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Seasons:

Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5

S3US

USA season 3 DVD

S3

UK season 3 DVD

Season 3 of Miami Vice premiered on September 26, 1986 on NBC, with the season premiere "When Irish Eyes Are Crying". The third season concluded on May 8, 1987 after 24 episodes, with the season finale "Heroes of the Revolution". It was released on DVD on March 20, 2007. Season 3 is currently available for viewing on the NBC website.

Regular Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

See: List of Guest Stars

Music[]

See: Season 3 Music

Changes[]

More so than at any other point in the series, notable changes to the show's format occur at the beginning of the third season.

Opening

The new colors of the Miami Vice logo.

  • The Miami Vice logo in the opening sequence is illuminated in ice blue instead of pink. The pink lettering of the word "Vice" is also changed to purple.
  • The storylines, along with the general tones of the show, become grittier and nihilistic; more episodes end abruptly after a violent climax that leaves numerous people dead, both good as bad alike.
  • In line with the general tonal changes, the music that is featured shifts away from the popular, upbeat synthpop and soft rock heard in the first two seasons towards darker material, including new wave, electronic and metal sounds.
  • Crockett's car changes to the Ferrari Testarossa in "Stone's War" (although his Daytona, which is destroyed in the premiere "When Irish Eyes Are Crying", reappears mysteriously in "El Viejo", indicating the network changed the running order of the episodes).
  • Tubbs' hair becomes short, whilst Crockett's becomes shorter and spiked in appearance.
  • The pastel clothing is largely eschewed in favour of greens, yellows, blues and dark greys, a move severely criticised by fans at the time. Some of the new fashion even violates Michael Mann's famous "No Earth Tones!" rule that he implemented when developing the wardrobe for the show.
  • Further to the fashion changes, Crockett relinquishes his beloved Ray-Ban Wayfarers for Persol 69218s. These will last only through this season.
  • Crockett's sidearm from season 1 and season 2, the Dornaus & Dixon Bren Ten 10mm is gone. He now uses a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson 645.
  • Larry Zito dies in "Down for the Count (Part I)", and is not replaced. As such, Stan Switek becomes a more focused supporting character, particularly in subsequent seasons, and handles the team's surveillance duties on his own.
  • Appearances of Elvis, Crockett's pet alligator, are gradually phased out this season and he will only be mentioned in passing from now on (except for a picture in "Love at First Sight" and a flashback in "A Bullet for Crockett", both from season 4, and briefly during the closing montage of season 5's "Freefall"). What happens to Elvis is never explained.
  • Several recurring characters from first two seasons, such as Valerie Gordon, Noogie, Ample Annie and Tommy, are dropped for the third season. While some would ultimately return later in the show's run, most notably Valerie and Noogie, others would never be seen again.
  • Crockett's sailboat, the St. Vitus Dance, is now an Endeavour 42, changing from the smaller Endeavour 40 (the Endeavour 42 was introduced at the beginning of season 2, but some episodes still featured the Endeavour 40).
  • Smoking among the characters (especially Crockett) is gradually phased out.
  • Dick Wolf takes over from Michael Mann as line producer, and the storylines reflect his "ripped from the headlines" style, made famous a few years later with Law & Order. Mann largely leaves the production to work on his new series Crime Story and his film Manhunter, which features a large number of Miami Vice guest stars including Crime Story lead Dennis Farina and Vice regular Michael Talbott.

Notes[]

  • Season 3 aired Friday nights at 9:00pm, directly competing with CBS' Dallas, a move that caused ratings for both shows to drop.
  • This season is the longest in the series, airing 24 episodes; all other seasons aired 22 episodes (with the exception of season 5, which aired 17 episodes during its original run and 4 more after, for a total of 21).
  • Vice's trademark use of guest stars reaches its peak this season, with numerous episodes featuring actors/actresses that would go on to become among the most famous names in Hollywood.
  • Season 3 features by far the most appearances of popular supporting character Izzy Moreno, with the character appearing in seven episodes.
  • Miami Vice's year end rating was #22.

