This Week In Miami Vice History

[mvnyc]

September 12th - September 18th: "Brother's Keeper", The series "pilot" episode of the 1st season, premiered on NBC on Sunday, September 16th, 1984 at 9PM EDT. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):

* When aired in syndication, "Brother's Keeper" is aired as two parts, instead of a single, two-hour episode. Strangely, this is how the episode is presented on the UK DVD releases, despite the fact that the other feature-length episodes from the series ("The Prodigal Son" and "Freefall") are presented in their original, double-length form and the DVD releases in other regions have the pilot as a single episode.

* This episode has had the greatest number of tiles of any episode in the series. Originally, when in production, it was titled "Gold Coast", then "Dade County Fast Lane." After NBC executives came up with the title for the show, for the initial premiere airing, it was changed to simply "Miami Vice." When it went into syndication, it received it's now official title of "Brother's Keeper." It was also released on home video as "Miami Vice: The Movie" in 1985. The UK DVD set splits the episode into two parts and labels them as "Pilot (Part I)/(Part II)". Netflix also lists the episode in two parts as "Brother's Keeper (Part I)/(Part II)".

* This episode aired on Sunday night before the show moved to its normal Friday night, 10pm time slot. It aired again on Sunday, July 28, 1985, as the NBC Sunday Movie of the Week and had higher Nielsen ratings than its' initial repeat in January, 1985.

* The title cards for Part I and II are in a different font style and size than during the series proper, as a result of them being added just prior to the episode going into syndication.

* The so-called "In the Air Tonight" scene, where Crockett and Tubbs drive through the Miami night to meet Calderone with the action set to the Phil Collins song of the same name, is often listed as one of television's greatest moments.

* The scene where the team plans the bust together is a staple of the early episodes, but was phased out as the first season progressed.

* When presenting the transfer order to the guard at the suburban jail, Crockett refers to Calderone as "Orlando Calderone" (the drug lord's name was changed to Esteban Calderone in subsequent episodes). Orlando was later resurrected for Esteban's son (played by John Leguizamo in "Sons and Lovers" and "The Afternoon Plane"). There are also discrepancies in how the drug lord's surname is spelled throughout the series, with some instances spelling it Calderone (technically, the Italian spelling of the name and therefore unlikely to be adopted by a Central/South American drug lord) and others spelling in Calderon (the anglicized version of the Spanish spelling), 

* Crockett uses his Daytona's car phone for the first time, which was a novelty in 1984.

* The Carlyle Hotel (which Crockett and Rivera are standing in front of at the episode's beginning) still exists and was featured in the movies "Scarface", "Bad Boys" and "The Birdcage."

* Martin Ferrero would return in several episodes throughout the series as Izzy Moreno, Crockett and Tubbs' street informant and the only character outside of the principle cast to appear in every season.

* Olivia Brown is listed as a guest star in the pilot, though in the series her name will appear between John Diehl and Gregory Sierra/Edward James Olmos' names in the opening credits.

* This was Jimmy Smits' acting debut.

* The video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" features two gangs dressed as extras from the scene in which Tubbs arrives in Miami.

* Crockett's gun in this episode is a Browning BDA in .45 ACP. The BDA was actually a SIG Sauer P220 that was branded as the BDA by Browning, who were responsible for importing it into the United States. Once the show was picked up, Crockett's weapon was changed to a Dornaus & Dixon Bren Ten in 10mm Auto, which it would remain for the first two seasons. Various reasons for the change are cited, including the silver finish of the Bren Ten showing up better during night filming, or Michael Mann's preference for the Bren Ten's "flashier" styling, which he felt was better suited to a supposed drug dealer.

* The version of the "Miami Vice Theme" used in the opening credits is incorrectly mixed and is missing the distinctive synthesized guitar hook. The problem occurs in every episode up to "Calderone's Return (Part I)". This was not corrected on the DVD releases of the show, despite being acknowledged as an error by producers. The same problem with the "Miami Vice Theme" occurs during the chase scene between Crockett (in the Camaro) and Tubbs (in Crockett's Stinger).

* In his hotel room, Tubbs gets a call to make the deal, while on the bed are guns and an open briefcase full of cash. The shot suddenly changes to a close-up of Tubbs on the phone, then shows the bed again and the briefcase is suddenly closed, then Tubbs opens it to check the cash.

