When it comes to television in the 1980s, perhaps no other series defined the decade more than Miami Vice. Produced by Michael Mann, each episode felt like a 60-minute MTV music video, complete with pastel pinks and blues, sex appeal, and a synthesized theme that could have been composed by Depeche Mode. At the center of it all were Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, who portrayed James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs respectively. Now, 34 years after its final episode aired on NBC, Johnson says he has a plan to bring back the influential crime drama, but admits that it would be a difficult undertaking.
Sitting down with Collider to discuss a variety of topics, the conversation turned to Miami Vice, and how, with all the sequels, reboots, and remakes that Hollywood seems to be so fond of, there has yet to be a new version of the series to hit the airwaves. It was then that Johnson revealed that he has a plan on how a reboot of Miami Vice could work in today’s society. However, it doesn’t seem like something that will be happening any time soon.
“It’s different now. It’s hard. It could be done. I have a plan for it, but there are so many people with their thumbs in the pie now and so many iterations that it’s hard to cut through all of that and really find the gem we found back then.”
He’s not wrong. Miami Vice came along at a time when cable television was still in its infancy, and producers and filmmakers were experimenting with the medium to see what worked, and what didn’t. It just so happened that a show about a pair of undercover vice cops managed to strike a chord with the viewing public, capturing the all-important 18–34 demographic thanks to its use of modern music, action, and cinematography, which made it stand out from other police procedurals at the time, such as Remington Steele and T.J. Hooker. In a word, Miami Vice was “hip,” when all other shows were “square.” If you understand those terms, it’s probably time to take your blood pressure medication.
Could Miami Vice Work Today?
We’ve already seen what a new version of Miami Vice could look like today thanks to the 2006 film starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, but that was almost 20 years ago. The world moves fast, and with it so does government policies, the perception of the police, and technology. What worked then won’t necessarily work now, so to do Miami Vice today, in 2024, would be – like Johnson said – hard.
For one thing, the television landscape has massively changed. Shows like The Wire, The Shield, and even Law & Order have seemingly done it all, so for Miami Vice to once again separate itself from the pack to not just seem like another rehash of what came before would be extremely difficult. Johnson and Thomas could return as a couple of cops coming out of retirement for one last case (you know, to catch the guy that got away), but is that something we really need to see? Not really.
Sometimes, it’s best to leave things alone, and in this case, Miami Vice is one of those things. It was such an influential series that it helped change television as we know it, and paved the way for the aforementioned shows to find success. To bring it back today would be a massive disservice to its legacy, and for what? A hit of nostalgia? We have enough of that already, thank you very much. Let’s just let Crockett and Tubbs enjoy their retirement. They’ve more than earned it.