Saundra Santiago (Gina) plays both herself and her own mother (wearing a blonde/brown wig) in the third-season finale "Heroes of the Revolution".
Kelly Lynch performed as three different characters in season four's "Death and the Lady": she first appears as Lori Swann in the peep show visited by Crockett and Tubbs. She then plays Amy Ryder in the film's "dead-eyes" scene, and lastly appears as Margot Franck at the roof-top film party.
Edward James Olmos made a few changes to his character when he was hired for the show. He said that his character's desk should always be free of paper work, and that the cops knock on the door before entering the office. It was also his idea that he would wear a black suit in contrast to the colorful wardrobe all around him. In later episodes, Castillo would be shown sleeping at his desk whenever the Vice team was engaged in a major/multi-day case.
The Teeth-Clenched Teamwork with Crockett also appears to have been an example, as Olmos has gone on record as saying he deliberately ignored Don Johnson for many scenes, even refusing to look him directly in the eyes while speaking to him, which led to rumors about both men refusing to shoot any scenes alone in the same room.
According to Crockett, he implies he volunteered for military service in Vietnam in the early seventies. This is based on the real actions of Don Johnson, who attempted to join the United States Marine Corps around that time. However, unlike Crockett who served a combat tour in Vietnam, Johnson was rejected by the Marines due to a criminal conviction for drug possession. Gina, however, almost immediately disputes the "volunteered" part, implying Sonny was drafted.
In a nerdy undercover persona (not Burnett) in "Golden Triangle, Part 1", Crockett is asked where he's from, and says "Wichita". Don Johnson is from there.
Played straight in "The Great McCarthy". Crockett plays a lethal (although straightforward) game of pool against the titular McCarthy with the Daytona at stake. Tubbs finally admiringly says "You obviously had a wasted youth". Johnson did formerly hustle pool as part of his troubled adolescence.
Combined with The Cast Showoff, John Diehl (Zito) was able to display his boxing skills in his final episode, "Down For the Count (Part I)".
Alan Smithee: John Milius wrote "Viking Bikers from Hell" under the pseudonym Walter Kurtz, the same name of the antagonist from Apocalypse Now, which he also wrote.
NBC did not air "Too Much, Too Late" with the other fifth season episodes because it felt the child molestation subject matter was inappropriate for television in 1989.
"Evan" was removed from Tubi's playlist due to the Neo-Nazi imagery visible during one scene.
California Doubling: Several times in season four's "Rock and a Hard Place", it becomes rather obvious that very selective, tight camera angles have been chosen to disguise the fact filming is not actually taking place in Los Angeles. This contrasts with the likes of "The Prodigal Son" from season two, in which the cinematography made the most of the fact filming was taking place on location outside of Miami.
The Trigger-Happy hitman in "The Hit List" was played by their technical advisor, marksman Jim Zubiena.
In "Buddies", the Catholic priest that conducted Robbie's son's baptism was a real Miami priest, the Rev. Raul Angulo of St. Patrick's Catholic Church (now retired from the Archdiocese of Miami), though the scene was shot at St. Mary's Cathedral.
Cast the Runner-Up: Gary Cole and Jimmy Smits were originally in the running to play Crockett and Tubbs. Both made appearances in the show (Smits made his acting debut in "Brother's Keeper" and Cole appeared in "Trust Fund Pirates").
The Character Died with Him: Julian Beck (who played the corrupt stock broker J.J. Johnston in "The Prodigal Son") passed away two weeks before the episode aired.
Creator Backlash: Like everyone else (save for, oddly enough, then-showrunner Dick Wolf), Olivia Brown hated the widely-panned "Missing Hours" episode.
Creator Couple: Don Johnson's ex-and-future wife Melanie Griffith appeared in season four's "By Hooker By Crook", which he directed, and which brought them back to an eventual remarriage. Barbra Streisand, whom Johnson was dating for a while, makes an uncredited walk-on appearance in season four's "Badge of Dishonor".