* When the camera follows Leon walking along the street to his car before Sonny catches up with him, you see the whole film crew moving the dolly along the street in the shop windows.

* While being chased by Crockett (in the Camaro), Tubbs turns the speed boat to avoid a barge. The front camera shot shows Tubbs leaning and turning to his left but the back camera shot shows the boat turning to his right.

* The judge in Leon's court case is credited as Sumner D. Rupp, yet the name tag seen on his bench in the scene clearly reads Clarence P. Rupp.

* Mykel T. Williamson is still listed among the guest stars during the opening credits for Part II of the syndicated version, despite the fact he was killed in Part I and never appears in the second part of the episode.

* In the two-part version of this episode, the following scenes are deleted, (likely for time purposes), to ensure the two parts fit into two standard-length installments: The scene where Crockett explains to Tubbs why Elvis is "ticking", part of Crockett's "briefing" where he explains what time the bust goes down ("Big hand on the 12, little hand on the 6") and part of Crockett talking to Gina about their night of passion, after Gina confesses that Crockett whispered "Caroline" into her ear.

* This episode was filmed March 5, 1984 - April 5, 1984, with a Production Budget of $5,000,000.

 

 

 

Edited September 13, 2016 by mvnyc

[Daytona74]

vor 37 Minuten schrieb mvnyc:

* The title cards for Part I and II are in a different font style and size than during the series proper, as a result of them being added just prior to the episode going into syndication

Somehow, that keeps happening early on in the series. If you watch "Golden Triangle" Pt I, some of the cards after the opening credits are in that same non-"Vice" font again.

vor 48 Minuten schrieb mvnyc:

* Crockett uses his Daytona's car phone for the first time, which was a novelty in 1984.

Also, the pilot is the only episode where an actual black Ferrari Daytona Spyder is used. And IIRC, only in one single scene, where Crockett is sitting in his car and then gets out and follows Mykel T. Williamson to his Mercedes SL. Legend has it that this Daytona was borrowed  from a local doctor, but after it suffered over $1000 worth of damage during filming, it was never given to the producers again. 

vor 44 Minuten schrieb mvnyc:

* The version of the "Miami Vice Theme" used in the opening credits is incorrectly mixed and is missing the distinctive synthesized guitar hook. The problem occurs in every episode up to "Calderone's Return (Part I)". This was not corrected on the DVD releases of the show, despite being acknowledged as an error by producers. The same problem with the "Miami Vice Theme" occurs during the chase scene between Crockett (in the Camaro) and Tubbs (in Crockett's Stinger).

I actually like it that way. It's different. I've extracted that track from the DVD and put it in my MP3 folder on my computer here at home. I used to think that this was deliberate, and that somehow after a few episodes they just figured a guitar hook would be a fitting addition to the theme.

vor 46 Minuten schrieb mvnyc:

* While being chased by Crockett (in the Camaro), Tubbs turns the speed boat to avoid a barge. The front camera shot shows Tubbs leaning and turning to his left but the back camera shot shows the boat turning to his right.

...and that's not the only slip up in that chase scene; in one shot, you can clearly see the production crew's lighting truck on the side of the road

 

[summer84]

I was just reading about Miami Vice on wikia yesterday. Wikia has awesome background details for each episode and a overall resume on all seasons.

1 hour ago, mvnyc said:

* The version of the "Miami Vice Theme" used in the opening credits is incorrectly mixed and is missing the distinctive synthesized guitar hook. The problem occurs in every episode up to "Calderone's Return (Part I)". This was not corrected on the DVD releases of the show, despite being acknowledged as an error by producers. The same problem with the "Miami Vice Theme" occurs during the chase scene between Crockett (in the Camaro) and Tubbs (in Crockett's Stinger).

I like both. But especially, how it sounds in The Pilot.

1 hour ago, mvnyc said:

* In the two-part version of this episode, the following scenes are deleted, (likely for time purposes), to ensure the two parts fit into two standard-length installments: The scene where Crockett explains to Tubbs why Elvis is "ticking", part of Crockett's "briefing" where he explains what time the bust goes down ("Big hand on the 12, little hand on the 6") and part of Crockett talking to Gina about their night of passion, after Gina confesses that Crockett whispered "Caroline" into her ear.

