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Success breeds imitators, and on this seventh instalment of the pod’s Miami Vice series, the writer Jessica Ritchey returns to discuss the cultural peak of the series at the start of Season 2 and some now-forgotten Vice clones that were quickly put into production by the competition to try and cash in on this trend. We discuss the two ripoffs of Miami Vice served up by ABC in the 1985 fall season, Hollywood Beat and The Insiders, as well as NBC’s own Vice clone, Stingray, produced by Stephen J. Cannell, which lasted 2 seasons.

While all this was happening Miami Vice was at the top of its game, with high ratings, Emmy wins, and a soundtrack album that was #1 on Billboard for 11 weeks. The Season 2 premiere, The Prodigal Son, was a 2 hour epic with 14 pop songs and a full roster of guest stars including Gene Simmons, Pam Grier and Penn Jillette. Crockett and Tubbs travel to Colombia and New York City in pursuit of a cocaine cartel and discover the hard way that powerful interests beyond their reach are determined to perpetuate the drug war forever.

We also discuss how even a flawed episode of the series at its peak could still be appointment television with Season 2’s French Twist, where the Vice Squad has to work with a French INTERPOL agent to catch a Montreal criminal in Miami who has stolen a drug shipment and is targeting witnesses. This one features one of Jan Hammer’s most gorgeous scores for the series, and improbably a brief appearance by Leonard Cohen as the French crimelord Francois Zolan.

Episodes discussed on the show:

The Prodigal Son - Season 2, Ep 1 & 2

French Twist - Season 2, Ep 18

Follow Jessica Ritchey on Twitter, and support her work on Patreon.

Jessica’s YouTube mixtape “Miami Vice-A-Rama”

Opening titles for Hollywood Beat (ABC, 1985)

Opening titles for The Insiders (ABC, 1985)

Opening titles for Stingray (NBC, 1985)

Music video for “Tubbs and Valerie”, Jan Hammer, 1987