| Seasons: |
USA season 1 DVD
UK season 1 DVD
Season 1 of Miami Vice premiered on September 16, 1984 on NBC, with the two hour pilot "Brother's Keeper". The first season concluded on May 10, 1985 after 22 episodes, with the season finale "Lombard". It was released on DVD on February 8, 2005, and re-released by Mill Creek Entertainment on May 3, 2016. Season 1 is currently available for viewing on the FAST (Free with Ads STreaming) service Universal Action Channel.
Regular Cast[]
- Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett
- Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs
- Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese
- Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek
- John Diehl as Metro-Dade Detective Larry Zito
- Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin
- Gregory Sierra as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (4 episodes)
- Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo (17 episodes)
- Martin Ferrero as Isadore "Izzy" Moreno (3 episodes)
- Charlie Barnett as Nugart "Noogie" Lamont (4 episodes)
Guest Stars[]
- See: List of Guest Stars
Music[]
- See: Season 1 Music
Notes[]
USA season 1 2016 DVD re-release by Mill Creek Entertainment
- Season 1 aired Friday nights at 10:00pm on NBC (with the exception of the pilot episode, which aired on a Sunday).
- The first season introduces many of the show's defining features, including the Ferrari Daytona, Jan Hammer's smooth synth score, Elvis, the alligator who lives with Crockett aboard the St. Vitus Dance, and the show's trademark pastel colors.
- The series' extensive usage of guest stars is also started, with appearances from Dennis Farina, Glenn Frey, Kim Griest, Ed O'Neill, John Turturro and Bruce Willis, to mention a few. This trend would continue throughout the show's run, giving many actors their big break.
- This season, along with the second, features a predominantly light-hearted tone (even in episodes with otherwise bleak storylines). Later seasons would depart from this in favour of a darker feel in keeping with the often sinister plots.
- Switek has a beard at the start of the series, but soon shaves it off
- Several sub-plots carry over between multiple episodes, such as Crockett's divorce from his wife Caroline, his relationship with Gina, Switek and Zito's stolen goods sting operation, and OCB's investigation into Al Lombard. While every season of Miami Vice would feature episodes that continue the story of an earlier one, the first season is unique in that these ongoing plot lines are frequently mere side stories, and are often mentioned in passing in otherwise unrelated episodes.
- During their first showing, season 1 episodes were broadcast in mono. It was only during 1985 summer reruns that episodes began to be shown in stereo. On DVD releases of season 1, all episodes are in stereo.
- The opening credit sequence is different during the Rodriguez episodes than with the Castillo episodes. The version of the "Miami Vice Theme" used in these episodes is also incorrectly mixed and is missing the distinctive synthesised guitar hook. Curiously, this was not corrected on recent DVD releases of the show, despite being acknowledged as an error by producers.
- Miami Vice's year end rating is #28 for the first season, but the show's popularity increased in the summer of 1985 when the reruns were aired.
Episodes[]
| Ep # | Prod. Code/Film Dates | Title | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Airdate | Rerun(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 83504/83904-01
03/5/84-04/5/84 |
"Brother's Keeper - Pilot" | Thomas Carter | Anthony Yerkovich | September 16, 1984 | January 25, 1985 July 26, 1985 July 22, 2006† |
| 2 | 59501-02
07/12/84-07/25/84 |
"Heart of Darkness" | John Llewellyn Moxey | A. J. Edison | September 28, 1984 | April 19, 1985 |
| 3 | 59502-03
07/26/84-08/6/84 |
"Cool Runnin'" | Lee H. Katzin | Joel Surnow | October 5, 1984 | February 15, 1985 August 16, 1985 |
| 4 | 59504-04
08/7/84-08/15/84 |
"Calderone's Return (Part I)/The Hit List" | Richard Colla | Joel Surnow | October 19, 1984 | May 24, 1985 (as a two-hour movie) |
| 5 | 59507-06
08/27/84-09/6/84 |
"Calderone's Return (Part II)/Calderone's Demise" | Paul Michael Glaser | Joel Surnow & Alfonse Ruggiero, Jr. | October 26, 1984 |
May 24, 1985 (as a two-hour movie) September 12, 1986 (Part II Only) |
| 6 | 59503-05
08/16/84-08/24/84 |
"One Eyed Jack" | Lee H. Katzin | Alfonse Ruggiero, Jr. | November 2, 1984 | March 1, 1985 |
| 7 | 59508-07
09/7/84-09/19/84 |
"No Exit" | David Soul | Charles R. Leinweiber Teleplay: Maurice Hurley |
November 9, 1984 | March 22, 1985 July 5, 1985 May 16, 1986 |
| 8 | 59509-09
10/4/84-10/12/84 |
"The Great McCarthy" | Georg Stanford Brown | Phillip Reed & Joel Surnow | November 16, 1984 | April 5, 1985 |
| 9 | 59506-08
09/20/84-10/1/84 |
"Glades" | Stan Lathan | Rex Weiner & Allan Weisbecker | November 30, 1984 | June 21, 1985 |
| 10 | 59505-10
10/15/84-10/26/84 |
"Give a Little, Take a Little" | Bobby Roth | Chuck Adamson | December 7, 1984 | May 31, 1985 |
| 11 | 59515-12
11/7/84-11/16/84 |
"Little Prince" | Alan J. Levi | Joel Surnow & Wendy Cozen | December 14, 1984 | April 26, 1985 |
| 12 | 59512-13
11/19/84-11/30/84 |
"Milk Run" | John Nicolella | Alison Hock | January 4, 1985 | April 12, 1985 December 20, 1985 |
| 13 | 59511-11
10/29/84-11/6/84 |
"Golden Triangle (Part I)/Score" | Georg Stanford Brown | Maurice Hurley | January 11, 1985 | June 7, 1985 |
| 14 | 59516-14
12/3/84-12/11/84 |
"Golden Triangle (Part II)" | David Anspaugh | Maurice Hurley | January 18, 1985 | June 14, 1985 |
| 15 | 59514-15
12/12/84-01/11/85 |
"Smuggler's Blues" | Paul Michael Glaser | Miguel Piñero | February 1, 1985 |
May 17, 1985 August 23, 1985 |
| 16 | 59519-16
01/14/85-01/23/85 |
"Rites of Passage" | David Anspaugh | Daniel Pyne | February 8, 1985 | September 6, 1985 |
| 17 | 59523-17
01/23/85-02/01/85 |
"The Maze" | Tim Zinemann | Michael Eric Stein | February 22, 1985 | June 28, 1985 |
| 18 | 59527-18
02/01/85-02/12/85 |
"Made for Each Other" | Rob Cohen | Joel Surnow & Allan Weisbecker Teleplay: Dennis Cooper & Allan Weisbecker |
March 8, 1985 | July 12, 1985 August 7, 1987 |
| 19 | 59525-19
02/14/85-02/26/85 |
"The Home Invaders" | Abel Ferrara | Chuck Adamson | March 15, 1985 | July 19, 1985 August 8, 1986 |
| 20 | 59520-20
02/26/85-03/6/85 |
"Nobody Lives Forever" | Jim Johnston | Edward Di Lorenzo | March 29, 1985 | September 13, 1985 |
| 21 | 59518-21
03/6/85-03/14/85 |
"Evan" | Rob Cohen | Paul Diamond | May 3, 1985 | September 20, 1985 December 27, 1985 |
| 22 | 59529-22
03/15/85-03/26/85 |
"Lombard" | John Nicolella | David Assael & Joel Surnow | May 10, 1985 | August 9, 1985 |
†Aired as a special three-hour event to coincide with the release of the Miami Vice film.