Tubbs really doesn't have much to do after season 1..

[Vincent Hanna]

It's pretty funny how little he does in some episodes. In the first season he kinda has the same amount of lines as Crockett and even takes the forefront of episodes like Smuggler's Blues and Rites of Passage where Crockett is in the passive role.

He gets the occasional episode to himself like Little Miss Dangerous, Walk Alone, Indian Wars etc but I watching Hooker by Crook and Tubbs literally has like 1 line in the whole episode as he walks around shadowing Crockett xD

 

 

 

[sredd]

Agree to disagree. 

[Pink Flaming0]

Hooker by Crook - An episode directed by DJ and it was right around the time he and Melanie were back together. Easy to see why Tubbs had very few lines in this episode but I think he had plenty of lines throughout the rest of series.

[Matt5]

Hooker by Crook - An episode directed by DJ and it was right around the time he and Melanie were back together. Easy to see why Tubbs had very few lines in this episode but I think he had plenty of lines throughout the rest of series.

 

 

Good point Pink

[Detective_Crockett]

People have called Season 4 ''The Don Johnson show.''  it's true, they really didn't let Tubbs do much afterwards, and I didn't like that...Tubbs is just as important as Crockett.

 

Furthermore, a question I'm curious about....how did he stay with Miami PD? with the whole lie thing about him being Rafael? ''Fake memo's, forged security clearances.''

[Andreas81]

Ahhhh... Can't be with you on that one  Tubbs is the man!! And he made Miami Vice epic with Sonny all the way through....

[Vincent Hanna]

I'm not saying he's a mute in every episode xD.. But there's definitely a feeling that Tubbs was robin to Crockett's Batman even as early on as season 2. I get it you have to play to your strengths and Don was the stronger actor between the two but they didn't need to minizmie his role so severely. Seriously watch any random episode from season 2-3 and Tubbs is stuck with all the filler expositional dialogue..

[viceystyle]

The last two seasons do become primarily about Sonny Crockett and his story. I also noticed those episodes where Tubbs was there to be his shadow, and it became like he was just second fiddle to Crockett. Other times, you see them as a true duo, where they both have equal lines and things to do. But Tubbs just seem to get enough episodes where the focus was on him. I do understand that Crockett is supposed to be the true main character of the series though, and Tubbs was supposed to be his faithful sidekick. The show is really about Sonny primarily, and the other characters all play supporting roles. Tubbs, being Crockett's partner, plays a bigger supporting role than other characters, but it's still really a supporting role and not the true main.

Edited March 13, 2015 by viceystyle

[Susanna Girl]

^ I agree.  It's pretty evident from the beginning that Crockett is the main character.  And it's also shown in other ways, the way Sonny is almost always walking in front, driving, or however they're placed, he's usually seen first.  Tubbs was such an important part of the series though, it would never have been the same had he disappeared for any length of time.  

[Vincent Hanna]

It's interesting that Tubbs is the first person we see in the Pilot though and his backstory prioritises over Crockett.

[Spyder]

I never liked how Tubbs didn't have much to say in the last scene of the last episode. Even as C&T are saying their final goodbyes to each other, all they could bother writing for Tubbs was stuff like, "Me too," I'm gonna miss you too," "Why not?" and that's about it, while Crockett does all the talking and philosophizing. 

 

Season 5 at least gave Tubbs the opportunity for him to have more lead time, but always at the expense of Crockett being absent. Season 4 Tubbs was around as little as the rest of the Vice squad. Even Switek had more dialogue at that point.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Spyder

[Noggie]

Honestly, I thought Tubbs was the main character when I started watching. My favorite episodes are the ones where there's a balance between the two. Gradually that balance wasn't seen as often. Sonny has a conflict with John Doe & Tubbs researches him on the computer. That type of thing. I watched the season 4 premiere & he hardly had any lines!!

It didn't help that writers started writing Tubbs as being so level headed & bland. He lost the street edge from season 1. He even dressed more & more conservative until they lost their minds in season 5. For me, the show is more interesting when both characters equal parts. There could be episodes that focused more on one than the other as long as there was an overall balance. STARSKY & HUTCH had great balance to me.

I remember watching the finale with my mom & she said " Of course it ends with Tubbs back to the camera". That was a poor choice.

Edited February 10 by Noggie

[Bren10]

I don't want to start any trouble but there is an elephant in the room here.  And that issue is race.  In the 80s and even now in the USA television simply wasn't an even playing field for black leading actors.  As groundbreaking as MV was they still didn't totally jump that hurdle.  A lot of progress was made because of the show, yes, but from the beginning I always felt it was 55/45% at best in Sonny/DJs favor and that was how it was going to be anyway.  It was never a 50/50 series with these two.  I wish it was different but that was where we were in 1984 thru the end of the show's run.

[Vincent Hanna]

Wasn't a young Denzel Washington considered for Tubbs at one point? I think an actor that good would've dominated the screen and wouldn't have allowed himself to be second fiddle to the white boy.

PMT will always be Tubbs though

[Matt5]

1 hour ago, Vincent Hanna said:

Wasn't a young Denzel Washington considered for Tubbs at one point? I think an actor that good would've dominated the screen and wouldn't have allowed himself to be second fiddle to the white boy.

PMT will always be Tubbs though

I agree PMT is Tubbs complete!

[sdiegolo78]

On 3/12/2015 at 10:49 PM, Detective_Crockett said:

People have called Season 4 ''The Don Johnson show.''  it's true, they really didn't let Tubbs do much afterwards, and I didn't like that...Tubbs is just as important as Crockett.

 

Furthermore, a question I'm curious about....how did he stay with Miami PD? with the whole lie thing about him being Rafael? ''Fake memo's, forged security clearances.''

It's Miami Metro Dade PD (Miami PD is a different law enforcement agency with only the city of Miami area as jurisdiction, while metro is Sheriff Dade County police). Tubbs stayed in Miami and with the police department over there as he couldn't go back to New York after his antics. As referenced in 'Heart of darkness', he was 'fried for misconduct'. The NYPD wouldn't re-hire him even if he went back to NY and tried his best.

[Robbie C.]

10 minutes ago, sdiegolo78 said:

It's Miami Metro Dade PD (Miami PD is a different law enforcement agency with only the city of Miami area as jurisdiction, while metro is Sheriff Dade County police). Tubbs stayed in Miami and with the police department over there as he couldn't go back to New York after his antics. As referenced in 'Heart of darkness', he was 'fried for misconduct'. The NYPD wouldn't re-hire him even if he went back to NY and tried his best.

Actually...no. Metro-Dade is a unified department combining both metro Miami and Dade County, although there is also the Miami PD (makes for some messy overlap, I'm sure). Oddly enough they get little airtime... As far Tubbs being hired...call that TV magic (or as I proposed in a story Lou calling in a bunch of favors and some cynical decisions about Tubbs being expendable if necessary).

Edited February 22, 2021 by Robbie C.