80s TV Flashback: Miami Vice

With less than two weeks to go til our Flashback Party, coming to Diamond Jack's, Friday, March 1st, we're continuing our look back at the top music, movies and TV shows from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Were you a big fan of 'Miami Vice'?

Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Rico Tubbs, driving fast cars and dressed in designer pastels. Add bikini-clad women in peril, jet boats, and nefarious drug dealers all added up to make 'Miami Vice' one of the biggest television hits of the 1980s.

The show, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 89, drew heavily upon the culture and music of the decade. The show became noted for its heavy integration of music and visual effects to tell a story. It is recognized as one of television's most influential series, referred to by one critic as 'the first show to look really new and different since color TV was invented.'

One little bit of 'Vice' trivia: Actors Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges and Mickey Rourke were all offered the role of Crockett before the hiring of Johnson. Thomas was the one and only actor considered to play his sidekick, Tubbs.

The show's ratings began to decline during the 1988 season and 'Vice' was cancelled by the network, pulling the plug during its '89 run. 'Miami Vice' wrapped up with a two hour finale in May 1989. NBC sold the series into syndication in July of 1990 and it continues to run on various cable networks today.

So get your Armani jackets and espadrilles ready, and celebrate the 80s and the glory days of 'Miami Vice' at The Flashback Party on March 1st!