The Danza: Phil Collins as Phil Mayhew. This could be a nod to John Mayhew, Collins' predecessor as drummer for Genesis.
Dolled-Up Installment: According to Reb Brown, "Viking Bikers from Hell" had its origins in a film script called Fatal Beauty, which John Milius was unable to move into production when he failed to secure a major actress for the female lead. Jamie Lee Curtis, among others, turned it down.
Executive Meddling: The final scene of season four's "Deliver Us from Evil" originally had Crockett fatally shooting an unarmed Hackman — essentially cold-blooded murder — to show how his dedication to duty had finally been broken. However, NBC censors at the time refused to allow the episode to air unless both men had "equal arms", as Crockett — the show's protagonist — was not allowed to commit such an act. Consequently, the shot of the gun in Hackman's hand was added to appease them, somewhat diminishing a pivotal moment in the show.
Foiler Footage: Three versions of the final confrontation between Baker and Crockett and Tubbs were filmed: the broadcast version where both quit the force, one where both Crockett and Tubbs are killed, and one where only Tubbs was killed. The decision to have both characters survive was allegedly made in anticipation of the spinoff about the Young Criminals Unit (from "Leap of Faith"), which Crockett and/or Tubbs would have made occasional appearances in had it been picked up.
Follow the Leader: Competing networks tried to start up their own flashy crime dramas. The only one to survive more than three episodes was 21 Jump Street.
Friendship on the Set: Much like their characters Switek and Zito, Michael Talbott and John Diehl became very good friends during production and remain so to this day. Both men also became good friends with costar Saundra Santiago, who played Gina, with she and the former being roommates when they first moved to Miami to film the show, as revealed during the series' 2001 episode of The E! True Hollywood Story.
Hostility on the Set: Don Johnson and Edward James Olmos often argued during the first season due to their different acting styles. Olmos used his anger towards Johnson for his character in their scenes together. In some episodes, Lt. Castillo never looks at Crockett at all.
In Memoriam: The season four episode, "The Cows of October", is dedicated to Michael Talbott's mother, Kay Talbott.
Both the original broadcast airing and NBC Sunday Night Movie versions of "Calderone's Return, Part II" feature an alternate argument between Tubbs and Angelina on the beach, and Calderone's original death scene (the "dance of death" as Sonny riddles him with bullets in front of his pool). Both have remained absent for decades, with no word as to whether they'll officially appear, though both have been circulated amongst hardcore fans.
Several sequences from the first season never appeared in home media releases after their first broadcast airing. These include a sequence where Zito and Switek spy on a perp antagonizing his girlfriend from an apartment in a neighbouring building, and a scene from "Heart of Darkness" where a character sings "There's No Business Like Show Business" while driving away from Crockett and Tubbs. Short of fan preservations, there's been no word on their inclusion, despite Blu-Ray releases.
The intro to season one's "Made For Each Other" replaced the standard shot during the intro sequence of the two women walking away in bikinis with an Easter Egg of the same women walking away while wearing Miami Vice crew jackets. This was replaced with the stock intro sequence for all repeat airings and home media releases, and was allegedly removed on the basis that NBC couldn't fulfill demand for the jackets, which were eventually sold out of their Universal Studios Skywalk merchandise store. Luckily, dedicated fans have saved the original airing with the alternate clip.
Season four's "By Hooker, By Crook" removed a lengthy love scene between Sonny and the Madam (played by Melanie Griffith), which was intercut with a lengthy sequence involving a supporting character being choked to death. Short of German TV airings of the episode, there's no way to see the uncut scene legally.
Killed by Request: John Diehl (Larry Zito) was written out midway through the third season, via a plot that was motivated by his character dying of a forced drug overdose. While popular opinion suggests he left specifically because he "didn't like Miami", didn't get along with the cast or wanted to pursue theater, Diehl would later tell the Florida Sun-Sentinel in 1986 that his character being the designated Plucky Comic Relief, and not being given any worthwhile plotlines (a problem that would plague his co-star, Michael Talbott) primarily motivated his decision to leave.
