their laps!  
There was no need to change out the pastels, the lighting, the cops' marital status in Miami Vice.  
We the audience weren't sheep coming to the same pasture just because it's got vivid green grass and the sheepherder owns a cool-looking boat.  We came to Miami Vice because (contrary to the critics' hype) the show regularly had solid, non-lame stories filmed in that strikingly different Miami way.  Once those stories became more lame, we started leaving the pasture.

Maybe that's why I still watch Miracle Man over again.  I keep seeing that it had all the right material to be properly done.

Very well stated...and I agree!  However, I usually can’t watch “Miracle”, because of how bad & ridiculous the story was. But, I think you totally hit the nail on the head with how the show affected us. 

[RedDragon86]

1 hour ago, Augusta said:

The recipe or Vice success was really very easy (only the Hollywood moguls can't see how to make a good tv show).  No matter how gorgeous the location, no matter how ahead of its time the technology and production values, no matter how capable and charismatic the team of actresses/actors,... you needed a reasonably good story and it had to be well executed in your episode.  Once you started with a "good" story episode, Hammer's music, Miami's hot culture, and the Armarni's threads would take care of the rest of the success.
Trouble was, the music, the city, the fashion clothes, the polish of innovation of Vice were all so powerful, that critics everywhere had people believing that we were watching the series SOLELY because of those gorgeous decorations.  Even we the audience swallowed that claim from the critics.  
Those critics were wrong.  Once you put enough poorly written, poorly presented episode-stories in front of us, we the audience lose interest in...yes, even lose interest in a Miami Vice.  
You won't ever lose the audience if you give them a story like the Evan episode, or the Out Where the Buses episode.  No show was doing a story with the layered human intricacies that those two episodes had.  And you didn't even have to get too intricate, super-intellectual, or sociological with the subject in the episode---all you had to do was PRESENT the subject in the episode, and the audience would bring our own thoughts and feelings and personal baggage to the experience.  Evan had the matter of homosexuality and guilt written in it---and I don't think there was a single watcher who didn't (maybe only silently inside) bring some experience of his own to mind, and feel that this episode was striking.  NO social debate or chit-chat necessary in the episode--just state the incident, say it hurt the characters, and the audience will define that "hurt" in any private way we want.

That kind of simple good stuff could have been done with Miracle Man.  There's the subject of drug use trickling from down from you to your child (an aspect of addict behavior that NO show I know was advanced enough to state), and there's the subject of the urban Don Quixotes in our cities (who are just like one of those homeless rascals you have in your town---you love him, he's inspiring, but you know he's going to hit a wall at 90 mph unless he gets mental treatment).    With Evan, they gave the audience a well written and well executed story.  With Miracle Man and many Season 4/5 episodes, they didn't know a story when it sat right in their laps!  
There was no need to change out the pastels, the lighting, the cops' marital status in Miami Vice.  
We the audience weren't sheep coming to the same pasture just because it's got vivid green grass and the sheepherder owns a cool-looking boat.  We came to Miami Vice because (contrary to the critics' hype) the show regularly had solid, non-lame stories filmed in that strikingly different Miami way.  Once those stories became more lame, we started leaving the pasture.

Maybe that's why I still watch Miracle Man over again.  I keep seeing that it had all the right material to be properly done.

This is a brilliant post.

Miami Vice between seasons 1 to 3 had style AND substance. 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 12/14/2021 at 10:23 AM, Augusta said:

The recipe for Vice success was really very easy (only the Hollywood moguls can't see how to make a good tv show).  No matter how gorgeous the location, no matter how ahead of its time the technology and production values, no matter how capable and charismatic the team of actresses/actors,... you needed a reasonably good story and it had to be well executed in your episode.  Once you started with a "good" story episode, Hammer's music, Miami's hot culture, and the Armarni's threads would take care of the rest of the success.
Trouble was, the music, the city, the fashion clothes, the polish of innovation of Vice were all so powerful, that critics everywhere had people believing that we were watching the series SOLELY because of those gorgeous decorations.  Even we the audience swallowed that claim from the critics.  
Those critics were wrong.  Once you put enough poorly written, poorly presented episode-stories in front of us, we the audience lose interest in...yes, even lose interest in a Miami Vice.  
You won't ever lose your audience if you give them a story like the Evan episode, or the Out Where the Buses episode.  No show was doing a story with the layered human intricacies that those two episodes had.  And you didn't even have to get too intricate, super-intellectual, or sociological with the subject in the episode---all you had to do was PRESENT the subject in the episode, and the audience would bring our own thoughts and feelings and personal baggage to the experience.  Evan had the matter of homosexuality and guilt written in it---and I don't think there was a single watcher who didn't (maybe only silently inside) bring some private experience of his own to mind, and feel that this episode was striking.  NO social debate or chit-chat necessary in the episode--just state the incident, say it hurt the characters, and the audience will define that "hurt" in any private way we want.

That kind of simple good stuff could have been done with Miracle Man.  There's the subject of drug use trickling down from you to your child (an aspect of addict behavior that NO show I know was advanced enough to state), and there's the subject of the urban Don Quixotes in our cities (who are just like one of those homeless rascals you have in your town---you love him, he's inspiring, but you know he's going to hit a wall at 90 mph unless he gets real mental treatment).    With Evan, they gave the audience a well written and well executed story.  With Miracle Man and many Season 4/5 episodes, they didn't know a story when it sat right in their laps!  
There was no need to change out the pastels, the lighting, the cops' marital status in Miami Vice.  
We the audience weren't sheep coming to the same pasture just because it's got vivid green grass and the sheepherder owns a cool-looking boat.  We came to Miami Vice because (contrary to the critics' hype) the show regularly had solid, non-lame stories filmed in that strikingly different Miami way.  Once those stories became more lame, we started leaving the pasture.

Maybe that's why I still watch Miracle Man over again.  I keep seeing that it had all the right material to be properly done.

I agree; for all the bells and whistles that can be enjoyed for what they are (and I think they're GREAT!), in the end it comes down to story. If the story stinks, I don't care what pastels Crockett is wearing in that episode (ah, 'Missing Hours'? They could have a fashion show inserted in that spot & it still wouldn't help with Carson's zipper).

[sdiegolo78]

This should be called "Moron Man"!

Just re-watched it for completeness after a dozen years. I did feel for Izzy. Best moment of this episode was Stan punching that goofball of a TV guy (same actor playing IAD cop in 'Theresa'). Watched that scene over and over! You can clearly hear the thud of the punch. S5 Switek was kicking asses!

Edited March 23, 2022 by sdiegolo78