Got Tracey the first three seasons of Miami Vice on DVD for Christmas, and we’ve been slowly working our way through seasons one and two – hard to believe how hard those guys worked in those days – 24 episodes every season! You sure don’t see that too much anymore. Nowadays, seems like season premieres start in August and are over by January.

I didn’t watch the show much in its original run, but I’ve seen quite a few of the original episodes in reruns. What strikes me about the show is that it’s really based only on a “vibe” – a unique combination of color, setting, and music for its time. It’s not as if the acting or even the plots were top-notch, but you can’t deny it was great entertainment and (at least compared to most of the faire on TV these days) classic television.

And besides, with each of the six discs containing four episodes each, you get to hear and see the Miami Vice opening credits at least four times. It’s one of the great TV openings of all time – all the chicks, the glitz and the glamour laid about behind a driving, pulsating theme. Funny how I never really paid attention to the grungy fuzz guitar that plays a really important role in the theme song; it sounds great next to the very 80’s techno-synth that drives the rest of the music.

What I like best about “Miami Vice” on DVD is, more than anything else, that it’s pure escapist TV – for an hour or two you can check your troubles and concerns with the push of the button and be transported to another place filled with drug dealers, palm trees, and an endless array of pastels. And without commercial interruption! With all the depressing, freak-filled reality shows on TV these days you can’t get that – hell, if I want to see any of those clowns I don’t have to go any further than the local Fry’s.

And that’s one thing you can say about Miami Vice: you won’t see Sonny Crockett or Ricardo Tubbs at the local Fry’s.