Also, Gregory Sierra (Lt. Lou Rodriguez) who reportedly ended up not wanting to live in Florida.
Magnum Opus Dissonance: When asked in an interview years later which were his favorite episodes that he produced during his involvement in the show, Dick Wolf named the reviled "Missing Hours" (aka "the one with the aliens"), saying that he generally liked the episodes that were a bit "out there".
Missing Episode: In 2022, "Evan" was not included in Canadian online syndication of the series, almost certainly due to the discussion of gay-bashing and suicide as well as the use of the word "faggot".
On-Set Injury: During the first season, Phillip Michael Thomas was injured during a stunt in "Made for Each Other". As a result, he doesn't appear in the following episode, "The Home Invaders".
The Other Darrin: Castillo's former wife, May Ying, was played by Joan Chen in "Golden Triangle" and by Rosalind Chao in the Season 5 episode "Heart of Night."
Season two is perhaps the most widely affected by network reordering. As a result of their changes, the beard Zito grows for the start of the season continually appears and disappears between episodes for more than half of the season, indicating several episodes were broadcast earlier than intended.
Season three contains perhaps the most glaring example of a goof brought about by the network reordering episodes, when Crockett's Ferrari Daytona is magically resurrected in "El Viejo", six episodes after it was destroyed in the season opener. Another discrepancy surrounds the position of the show's on-screen titles and opening credits.
Season five contains another goof relating to a character's beard, when Tubbs appears clean shaven in "Borrasca", only for his facial hair to return in the next episode, before he then shaves it off during that episode. Another major continuity issue in the season concerns the placement of the "lost" episodes — these were not originally broadcast as part of the show's network run, but were instead shown later. This is typically reflected in lists of the show's episodes, but having them appear after Crockett and Tubbs quit the force in the series finale "Freefall" clearly makes no sense.
Never Work with Children or Animals: Ultimately subverted, but initially when Elvis the alligator was brought on the set, everyone was terrified of him.
Season three's "Shadow in the Dark" has similarities with season two's "Out Where the Buses Don't Run", including the cop driven mad by his obsession with his nemesis and Crockett's "police intuition," as Castillo calls it.
Season three's "Viking Bikers from Hell" was written by John Milinus (under the alias Col. Walter Kurtz) and recycled his script for an unproduced movie called Fatal Beauty.
The plot of season five's "Hard Knocks" is similar to the season 2 episode "The Fix". In both cases, a person of influence with a connection to a talented sports player is pressured to coerce them into throwing a game as a result of gambling debts.
Season five's "Heart of Night" is similar to season two's "Golden Triangle", in which he protected an old CIA friend's wife and child from the KGB. Here, he is protecting his ex-wife from drug dealers.
Recycled Set: Several locations and buildings reappeared throughout the series' run. Notably, the house seen in "Nobody Lives Forever" (which is owned in the series by Brenda, the architect Crockett is dating) appears again as the location of the climactic cat-and-mouse scene between Crockett and The Shadow in the episode "Shadow in the Dark," two seasons later.
Crockett and Tubbs popularized the pastel T-shirt and linen suit look to the point where today it is often considered to epitomize the clothing styles of the entire decade, despite the fact it actually only remained popular for a few years in the mid-1980s. Later trends established on the show, such as the harsh neon colors of Season 3, were also influential, although their popularity has not enjoyed the same lasting fame as the pastel look. Nevertheless, the styles portrayed in the latter seasons of the show remained popular into the early 1990s.
Crockett's "designer stubble" was copied by men across America, even leading to the marketing of a specialized razor (initially called the "Miami Device", before the name was changed for fear of a legal suit) that would leave a very short layer of stubble on a man's face. After Six created "Miami Vice" dinner jackets, Kenneth Cole created Crockett and Tubbs shoes, and Macy's opened a dedicated "Miami Vice" section for young men.
