It was the show that hit TV like an air drop of drugs in the Everglades: "Miami Vice" became an instant sensation, changing not only 80s fashion and facial hair but what viewers could expect from cop shows on the small screen.
Legend has it -- or one legend, anyway -- that NBC head Brandon Tartikoff scribbled "MTV cops" on a napkin and then went in search of someone to make it happen. Whether that's true or not, when it debuted in 1984 "Vice" was the first show to combine the cool of New Wave and pop music with a police procedural that was both more gritty and flashy at once. Before "I"ll Be There For You" ushered in "Friends" and then wormed its way into our brains, Jan Hammer's pulsing theme for "Miami Vice" hit no. 1 on the Billboard chart and soundtracked one of the most iconic opening credits sequences of all time.
And then there was style, from Det. Sonny Crockett's sockless pastel-and-Armani combos to executive producer Michael Mann's neo-noir aesthetic and strict ban on red and earth tones.
But the show also made superstars and teen idols out of cop partners Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, whose handsome faces were suddenly everywhere -- from the covers of TIME and Rolling Stone to music videos for their own subsequent singles. (It's okay, we had the posters, too.) A pair of surveillance experts and two smart and sexy female detectives rounded out the crew, which was run by a brooding, no-nonsense lieutenant who went on to have a stellar career of his own.
Where are they now -- and which one coined the term EGOT? Check in with your favorite "Miami Vice" alums below:
