The popular one-hour police drama Miami Vice aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. Miami Vice combined elements from traditional "cop shows" with an emphasis on high fashion, exotic locations, and music-video sequences. The show depicted an interracial pair of detectives who battled the narcotics trade in southern Florida. The series starred Don Johnson (1949–) and Philip Michael Thomas (1949–) as undercover detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Miami's glamorous beaches and resorts were contrasted with the city's under-belly of corruption, violence, and tragedy that resulted from drug trafficking.

Miami Vice was the brainchild of NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff (1949–1997), who envisioned a show about "MTV cops." Michael Mann (1943–) executed Tartikoff's idea and crafted a series where style was more important than substance. The detectives' clothing, cars, and romances were more important than the standard "cops and robbers" plots. The series was filmed on location in Miami and made expert use...