Consumer demand for the Bren Ten pistol Crockett used as his sidearm for the first two seasons became so great that Dornaus & Dixon was unable to meet its orders and went bankrupt in 1986. Sales for the Wellcraft SCARAB 38' KV went up 21% in a single year following the vessel's introduction to the series, and as a result Wellcraft produced a limited run of exact replicas. The 38' KV's "Miami Vice" color scheme was also made available on other boats in their range.
Tourism in Miami received a tangible boost as result of the series' popularity, and the renovation work carried out on dilapidated buildings by the production team as part of filming led to something of a renaissance in the South Beach area—other buildings and hotels were restored, contributing to the revitalization of the area in the 1990s and the influx of celebrities and luxury hotels and clubs in the 2000s. Today, the area is a mecca for the rich and famous.
Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Comic relief informant Nugart "Noogie" Lamont was phased out of the show during season four after Charlie Barnett got banned from the set during an reported drug-fuelled incident involving Don Johnson.
Screwed by the Network: During the third season, the show was moved to air opposite Dallas. This proved to be a poor move, as Dallas swiftly overtook the show in ratings. And then Miami Vice was moved to Sundays and ratings were sent into a further downward spiral. Adding insult to injury, the network proceeded to "burn off" four Season 5 episodes just before the series finale, and these episodes would not be broadcast until a year later.
Shoot the Money: The show's commitment to film-like production quality made it one of the most expensive television series ever produced at the time, with a budget around one million USD per episode. This budget allowed the production to do things such as shoot on-location, repaint and refurnish buildings and vehicles that didn't fit its "no earth tones" color scheme, and license the pop hits used so frequently during the show. Somewhat humorously, the budget for individual episodes exceeded the entire annual budget of the real Miami-Dade Police Vice Unit.
Also, in a way, for Edward James Olmos, who said in an interview that he was with a modest agency and, while not in dire financial straits, was driving a furniture truck to make ends meet as he expanded his acting career. The salary he was offered for the first season, Olmos said, was more money than his father had made in his lifetime.
Technology Marches On: The "cutting-edge" technology seen is quite funny to look at in retrospect. Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs have to pose as undercover drug dealers for the purposes of their job, and subsequently have access to all the latest tools and technology. The series establishes this early on in the third episode, with a scene shot solely to emphasize the fact that Crockett has a car phone (and the receiver looks like a giant brick).
Edward James Olmos has said in interviews that, in a deliberate effort to subvert the usual Da Chief cliches, his very first line as Castillo was an ad-lib.
In season three's "Baby Blues", Philip Michael Thomas' stunt double, Ernest Robinson (who also played Tubbs' brother Rafael in "Brother's Keeper"), was hospitalized after he burned his legs performing the stunt where Tubbs jumps out of Hector's exploding apartment. The footage was left in the episode - if you watch closely you can see 'Tubbs' catch fire as he exits the bottom right of the screen after crashing through the window. This ended Robinson's stunt career.
Helena Bonham Carter was twenty when she played a doctor who was supposed to be about thirty. At the time, she looked like she was twelve.
Robin Johnson was supposedly playing a prostitute of 28 years of age in "Golden Triangle part 1" according to her rap sheet. She was actually only 20 at the time.
Michael Mann had planned to have episodes of the fourth season set in Paris and Tokyo, but those plans ultimately fell through as ratings continued to deteriorate and brought with them reduced production budgets.
"The Edge" from season five would have seen Crockett push himself to his very limits when his politician friend is kidnapped. It was originally going to be filmed around the middle of production on the final season. However, Don Johnson's commitment to the recording of his second album, Let It Roll, meant that the episode could not be shot at the allotted time. Initially, "Miracle Man" was filmed instead (as Crockett is only featured in the opening sequence) and "The Edge" was pushed back through the schedule, but eventually, with time running out to complete "Freefall", the episode was dropped altogether.
