Among some of the best of the series was the pilot movie, which remains in my opinion the best made-for-TV movie ever made. "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" involved Crockett and Tubbs following a series of leads from a former Vice cop who was recently released from a sanitarium. Surprisingly, the former Vice leads them to successful drug busts, working their way up the chain of command... only to discover the reason for his crazy antics have a strong connection to the drug kingpin. In "Bushido," Dean Stockwell guest stars as a drug kingpin who discovers his transgressions are catching up to him, and asks Martin Castillo (Crockett and Tubbs' boss) for a favor. As old friends, Castillo agrees to get Stockwell's wife and child out of the country while gunmen pour into Miami to ensure a hit.
In "Walk Alone," Tubbs goes undercover in a penitentiary to try to smoke out a couple of crooked prison guards. In "No Exit," Bruce Willis plays a dangerous arms dealer who believes he is above the law, only to discover he cannot escape his transgressions. "Death and the Lady" deals with an art dealer who produces and directs snuff films, leading to the big question of whether he truly killed a woman in the making of the film, or did art truly imitate life?
From crooked politics to social ills, the series covered subjects both taboo and sacred, in the sake of presenting a public service message. Some episodes are a little tough for viewers to handle, especially "Too Much, Too Late," with guest star Pam Grier. The episode featured a brutal scene of an addict so desperate to purchase drugs that she agrees to pimp out her young daughter to make payment. NBC would not air the episode because of the suggestive content, but fans regard this as one of the top ten in the series.
The first two seasons are fantastic (the second being my personal favorite), followed by a decent third season with a mid-season death that was unexpected. Afterwards, the format changed as the fourth season attempted to pull off a number of dark and depressing scenarios, then morphed into a prime time soap opera with Crockett's romantic entanglement and marriage to singer Sheena Easton, then to a cliffhanging season finale where Crockett suffers from amnesia and operates on the wrong side of the law. The villains in the fifth season became a tad colorful, remnant to the comic book villains that would never have been featured in the early seasons of the series.
Regardless of the downward trend through the last two seasons, the series is regarded as a highlight of NBC prime time, spawning a major motion-picture (that was also above average and recommended) and will no doubt be revived in years to come.
If you are looking for something to enjoy watching, I recommend the first two seasons... and especially that pilot movie that launched the series.
