Discusses the aesthetic appeal, production history, philosophical themes, and enduring importance of the groundbreaking 1980s television series. There may be no more iconic image of mid-1980s network television than Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs speeding down Biscayne Boulevard in Crockett's sleek black Ferrari on Miami Vice. With its unprecedented $1.3 million-per-episode budget and executive producer Michael Mann at the helm, Miami Vice brought feature film production values to prime time and redefined the television police drama. In Miami Vice author Steven Sanders argues that the show's themes, narratives, visual realization, and sound design created a new standard of crime television that has its roots in classic film noir and neo-noir. In chapter 1 Sanders describes the social, political, and cultural background that led Anthony Yerkovich, creator of Miami Vice, and Mann to use Miami and its beaches not merely as a backdrop but as a character in its own right. Along with the show's visual aspects, Sanders identifies themes of ambiguity, alienation, personal identity, and irony that came to define the distinctive "TV noir" style of Miami Vice. In chapter 2, Sanders discusses four key episodes to examine the existentialist and postmodern themes that can be found in their story lines and visual style. In chapter 3, Sanders considers questions of authenticity, redemption, and politics in Miami Vice, with reference to episodes that demonstrate the show's attention to the political corruption and intrigue surrounding the war on drugs. In the final chapter, Sanders offers a novel explanation of why Miami Vice matters to film and video scholars. Miami Vice's visual and musical appeal, cultural resonance, and topicality made it absorbing entertainment in its own day; Sanders proves that its exploration of social, moral, political, and philosophical issues make it worth watching twenty-five years later. Fans of the show and scholars of television history and American popular culture will appreciate this illuminating look at Miami Vice.

Miami Vice captures the glitter and glamour embodied by Crockett and Tubbs and offers students an anatomy of a ground-breaking work in the police procedural genre. Explores Miami Vice’s combination of disparate influences (MTV, film noir, soap opera, ‘high concept’ action films) as well as the social, cultural and industrial moments when it burst onto the network Introduces readers to major components of televisual analysis--style, storytelling, the television show as commodity and ideological critique-- that illustrate the show’s unique features Provides a model for students’ own assessment of other shows, and confirms precisely how--and on what terms--Miami Vice redefined the police drama and an era

"A mysterious new street drug that's zombified the citizens of Miami is pushing the Metro Dade Police Department to its limits! Lucky for Miami, Vice Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs are on the case. These over the top undercover detectives may be the city's only hope between order and gang infused chaos. Will even their skills be enough to save the city? The ghosts of the past have come back to haunt them and demand payment in blood. Voodoo Crime Lords, Zombies, Disco Psychosis, Fast Cars, Beautiful Women and the Godfather of Soul are blasting out of these pages to bring you a story as insanely bold as the classic upon which it was based!,"--back cover of trade paperback.

Discusses the aesthetic appeal, production history, philosophical themes, and enduring importance of the groundbreaking 1980s television series. There may be no more iconic image of mid-1980s network television than Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs speeding down Biscayne Boulevard in Crockett's sleek black Ferrari on Miami Vice. With its unprecedented $1.3 million-per-episode budget and executive producer Michael Mann at the helm, Miami Vice brought feature film production values to prime time and redefined the television police drama. In Miami Vice author Steven Sanders argues that the show's themes, narratives, visual realization, and sound design created a new standard of crime television that has its roots in classic film noir and neo-noir. In chapter 1 Sanders describes the social, political, and cultural background that led Anthony Yerkovich, creator of Miami Vice, and Mann to use Miami and its beaches not merely as a backdrop but as a character in its own right. Along with the show's visual aspects, Sanders identifies themes of ambiguity, alienation, personal identity, and irony that came to define the distinctive "TV noir" style of Miami Vice. In chapter 2, Sanders discusses four key episodes to examine the existentialist and postmodern themes that can be found in their story lines and visual style. In chapter 3, Sanders considers questions of authenticity, redemption, and politics in Miami Vice, with reference to episodes that demonstrate the show's attention to the political corruption and intrigue surrounding the war on drugs. In the final chapter, Sanders offers a novel explanation of why Miami Vice matters to film and video scholars. Miami Vice's visual and musical appeal, cultural resonance, and topicality made it absorbing entertainment in its own day; Sanders proves that its exploration of social, moral, political, and philosophical issues make it worth watching twenty-five years later. Fans of the show and scholars of television history and American popular culture will appreciate this illuminating look at Miami Vice.

The intriguing story of a television phenomenon! Find out directly from the cast and crew why The Look The Style The Music The People The Energy Placed MIAMI VICE on the cutting edge of television! The Making of Miami Vice includes: Interviews, Behind-the-Scenes Photographs, Plot Synopses, Credits, and Music for Every Episode - and Much, much more! This new digital edition includes an expanded extra chapter covering a bit of "where are they now". Must have for Miami Vice collectors and fans.

The wild, true story of the Mutiny, the hotel and club that embodied the decadence of Miami’s cocaine cowboys heyday—and an inspiration for the blockbuster film, Scarface... In the seventies, coke hit Miami with the full force of a hurricane, and no place attracted dealers and dopers like Coconut Grove’s Mutiny at Sailboat Bay. Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and models flocked to the hotel’s club to order bottle after bottle of Dom and to snort lines alongside narcos, hit men, and gunrunners, all while marathon orgies burned upstairs in elaborate fantasy suites. Amid the boatloads of powder and cash reigned the new kings of Miami: three waves of Cuban immigrants vying to dominate the trafficking of one of the most lucrative commodities ever known to man. But as the kilos—and bodies—began to pile up, the Mutiny became target number one for law enforcement. Based on exclusive interviews and never-before-seen documents, Hotel Scarface is a portrait of a city high on excess and greed, an extraordinary work of investigative journalism offering an unprecedented view of the rise and fall of cocaine—and the Mutiny—in Miami.