The series very nearly did not have Edward James Olmos as Martin Castillo. According to Word of God, Olmos said he was called by Michael Mann about playing the role, and turned it down because he did not want to sign an exclusive contract for the show (which would prevent him from doing other projects he may want to do) and wanted to have creative control of the character. He apologized for declining, and made it clear he wanted to work with Mann, and even offered to play a guest role, but didn't want to commit to the series. Mann called three more times with higher cash offers to play the part. One of the offers, Olmos said, was more money than his father had earned in his lifetime. Olmos again said no to all the offers, saying it was not the money, but the cretive control and contract requirements that were preventing him from accepting. Mann finally made a fifth phone call, stating that Olmos would be given a non-exclusive contract and that they would work around his absences with notice, and that he would have creative control of the Castillo character if he took the role. Olmos said he then accepted the part...With the highest pay Mann had offered.
The initial conception of the show started as a feature film titled Gold Coast. When it was decided to make it a television series instead, the name still stuck for a bit before being titled 'Miami Vice''.
During pre-production, Don Johnson wanted Sonny Crockett to be "more of a cowboy", and suggested "a lot of denim, V-neck sweaters and cowboy boots". He was really unsure how the heavy use of pastel and bright colors would fit his character's macho, no-nonsense persona. Michael Mann and costume designer Jodie Lynn Tillen saw Crockett as more of a beach bum. Johnson relented, and as a result became one of the biggest fashion symbols of the 1980s.
Glenn Frey was originally set to reprise his role as Jimmy the pilot (from "Smuggler's Blues") in the episode "Trust Fund Pirates," but scheduling issues resulted in his character being replaced by a fellow pilot who had taken over Jimmy's hangar.
The third-season opener ("When Irish Eyes Are Crying") was intended to be a two-hour special, similar to the second-season premiere "The Prodigal Son," and would have had Crockett and Tubbs travel to Ireland to deal with a religious terrorist.
Lorraine Bracco was originally cast as Sonny's love interest Caitlin in season four, but had to bow out due to illness.
Tina Turner was offered a guest role in "Whatever Works", but turned it down.
Dennis Hopper was supposed to guest star in "Out Where the Buses Don't Run", but dropped out due to monetary issues.
Three versions of the climax of "Freefall" were filmed: one where Crockett and Tubbs both die, one where Tubbs dies but Crockett survives, and the broadcast one where they both survive.
According to an interview with director Jan Eliasberg, the original story for "God's Work" was to be about the Catholic Church refusing aid for gay AIDS patients, but after a meeting between the Church and NBC, the story was altered to its broadcast form.
Season two's "Florence Italy" was originally planned for the first season; it was to be called "The Prize" and was written with Mick Jagger or another British Rockstar in mind to play the lead role. The script was scrapped (along with some racing footage that had already been filmed), but the concept was revived with Danny Sullivan playing the main character. While the official writer of this episode is Paul Diamond, the name listed in the credits is Wilton Crawley, which is a pseudonym for an unhappy writer.
Working Title: The show was originally to be called Gold Coast (as shown in advance TV promos), but with the characters shouting "Miami Vice!" so much in the show, it seemed a better choice for the title.
Written by Cast Member: In addition to playing Estebans Calderone and Revilla, Miguel Pinero wrote "Smuggler's Blues".
Written-In Infirmity: During season three, Philip Michael Thomas injured himself jumping off a veranda and can be seen limping in several scenes of "The Afternoon Plane". To explain this, it is briefly mentioned in the opening that Tubbs twisted his ankle after slipping in the shower.
Bill Smitrovich plays the turncoat detective Scottie Wheeler in the pilot episode and DEA Commander Burr in "The Prodigal Son".
Martin Ferrero played the assassin Trini Desoto in the pilot and informant Izzy Moreno for the rest of the series.
Miguel Pinero played the druglord (and first Big Bad of the series) Esteban Calderone in the first season, and a member of the Revilla drug cartel in the second-season opener "The Prodigal Son".
Dan Hedaya played an Internal Affairs officer in the first season, and a villain in the second-season episode "Payback".
Maria McDonald played Tubbs' (murderous) love interest in the first-season episode "The Great McCarthy", then returned to play Tubbs' girlfriend, Alicia, in the third-season episode "The Afternoon Plane".