Coop posted some bits of the Pilot script below, the full scene with Sonny and Gina is on page three. It was only a small part of the dialogue, that was left out, I think they should have kept it. And other interesting cut scenes etc. as well.

Some of the goofs, that aren't mentioned on wikia can be found on IMDb:

'Spotlights were used along with the fixed street lights to illuminate the road during the Camaro/boat chase. The temporary lights are on hydraulic scissor stands and are visible in most of the chase sequence.'

'Throughout the pilot episode, the length of Tubbs' hair changes from scene to scene, indicating that actor Philip Michael Thomas is wearing a wig.'

Edited September 11, 2016 by summer84

[mvnyc]

Thanks for your responses, Daytona74, Summer84, it's been two years since I last posted this thread, I'm glad to see there is an interest!

[Daytona74]

vor 33 Minuten schrieb summer84:

'Throughout the pilot episode, the length of Tubbs' hair changes from scene to scene, indicating that actor Philip Michael Thomas is wearing a wig.'

 

Does it indicate that?

Maybe he just got a haircut at one point during the filming... *shrug*

[summer84]

That's for sure mvnyc! 

There are still so many interesting fact's about MV, I only knew very little of and I just love reading about all these background details.

　

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by summer84

[summer84]

11 minutes ago, Daytona74 said:

 

Does it indicate that?

Maybe he just got a haircut at one point during the filming... *shrug*

It's not something, I noticed in the episode. I also thought hmm weird, I couldn't see, why he should be wearing a wig.

Maybe he did, don't know, who wrote that on IMDb.  Or it could have been his stand in, which was my first thought.

Edited September 12, 2016 by summer84

[Daytona74]

You know what, I think I'll watch Brother's Keeper tomorrow night. For some strange reason, that's one episode of only a handful that I haven't watched during my own personal "summer rerun" of the entire series that I have done over the last eight to ten weeks.

Maybe I was instinctively saving the best for last...

Edited September 12, 2016 by Daytona74

[summer84]

I think you did save the best for last. 

Also since you are going to watch episode, don't forget Tubb's hair, to see if anything changes there.  

 

 

[Daytona74]

Roger that... will do...

[damrod]

These tidbits are great.  Thanks.

[Vicefan7777]

This episode is one that could easily stand alone as a feature film.  Would love to see this on IMAX. 

[AzVice]

probably just depended how much philip had his hair teased that day. plus they filmed the pilot over a month

[Daytona74]

vor 9 Stunden schrieb Vicefan7777:

This episode is one that could easily stand alone as a feature film.  Would love to see this on IMAX. 

That is true for many early episodes. Calderone's Return, Golden Triangle... even some one-hour episodes like The Home Invaders or Smuggler's Blues.

Goes to show that they were really in a frame of mind of making a one-hour movie each week...

[summer84]

It is also mentioned by DJ in the 1991 interview, that they were going for the kind of production quality, being synonymous with feature film productions.

[summer84]

What I also notice much, when watching the show and think is awesome in Miami Vice is how they experimented throughout series with almost every Cinematic technique possible.

Using different angles. Like with the "Worm's eye view" in No exit, where we see Castillo from below and up. Bird's-eye view also in Calderone's return. And how they sometimes would shoot the squad briefing through the blinds. And many others....

[Matt5]

20 hours ago, mvnyc said:

September 12th - September 18th: "Brother's Keeper", The series "pilot" episode of the 1st season, premiered on NBC on Sunday, September 16th, 1984 at 9PM EDT. Some notes on this episode (from Miami Vice Wiki):

* When aired in syndication, "Brother's Keeper" is aired as two parts, instead of a single, two-hour episode. Strangely, this is how the episode is presented on the UK DVD releases, despite the fact that the other feature-length episodes from the series ("The Prodigal Son" and "Freefall") are presented in their original, double-length form and the DVD releases in other regions have the pilot as a single episode.

