Forty years ago today, Miami Vice debuted on NBC:






I have this on Blu-ray. Isn’t it just a beautifully-produced series on every level?

Doesn’t seem to be much merchandise, though, I don’t even recall an annual (over here, we seemed to have annuals based on licensed shows for pretty much every major TV show).

There’s a comic, Batflunkie ? Wow. I did not know, so thank you for bringing that to my attention.

I didn’t like the 2006 film. Nor did I think the video game was any good.

EDIT: The comic is £868.10 on Amazon. They’ve having a laugh, aren’t they? 

I agree. I think the credits would have been better served by action shots of Crockett and Tubbs in action.

I love detective shows, and I believe the greatest intro ever is this one:

Another police show intro I like was T.J. Hooker (there were different ones depending on the season):

I watched what I believe is the most bizarre episode of Mission: Impossible so far, one I had not seen before: “The Seal” (Season 2). Naturally, major spoilers to follow…

A businessman has in his possession an ancient jade seal which needs to be returned to its rightful country, Kuala Rokat (bordered between China and India). His building is heavily guarded, so the IMF must use a trained cat(!) to get inside the room where the seal is being held.

My goodness, what a peculiar episode. It stretches suspension of disbelief really far. I mean, I can accept Rollin always being able to disguise himself as someone no matter the difference in bone structure, height, etc. I can accept Barney creating gadgets that can rig gambling or create counterfeit currency. But asking me to believe that anyone - anyone - could “train” a cat is a real big ask. 

When the cat is put in the room, Barney issues commands such as, “Fetch!” And, “Bring it here!” I love cats, but I don’t believe there’s a person on Earth - and I know we have some cat owners here - who could train a cat, not in real life, not in fiction. They’re great creatures, but they’re not dogs. Perhaps someone here might know: will a cat respond to “Fetch”? And I’m not on about retrieving a cat toy, but crawling across a catwalk, opening a glass container, retrieving an item and taking it to someone…

None of this is a complaint. I appreciate that the series is doing fun and quirky things like this episode (which also features Rollin doing some “magic”). It makes a change. Not every episode should have been about taking down South American dictators or organised crime figures.

I will make one minor complaint: the CEO, played by Darren McGavin, isn’t really a bad guy. He has come into possession of the jade seal by legal means (he bought it), and right now in this world, we’re having debates about ownership of artefacts. Still, returning the jade seal to its rightful country will bring about peace, so all’s well that ends well.

Definitely the first two years.  Michael Mann, of Thief, Manhunter and Heat fame, was the producer of the series and it reflected a lot of what he was doing in his films.  His use of music was tremendous, as well as getting input from real cops and crooks, in his projects.  I do have to say, though; the choice of the Bren Ten pistol for Crockett was a big mistake, from an authenticity standpoint.  The weapon was an early example of a brief fad to use smaller caliber ammunition, but that had more stopping power.  The Bren Ten fired a 10 mm round, which had more punch than a 9mm, but was smaller than a .45 ACP, so the magazine could hold more rounds.  It had a badly place safety lever, which had a tendency to be accidentally engaged, which is not a good thing, for a cop.  Also, the 10 mm round actually caused damage to the barrel, over time, which is the main reason the company went out of business.  I can't recall, exactly when, but they dumped it in favor of a Smith & Wesson .45.  I think the second season.  The armorers for the series used to bring on all kinds of firearms, from WW2-era M1 Garand rifles to Redeye, shoulder-fired missiles.  It helped make Uzi a household name, in the US.