#tv miami vice

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1985

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Crockett & Tubbs, Miami Vice

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Philip Michael Thomas & Don Johnson, Miami Vice (1984)

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Miami Vice ~ S1E09 "The Great McCarthy"

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Michael Mann

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Do you remember that Al Bundy was an undercover FBI agent before becoming a shoe salesman?

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Jodie Tillen (season one costume designer): I was a creative tool for Michael, and he was right [in his choices].

We coordinated the clothing colors with the locations: If a restaurant’s walls were peach, you made sure the costumes weren’t peach.

The lead characters had to dress and look like the people they were after. The hot and humid Miami weather — and Michael — dictated the colors. He said, “No earth tones, no red.” The show changed the way men who were fearful of wearing pastels dressed. It gave them permission to wear them. Initially, Don was uncomfortable in pastels. He thought that wasn’t who the character was. But any pushback I got from him, Michael cleared up.

The characters had to wear guns and shoulder holsters, so jackets needed to be fitted to accommodate that and not blatantly reveal they were carrying a gun. We didn’t have enough time to custom-fit costumes, because I had to come up with at least 75 for a new show every seven days. We needed many multiples since we had to dress the stunt people, and also the costumes would get sweaty and dirty.

Michael Mann: The music was my concept, with help from a number of people who picked some of it. Tony also had an appreciation for the type of music needed. But the final selection was mine. We had a couple of soundtrack albums that topped the charts.

Jan Hammer (theme composer): Michael said he didn’t want the theme music to be generic TV drama music, so I pulled out a cassette and played him things I had done on my own. One — a high-energy, driving piece — ended up being the theme. Michael was known for being a control freak, but he was the total opposite with me. When we found out we were getting picked up, he told me I had total artistic freedom.

Philip Michael Thomas: In the episode “The Maze,” I sang the title song of my album, Living the Book of My Life. I added it a cappella when I was undercover walking into a building and up the stairs.

David Rosenbloom (pilot editor): [Director] Thomas Carter came up with the idea of using the Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight” when Don calls his wife from a phone booth on the highway, with this neon sign in back that says “Bernay’s Café.” It was almost surreal. It captured most of what the series might become. That song went on to be the one most associated with the show.

Excerpted from Miami Vice at 40: An Oral History