Giancarlo Esposito played small-time drug dealer Luther in the episode "Little Prince" and a higher class drug dealer Adonis Jackson in the episode "No One Lives Forever".
Ian McShane played drug dealer Esteban Montoya in the episode "Knock, Knock... Who's There?" and General Manuel Borbon in the series finale "Freefall".
"I didn't like it so much - I thought it was style over substance and I accept a good bit of the responsibility. It was never going to be Lethal Weapon, but I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also had some elements of fun".
Recycled Script: Much of the plot was based on the season one episode "Smuggler's Blues", and both feature several similar scenes. For instance, Crockett and Tubbs' meet with José Yero in the movie is remarkably similar to their second meeting with Grocero in Club Araña in "Smuggler's Blues"; the scene in the film even reuses lines of dialogue from its equivalent in the series almost word for word. The subplot concerning Trudy's capture by the villains and being placed in a booby-trapped trailer also takes place in the movie.
Self-Adaptation: Writer/director Michael Mann was an executive producer for the TV series.
Between when he was cast and the start of production, Jamie Foxx won an Oscar, greatly increasing his ego and his demands, among them top billing, a private jet, and a refusal to do scenes on boats or planes out of concern for his safety. He also complaining that his co-star, Colin Farrell, was being paid more than he was despite his Oscar win. Foxx got a raise while Farrell was forced to take a pay cut, causing a great deal of tension between the two (who were playing police partners). Tensions also ran high with Foxx and director Michael Mann, and they got into heated arguments throughout filming.
Mann, well known for his insistance on authenticity, insisted on shooting in unsafe weather and in dangerous, crime-ridden areas. At one location it was so bad the police wouldn't go there, so the production hired local gang members as security. As part of getting Colin Farrell immersed into his role, Mann had Farrell join a drug bust that ended with agents drawing their weapons on Farrell beliving he was a suspect at the scene. They later admitted to Farrell that the bust had been staged to see if he would react as an actual undercover officer would.
Mann's bullish, unapologetic attitude led to an uneasy atmosphere throughout shooting, with one crew member stating that "Everyone was pushed to the edge of whatever their emotional makeup is." Mann would often make major rewrites of the script without advance notice and frequently change his mind day-to-day on what he wanted out of the film, giving instructions that were sometimes unclear and contradictory. Cast and crew had to scramble to keep up and adapt. Shooting was also disrupted by both Hurricane DennisandHurricane Wilma, the latter of which damaged the production offices and nearly caused the film to be canned.
All these things came to a head late in filming when, while filming in the Dominican Republic, actual gunfire was exchanged on set, leading to a local man being shot and wounded by a set guard loaned from the Dominican military. Foxx immediately went to his plane and flew back to the U.S. He told the studio he was not going to any more overseas locations for the production, forcing Mann to rewrite the ending and set it in Miami. While one crew member commented that the new ending was less dramatic, Mann believed the new ending was an improvement as "It brought all the conflicting characters together in one arena.". All of the troubles experienced in production led to the film's budget ballooning to $135 million.
Ultimately, the film was not the success it was hoped to be. The film failed to recoup its budget for Universal (on top of the deal with Mann that gave him 8% of the theatrical gross), costing the studio at least $30 million in the end, while critics were largely lukewarm on the film, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 46%. While the film would later become a Cult Classic and make a tidy sum on home video, it also marked a downturn for Mann's career, and his output slowed considerably in the years following the film.
After a shooting incident on the Dominican Republic set of the film, Jamie Foxx packed up and left, refusing to work outside the US. This forced a complete rewrite of the film's ending. While one crew member publicly stated that the revised ending was "much less dramatic," Mann, who had written endings for both Miami and Paraguay considered it to be better because it "brought all the conflicting characters together in one arena."
You Sound Familiar: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Martín Castillo is voiced by Paco Mauri, who previously dubbed James "Sonny" Crockett in the TV series.
that his character being the designated Plucky Comic Relief, and not being given any worthwhile plotlines (a problem that would plague his co-star, Michael Talbott) primarily motivated his decision to leave.