* This episode has had the greatest number of tiles of any episode in the series. Originally, when in production, it was titled "Gold Coast", then "Dade County Fast Lane." After NBC executives came up with the title for the show, for the initial premiere airing, it was changed to simply "Miami Vice." When it went into syndication, it received it's now official title of "Brother's Keeper." It was also released on home video as "Miami Vice: The Movie" in 1985. The UK DVD set splits the episode into two parts and labels them as "Pilot (Part I)/(Part II)". Netflix also lists the episode in two parts as "Brother's Keeper (Part I)/(Part II)".

* This episode aired on Sunday night before the show moved to its normal Friday night, 10pm time slot. It aired again on Sunday, July 28, 1985, as the NBC Sunday Movie of the Week and had higher Nielsen ratings than its' initial repeat in January, 1985.

* The title cards for Part I and II are in a different font style and size than during the series proper, as a result of them being added just prior to the episode going into syndication.

* The so-called "In the Air Tonight" scene, where Crockett and Tubbs drive through the Miami night to meet Calderone with the action set to the Phil Collins song of the same name, is often listed as one of television's greatest moments.

* The scene where the team plans the bust together is a staple of the early episodes, but was phased out as the first season progressed.

* When presenting the transfer order to the guard at the suburban jail, Crockett refers to Calderone as "Orlando Calderone" (the drug lord's name was changed to Esteban Calderone in subsequent episodes). Orlando was later resurrected for Esteban's son (played by John Leguizamo in "Sons and Lovers" and "The Afternoon Plane"). There are also discrepancies in how the drug lord's surname is spelled throughout the series, with some instances spelling it Calderone (technically, the Italian spelling of the name and therefore unlikely to be adopted by a Central/South American drug lord) and others spelling in Calderon (the anglicized version of the Spanish spelling), 

* Crockett uses his Daytona's car phone for the first time, which was a novelty in 1984.

* The Carlyle Hotel (which Crockett and Rivera are standing in front of at the episode's beginning) still exists and was featured in the movies "Scarface", "Bad Boys" and "The Birdcage."

* Martin Ferrero would return in several episodes throughout the series as Izzy Moreno, Crockett and Tubbs' street informant and the only character outside of the principle cast to appear in every season.

* Olivia Brown is listed as a guest star in the pilot, though in the series her name will appear between John Diehl and Gregory Sierra/Edward James Olmos' names in the opening credits.

* This was Jimmy Smits' acting debut.

* The video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" features two gangs dressed as extras from the scene in which Tubbs arrives in Miami.

* Crockett's gun in this episode is a Browning BDA in .45 ACP. The BDA was actually a SIG Sauer P220 that was branded as the BDA by Browning, who were responsible for importing it into the United States. Once the show was picked up, Crockett's weapon was changed to a Dornaus & Dixon Bren Ten in 10mm Auto, which it would remain for the first two seasons. Various reasons for the change are cited, including the silver finish of the Bren Ten showing up better during night filming, or Michael Mann's preference for the Bren Ten's "flashier" styling, which he felt was better suited to a supposed drug dealer.

* The version of the "Miami Vice Theme" used in the opening credits is incorrectly mixed and is missing the distinctive synthesized guitar hook. The problem occurs in every episode up to "Calderone's Return (Part I)". This was not corrected on the DVD releases of the show, despite being acknowledged as an error by producers. The same problem with the "Miami Vice Theme" occurs during the chase scene between Crockett (in the Camaro) and Tubbs (in Crockett's Stinger).

* In his hotel room, Tubbs gets a call to make the deal, while on the bed are guns and an open briefcase full of cash. The shot suddenly changes to a close-up of Tubbs on the phone, then shows the bed again and the briefcase is suddenly closed, then Tubbs opens it to check the cash.

* When the camera follows Leon walking along the street to his car before Sonny catches up with him, you see the whole film crew moving the dolly along the street in the shop windows.

* While being chased by Crockett (in the Camaro), Tubbs turns the speed boat to avoid a barge. The front camera shot shows Tubbs leaning and turning to his left but the back camera shot shows the boat turning to his right.

* The judge in Leon's court case is credited as Sumner D. Rupp, yet the name tag seen on his bench in the scene clearly reads Clarence P. Rupp.

* Mykel T. Williamson is still listed among the guest stars during the opening credits for Part II of the syndicated version, despite the fact he was killed in Part I and never appears in the second part of the episode.

