# Why did they call it "Miami Vice" (instead of "Miami Narcs")? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293 "2005-11-22T18:40:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/1 "2005-11-22T18:40:24Z")
I just learned there’s a movie coming out next year based on the 1980s TV series _Miami Vice_ ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami\_Vice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Vice)). That reminded me of something I’ve always wondered: Why did they call the show _Miami **Vice?** _ I never saw Crockett and Tubbs bust a hooker, that I can recall. They seemed to spend all their time going after drug dealers. Shouldn’t it have been called _Miami Narcs?_ ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/2 "2005-11-22T18:51:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I just learned there’s a movie coming out next year based on the 1980s TV series _Miami Vice_ ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami\_Vice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Vice)). That reminded me of something I’ve always wondered: Why did they call the show _Miami **Vice?** _ I never saw Crockett and Tubbs bust a hooker, that I can recall. They seemed to spend all their time going after drug dealers. Shouldn’t it have been called _Miami Narcs?_ I’ve often wondered the same thing. Probably because “narc” has a negative conotation, whereas “Vice” sounds titillating. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/3 "2005-11-22T19:02:32Z")
I think the very opening sequence showed one of the female members of the squad pretending to be a hooker to arrest johns. Also, a quick Google shows that in some departments, Vice and Narcotics are pretty much the same thing: [http://www.police.co.nassau.ny.us/nvs.htm](http://www.police.co.nassau.ny.us/nvs.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/4 "2005-11-22T19:06:14Z")
It’s been years since I’ve seen the show, and I don’t remember if Crockett and Tubbs ever busted any hookers, but they weren’t the only members of the squad. There were a couple women too (IMDB tells me that the characters’ names were Gina and Trudy, and they were on the whole run of the show). And I remember them going undercover as hookers. A lot. It may have been the only plot lines the two ever had, though, like I said, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, and I was a pre-teen boy during the shows original run, so maybe those scenes just stuck out to me. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/5 "2005-11-22T19:08:01Z")
Would ‘Miami Narcs’ really have had the same ring to it? I think not!! Also, along the same lines as JC’s comment, I would think that drug busts would fit under the mandate of some vice squads. prostitution ain’t the ONLY vice out there people!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/6 "2005-11-22T19:16:31Z")
Funny how they didn’t show Crockett or Tubbs dressing up as hookers to go bust johns… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/7 "2005-11-22T19:20:18Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Funny how they didn’t show Crockett or Tubbs dressing up as hookers to go bust johns… I seem to recall, though, Crockett and Tubbs occasionally pretending to be johns to bust hookers. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/8 "2005-11-22T19:51:01Z")
Because they would have had to change the lyrics to the theme song. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/9 "2005-11-22T20:43:46Z")
The theme song (by [Jan Hammer](http://www.wildhorse.com/MiamiVice/audio/)) didn’t have any words. The real question is why they investigated murders if they were in vice. And how they afforded those damned Ferraris if they weren’t on the take. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/10 "2005-11-22T20:46:08Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > The theme song (by [Jan Hammer](http://www.wildhorse.com/MiamiVice/audio/)) didn’t have any words. I think you’ve been whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/11 "2005-11-22T20:52:25Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > And how they afforded those damned Ferraris if they weren’t on the take. How do you know they weren’t? 😉 Actually, the premise of the show was that Crockett and Tubbs were deep undercover agents, maintaining the flashy lifestyle one would expect of drug dealers, so presumably the department paid for it all. As if. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/12 "2005-11-22T21:35:12Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > The theme song (by [Jan Hammer](http://www.wildhorse.com/MiamiVice/audio/)) didn’t have any words. > > The real question is why they investigated murders if they were in vice. And how they afforded those damned Ferraris if they weren’t on the take. The Ferraris were confiscated from drug deals. As was Sonny’s boat. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-call-it-miami-vice-instead-of-miami-narcs/332293/13 "2005-11-23T02:18:04Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > The theme song (by [Jan Hammer](http://www.wildhorse.com/MiamiVice/audio/)) didn’t have any words. > > The real question is why they investigated murders if they were in vice. And how they afforded those damned Ferraris if they weren’t on the take. There was an episode of the _Golden Girls_ where Blanche’s niece comes to visit, and this guy she’s going out with is so obsessed with _Miami Vice_ he becomes a vice cop and wears expensive Italian suits with tee shirts and shoes without socks, drives a sports car, etc. And then he says, “And you know what else I learned? You really can’t afford all this on a vice cop’s salari!” It’d be amusing to see Sonny and Crockett go up against Briscoe and Logan/Green from _Law & Order_.