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Miami Vice Facts
Miami Vice the popular cop show of the 80's was filmed in Miami Florida.

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 The series starred Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. The series ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The USA Network began airing reruns in 1988, and broadcast an originally unaired episode during its syndication run of the series on January 25, 1990.

Unlike standard police procedurals, the show drew heavily upon 1980s New Wave culture and music. The show became noted for its integration of music and visual effects. It is recognized as one of the most influential television series of all time. People magazine stated that Miami Vice was the "first show to look really new and different since color TV was invented".

Michael Mann directed a film adaptation of the series, which was released on July 28, 2006.

Many episodes of Miami Vice were filmed in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, an area which, at the time, was blighted by poverty and crime, with its demographic so deteriorated that there "simply weren’t many people on the street. Ocean Drive’s hotels were filled with elderly, mostly Jewish retirees, many of them frail, subsisting on meager Social Security payments.  They were filming all over Miami Beach. They could film in the middle of the street. There was literally nobody there. There were no cars parked in the street".

Some street corners of South Beach were so run down that the production crew actually decided to repaint the exterior walls of some buildings before filming. The crew went to great lengths to find the correct settings and props. Bobby Roth recalled, "I found this house that was really perfect, but the color was sort of beige. The art department instantly painted the house gray for me. Even on feature films people try to deliver what is necessary but no more. At Miami Vice they start with what's necessary and go beyond it."

Miami Vice is to some degree credited with causing a wave of support for the preservation of Miami's famous Art Deco architecture in the mid-1980s to early 1990s; and quite a few of those buildings, among them many beachfront hotels, have been renovated since filming, making that part of South Beach one of South Florida's most popular places for tourists and celebrities.

Other places commonly filmed in the series included scenes around Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Interior scenes were initially supposed to be filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, but to simplify cross-country logistics, the decision was made to use the facilities of Greenwich Studios in North Miami instead, and only carry out post-production in L.A. In a few scenes particularly in earlier episodes, Greenwich Studios' rear loading dock is repeatedly portrayed as the back room of the Gold Coast Shipping building, where the offices of the vice squad are located.

Miami Vice is noted for its innovative use of stereo broadcast music, particularly countless pop and rock hits of the 1980s and the distinctive, synthesized instrumental music of Jan Hammer. While other television shows used made-for-TV music, Miami Vice would spend $10,000 or more per episode to buy the rights to original recordings. Getting a song played on Miami Vice was a boost to record labels and artists.  In fact, some newspapers, such as USA Today, would let readers know the songs that would be featured each week. Among the many well-known bands and artists who contributed their music to the show were Roger Daltrey, El Debarge, Devo, Sinéad O'Connor, Russ Ballard, Black Uhuru, Jackson Browne, Kate Bush, Meat Loaf, Phil Collins, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, The Tubes, Dire Straits, Depeche Mode, The Hooters, Iron Maiden, The Alan Parsons Project, The Ward Brothers, Godley & Creme, Corey Hart, Glenn Frey, U2, Underworld, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda, Foreigner, The Police, Red 7, Ted Nugent, Suicidal Tendencies, The Damned and Billy Idol. Several artists even guest-starred in episodes, including Collins, Miles Davis, Power Station, Frey, Suicidal Tendencies, Willie Nelson, Nugent, Frank Zappa, The Fat Boys, Sheena Easton, and Gene Simmons. An iconic scene from the Miami Vice pilot involves Crockett and Tubbs driving through Miami at night to Phil Collins's song "In the Air Tonight".

Miami Vice Clothing Styles

The clothes worn on Miami Vice had a significant influence on men's fashion. They popularized, if not invented, the "T-shirt under Armani jacket"–style, and popularized Italian men's fashion in the United States. Don Johnson's typical attire of Italian sport coat, T-shirt, white linen pants, and slip-on sockless loafers became a hit. Even Crockett's perpetually unshaven appearance sparked a minor fashion trend, inspiring men to wear a small amount of beard stubble, also known as a five o'clock shadow (or "designer stubble") at all times.

 In an average episode, Crockett and Tubbs wore five to eight outfits, appearing in shades of pink, blue, green, peach, fuchsia, and the show's other "approved" colors. Designers such as Vittorio Ricci, Gianni Versace, and Hugo Boss were consulted in keeping the male leads looking trendy. Costume designer Bambi Breakstone, who traveled to Milan, Paris, and London in search of new clothes, said that, "The concept of the show is to be on top of all the latest fashion trends in Europe." Jodi Tillen, the costume designer for the first season, along with Michael Mann, set the style. The abundance of pastel colors on the show reflected Miami's Art-deco architecture.

