shit, it was cheesy back than.

i agree, the best tv cop show, great stories, still holds up well.

I think there's a little bit of revisionism going on. Reminds me of people who claim that the first "Evil Dead" was a comedy.

Wow, all the hate for Miami Vice. I just got done watching the third episode in the boxset, and was thinking how much I love this show now.

If you can't get past the music and fashion of the era, then that's your loss I guess. I appreciate it much more than when I was a kid - classic cop show with extremely good production value, if you ask me.

IV. Thou shalt not disrespect Miami Vice

Dated - yes, watchable - absolutely. I loved every minute of it when I was 15 and I love it all now.

groundbreaking? yes. cheesy? not really. i was a big fan back in the day and still am. the excesses of that decade were directly reflected in miami vice. fashion, music and scenery were all used as effective characters. doublecrosses, fast cars, larger than life heros and villians and neon glitz. a total aural and visual assault on the senses, it wasn't like anything else on tv at the time. many of todays shows owe a major debt of gratitude to miami vice.

totally accurate...

That show is pretty cheesy, along with its updated clone Fastlane. I watched Matlock the other day and was suprised how well that show held up. Any show that tries to be "cool" is not gonna last longer than its decade.

I am shocked at all the negative responses at MIAMI VICE.
When you figure that 1983's SCARFACE gets nothing but praise.
Let's look at the 2.
MIAMI VICE came out in 1984/ SCARFACE came out in 1983.
MIAMI VICE clothes/ SCARFACE clothes.
MIAMI VICE music/ SCARFACE music.
MIAMI VICE cinephotography/ SCARFACE cinephotography.

If you just steady the above & compare then either both are great or cheesy.
And I have never, ever heard SCARFACE being called cheesy over the years.
It got some bad movie reviews for it's violance & bad langauge and it didn't do good at the box office back in 1983.

Getting married has nothing to do with your taste in shows. However, certainly experience (which comes with time) can alter one's perspective.

Back on topic, Miami Vice sucked then and I can't imagine it improved over the years any more than the experience of hearing 80's music has improved over time.

A woman exercising/dancing in aerobicwear to The Tubes She's A Beauty, underage porno plot, Missing You by John Waite...all in the first 10 minutes of the second episode...

...Yes it is pure 80s cheese, but the good kind of cheese. I love the show.

Philip Michael Thomas using a Jamaican accent whenever he possibly can is hilarious as all is, too

Liked it then, like it now. Classic yes, cheesy no.

Was on the set once and waiting for shooting to actually take place was boring as hell but when it did take off it was cool. (it was an episode co-starring Bill Russell) Did get to rest my bones in one of the black Daytona Spyders. (It was actually a Corvette with real Ferrari body panels and interior.) That was a real trip.

You read my mind!

So nobody has answered that finds MIAMI VICE cheesy does also SCARFACE(1983).

Scarface would also qualify....

You haven't? I think Scarface has a major cheese factor going for it.

Your comparison between the two is valid, in that they share many surface elements. I think where the two separate is in their scope and self-conciousness. Oliver Stone, always obsessed with generating significance, and DePalma amplify everything in order to satirize that culture (even if they can't help reveling in it a bit also). Whereas Miami Vice plays it straight-sincerely going for "cool", without the parodic level. Which is one reason I think two have aged differently.

So does anyone think the fashion doesn't hold up?
Would anyone wear those clothes today to look cool?
Now ,why do high school kids and some early 20 year olds have the GOTH look which started in the 1980's?
They want to look cool, no?

Great episode and well said. Also, any show featuring episodes directed by Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant) is awesome in my book.

Can't wait for the big screen version.

Scarface has a pretty high cheese factor IMHO. The film is so-so IMHO but the cheese (primarily the soundtrack) kills it for me. Promptly traded it after my last viewing, not sure why it gets so much love but what do I know... Different strokes and all that.

And yeah, I also think Miami Vice is cheesy.

MV has aged better than most shows of the period (along with Mann's terrific CRIME STORY). I think the cheese comment is sort of silly. There are dated moments, but the show is so damned engaging and stylish. The style trumps most of what I'm seeing on tv today.

If you want cheese, try some of MV's imitators...

cheesy? Yes. But welcomed all the same.

The first two seasons of MV are a lot of fun. Sure, they're more than a little silly and definitely reflect the state of TV making circa 1985, but they're entertaining, well shot and rich in nostalgia for people of a certain age. I got both seasons at Costco for less than $30 total. Well worth the money.

After season 2, the show started to take itself too seriously and the entertainment value drops of precipitously, IMO.

OK, seriously, what's with all these 3-5-year-old threads being bumped? Do we really need that??

The Jason Bateman one was funny for comparison reasons, but it's starting to get out of hand...

Years later, I find this thread kinda cheesy.

In Miami Vice's defense, the early to mid-80s were pretty goddamned cheesy.

Miami Vice pretty much reveled in it.

Unless, of course, the show itself was responsible for the mid-80s cheese.