Episodes[]

Ep # Prod. Code Title Director(s) Writer(s) Airdate Rerun(s)
1 62004-02 "When Irish Eyes Are Crying" Mario Di Leo Story: John Leekley
Teleplay: Dick Wolf and John Leekley
September 26, 1986

January 30, 1987

April 24, 1987

2 62012-03 "Stone's War" David Jackson David Jackson October 3, 1986 December 26, 1986
September 11, 1987
3 62018-04 "Killshot" Leon Ichaso Story: Martin Kupfer, Leon Ichaso, and Manuel Arce
Teleplay: Martin Kupfer
October 10, 1986 April 10, 1987
4 62014-05 "Walk-Alone" David Jackson W.K. Scott Meyer October 17, 1986 April 17, 1987
5 62001-06 "The Good Collar" Mario Di Leo Dennis Cooper October 24, 1986
6 62003-07 "Shadow in the Dark" Christopher Crowe Chuck Adamson October 31, 1986
7 62009-01 "El Viejo" Aaron Lipstadt Alan Moskowitz November 7, 1986 March 6, 1987
8 62007-10 "Better Living Through Chemistry" Leon Ichaso Story: Ken Edwards and Larry Rosenthal
Teleplay: Dick Wolf and Michael Duggan
November 14, 1986

May 29, 1987

August 28, 1987

9 62017-09 "Baby Blues" Daniel Attias Story: Dick Wolf and Michael Duggan
Teleplay: Michael Duggan
November 21, 1986 June 5, 1987
10 62002-08 "Streetwise" Fred Walton Dennis Cooper December 5, 1986 May 22, 1987
11 62013-11 "Forgive Us Our Debts" Jan Eliasberg Gustave Reininger December 12, 1986

June 12, 1987

April 22, 1988

12 62020-13 "Down for the Count (Part I)" Richard Compton Story: Dick Wolf
Teleplay: Dick Wolf and John Schulian
January 9, 1987 May 15, 1987 (as 2-part movie)
13 62022-14 "Down for the Count (Part II)" Richard Compton Story: Dick Wolf
Teleplay: Dick Wolf and John Schulian
January 16, 1987 May 15, 1987 (as 2-part movie)
14 62015-15 "Cuba Libre" Virgil W. Vogel Eric Estrin and Michael Berlin January 23, 1987
15 62019-16 "Duty and Honor" John Nicolella Martin Kupfer February 6, 1987 June 26, 1987
16 62024-17 "Theresa" Virgil W. Vogel Pamela Norris February 13, 1987 August 21, 1987
17 62022-12 "The Afternoon Plane" David Jackson David Jackson February 20, 1987 August 12, 1988
18 62027-18 "Lend Me an Ear" James Quinn Story: Dick Wolf
Teleplay: Michael Duggan
February 27, 1987 June 19, 1987
19 62029-20 "Red Tape" Gabrielle Beaumont Story: Dennis Cooper
Teleplay: Jonathan Polansky
March 13, 1987 December 11, 1987
20 62026-19 "By Hooker by Crook" Don Johnson Story: Dick Wolf
Teleplay: John Schulian
March 20, 1987 May 13, 1988
21 62028-21 "Knock, Knock... Who's There?" Tony Wharmby Story and Teleplay: Dick Wolf and Michael Duggan March 27, 1987

July 3, 1987

January 8, 1988

22 62032-22 "Viking Bikers from Hell" James Quinn Story: Walter Kurtz
Teleplay: Dick Wolf and Michael Duggan
April 3, 1987 July 15, 1988
23 62031-23 "Everybody's in Showbiz" Richard Compton Story: Reinaldo Povod and Dennis Cooper
Teleplay: David Burke
May 1, 1987 July 1, 1988
24 62033-24 "Heroes of the Revolution" Gabrielle Beaumont Story: Dick Wolf
Teleplay: John Schulian
May 8, 1987
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