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Seasons:

Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5

S1US

USA season 1 DVD

S1

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 (except for the episode "Evan") on the streaming service Tubi and (WITH "Evan) on the Freevee streaming service.

Regular Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

See: List of Guest Stars

Music[]

See: Season 1 Music

Notes[]

MiamiVice S1 MCE

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.

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