popularize the city’s Art Deco and neomodernist ar-
chitecture, as well as its general Caribbean and La-
tino cultures. In retrospect, the series’ casting was
also impressive, as guest stars included many future
cinema heavyweights, such as Annette Bening, Hel-
ena Bonham-Carter, Steve Buscemi, Benicio Del
Toro, Nathan Lane, John Leguizamo, Bill Paxton,
Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, John Turturro, and Bruce
Willis.
The basic series revolved around two undercover
cops, James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico”
Tubbs, played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael
Thomas, respectively. The strongest character of the
supporting cast was the stony Lieutenant Martin
Castillo, brilliantly underplayed by Edward James
Olmos. Episodes’ plots typically involved Crockett
and Tubbs going undercover to bring down a color-
ful drug kingpin, usually in a hail of gunfire. The
deeper subplot of the series, however, was the con-
tinual struggle of the main characters to keep their
identities as cops and not to be lured by the lifestyles
they adopted to turn into the criminals they hunted.
Impact Miami Vicelasted only five seasons before
falling ratings and rising production costs put an
end to the series, yet it was somehow fitting that the
series did not survive the decade. In this way, the
show has remained an iconic artifact of the 1980’s.
From aqua T-shirts and sockless shoes to wearing
day-old beard growth in the office, the show greatly
influenced American fashions and American cul-
ture.
Further Reading
Feeney, F. X., and Duncan Paul, eds.Michael Mann.
Cologne, Germany: Taschen, 2006.
Janeshutz, Trish.The Making of “Miami Vice.”New
York: Ballantine Books, 1986.
Trutnau, John-Paul.A One-Man Show? The Construc-
tion and Deconstruction of a Patriarchal Image in the
Reagan Era: Reading the Audio-Visual Poetics of “Mi-
ami Vice.”Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2005.
Roger Pauly
See also Fads; Fashions and clothing; Latinos;
MTV; Music; Music videos; New Wave music; Pop
music; Synthesizers; Television.
Michael, George
Identification British singer and songwriter
Born June 25, 1963; London, England
Within the span of a decade, Michael achieved both popu-
lar and critical acclaim by first introducing an optimistic,
infectious style of pop music via the musical group Wham!
and then following up with a grittier, sexier style as a solo
artist.
Because of his ability to evolve in both musical style
and image, George Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos
Panayiotou, became one of the most well-known
singer-songwriters of the 1980’s. While still a teen, he
formed the group Wham! UK with his school friend
Andrew Ridgeley, releasing their first album, the
rap-inspiredFantastic, in 1983. Unhappy with their
label and eager to reach a wider audience, the pair
shortened their name to Wham!, moved to CBS/Co-
lumbia, and cultivated a sunny, clean-cut image for
the release of their second album,Make It Big(1984).
The album yielded several hit singles in Great Brit-
ain and the United States, including the jitterbug-
style “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and the ear-
nest “Freedom.”
In 1986, Wham! released its third album,Music
from the Edge of Heaven, which sold well in Great Brit-The Eighties in America Michael, George 641
George Michael, left, with Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley in
1984.(PA Photos/Landov)