During its five-year run, consumer demand for unstructured blazers, shiny fabric jackets, and lighter pastels increased. After Six formal wear even created a line of Miami Vice dinner jackets, Kenneth Cole introduced Crockett and Tubbs shoes, and Macy's opened a Miami Vice section in its young men's department. Crockett also boosted Ray Ban's popularity by wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer (Model L2052, Mock Tortoise), which increased sales of Ray Bans to 720,000 units in 1984. In the spring of 1986, an electric razor became available called the Stubble Device, that allowed users to have a beard like Don Johnson's character. It was initially named the "Miami Device" by Wahl, but in the end the company wanted to avoid a trademark infringement lawsuit. Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the T-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Ray-Ban sunglasses, have today become the standard image of 1980s culture. The influence of Miami Vice's fashions continued into the early 1990s, and to some extent still persists today.

Other Miami Facts

Miami is a center for television and film production. The city has acted as the backdrop for many movies, and many television shows, telenovelas, and awards shows have been set or filmed in Miami. In the mid-2000s, Miami started to become a popular backdrop for reality television shows. Additionally, Miami is a major center, worldwide, for Spanish-language television and film production.

Tourism is also an important industry in Miami. Along with finance and business, the beaches, conventions, festivals and events draw over 38 million visitors annually into the city, from across the country and around the world, spending $17.1 billion.

Miami's tropical weather allows for year-round outdoors activities. The city has numerous marinas, rivers, bays, canals, and the Atlantic Ocean, which make boating, sailing, and fishing popular outdoors activities. Biscayne Bay has numerous coral reefs which make snorkeling and scuba diving popular. There are over 80 parks and gardens in the city. The largest and most popular parks are Bayfront Park and Bicentennial Park (located in the heart of Downtown and the location of the American Airlines Arena and Bayside Marketplace), Tropical Park, Peacock Park, Morningside Park, Virginia Key, and Watson Island.

Other popular cultural destinations in or near Miami include Zoo Miami, Jungle Island, Miami Seaquarium, Monkey Jungle, Coral Castle, St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church, Charles Deering Estate, Fairchild Botanical Gardens, and Key Biscayne.

Miami is also considered a "hot spot" for dance music, Freestyle, a style of dance music popular in the 1980s and 90s was heavily influenced by Electro, hip-hop, and disco.
 

The 1980s and '90s also brought the genre of high energy Miami Bass to dance floors and car subwoofers throughout the country. Miami Bass spawned artists like 2 Live Crew (featuring Uncle Luke), 95 South,[108] Tag Team,[109] 69 Boyz, Quad City DJ's, and Freak Nasty. Examples of these songs are "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team in 1993, "Tootsee Roll" by 69 Boyz in 1994, and "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" by the Quad City DJ's in 1996.

There are several rap and hip hop artists out of Miami. They include Trick Daddy, Trina, Pitbull, Pretty Ricky, and the Miami Bass group 2 Live Crew.

Miami's main four sports teams are the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association, the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball, and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. As well as having all four major professional teams, Miami is also home to the Major League Soccer expansion team led by David Beckham, Sony Ericsson Open for professional tennis, numerous greyhound racing tracks, marinas, jai alai venues, and golf courses. The city streets has hosted professional auto races, the Miami Indy Challenge and later the Grand Prix Americas. The Homestead-Miami Speedway oval hosts NASCAR national races.

Florida Facts
Florida was admitted to United States as a State on March 3, 1845. It was the 27th State to be added.

The capital of Florida is Tallahassee.

Florida is known as the sunshine state, but it does rain there from time to time.
The state flower is the Orange Blossom.

Florida is one of the top tourist destinations in the world.

Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513 when he lands in NE Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine, to claim Florida for Spain.
Jacksonville is Florida's biggest city, even bigger than Miami which ranks at number two.

There are more than 1,250 golf courses in Florida, which is more than any other state.

Due to its tropical climate, Florida rarely receives snow. However, on rare occasions, a combination of cold moisture and freezing temperatures can result in snowfall in the farthest northern regions. Frost is more common than snow, occurring sometimes in the panhandle.

I Dream of Jeannie took place in Florida, even though it was actually filmed in California.