* In the two-part version of this episode, the following scenes are deleted, (likely for time purposes), to ensure the two parts fit into two standard-length installments: The scene where Crockett explains to Tubbs why Elvis is "ticking", part of Crockett's "briefing" where he explains what time the bust goes down ("Big hand on the 12, little hand on the 6") and part of Crockett talking to Gina about their night of passion, after Gina confesses that Crockett whispered "Caroline" into her ear.

* This episode was filmed March 5, 1984 - April 5, 1984, with a Production Budget of $5,000,000.

$5 million production budget and shot over four and a half weeks was huge in early 1984!

[Daytona74]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Matt5:

$5 million production budget and shot over four and a half weeks was huge in early 1984!

Yep... for television anyway.

Wonder how they then managed to crunch it down to just over $1 million per episode...

Also, here's an interesting clip... probably been posted on here a few times, I don't know...

 

Interesting to think, what if Larry Wilcox had become the face of 80s pop culture instead of Don Johnson... or would the pilot movie even have been picked up for an actual TV series?

Although in this scene, Larry Wilcox makes himself look more like a Will Ferrell impression gone wrong...

Personally, I don't think he lost out "narrowly" to Don Johnson. More like by a wide margin... There were certain more tense scenes, both in the pilot and some episodes, that probably wouldn't have worked with anybody but Don. Just imagine Larry Wilcox in the scene with Scott Wheeler in the Daytona...

[Matt5]

17 hours ago, Daytona74 said:

Yep... for television anyway.

Wonder how they then managed to crunch it down to just over $1 million per episode...

Also, here's an interesting clip... probably been posted on here a few times, I don't know...

 

Interesting to think, what if Larry Wilcox had become the face of 80s pop culture instead of Don Johnson... or would the pilot movie even have been picked up for an actual TV series?

Although in this scene, Larry Wilcox makes himself look more like a Will Ferrell impression gone wrong...

Personally, I don't think he lost out "narrowly" to Don Johnson. More like by a wide margin... There were certain more tense scenes, both in the pilot and some episodes, that probably wouldn't have worked with anybody but Don. Just imagine Larry Wilcox in the scene with Scott Wheeler in the Daytona...

I agree - not a good audition Today looks like a rip-off of "Anchorman" starring Will Ferrell .

They definately chose correctly with Don .

Great info in your MV - Week in History - will you carry on now with the other weeks?!

[summer84]

On ‎12‎-‎09‎-‎2016 at 5:20 AM, AzVice said:

probably just depended how much philip had his hair teased that day. plus they filmed the pilot over a month

I was watching the episode and in a few scenes, I think it was night scenes, Tubb's hair looks bigger, but I didn't notice anything like, what was mentioned on IMDb and what you wrote makes sense.

[mvnyc]

One of the NBC premiere promos from 1984:

:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTZHb3ZlmPQ

Edited September 13, 2016 by mvnyc

[Vincent Hanna]

1 hour ago, mvnyc said:

One of the NBC premiere promos from 1984:

:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTZHb3ZlmPQ

That might be the greatest trailer of all time. I can only imagine the reaction of someone in 1984 sitting on their couch and randomly coming across that on tv. It must have blown their mind.

[Daytona74]

ok so I actually just watched Brother's Keeper.

I have to say, three decades later and after probably the eighth or tenth time of watching it in my life, I am still blown away by it. You really have to remind yourself at times that this isn't a feature film, but a television pilot that was shot with no guarantee that it would even get picked up for a series.

They were simply hitting it out of the ballpark with this pilot. I don't really remember what I thought of it when I was a 12-year-old and watching it on German TV for the first time when Miami Vice premiered here in late 1986, but I can appreciate that viewers were probably stunned, and that it's no lie when you hear people say that there simply wasn't anything like it on TV in those days.

It would have been the biggest waste in TV history if this pilot hadn't been picked up to be made into a TV series. And the 80s, and 80s pop culture itself, certainly would have been that little bit less colorful without Miami Vice.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Daytona74

[summer84]

For those who missed it the first time around.

http://www.wolfsonarchives.info/view_permalink/?fileid=WC06624.mp4

At 15:26 Once again enjoy!!

[Daytona74]

Here's another news segment from the summer of 1984...