{"id":4584,"date":"2024-03-10T02:50:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T09:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/?p=4584"},"modified":"2026-10-11T12:33:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:33:50","slug":"miami-vice-crime-story-wiseguy-iconic-1980s-tv-series-written-by-peter-lance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/?p=4584","title":{"rendered":"MIAMI VICE, CRIME STORY &#038; WISEGUY"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"MIAMI%20VICE%2C%20CRIME%20STORY%20%26%20WISEGUY\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>If you&#8217;re hungry to watch some of the great police series from the late 80&#8217;s + 90&#8217;s, find a full list of my writing &amp; producing credits on <strong><a title=\"Imdb PL\" href=\" http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0004145\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2\">IMDB.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Then go to the following links<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to screen some of the episodes I wrote. My first script ever was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch-online\/tv\/crime-story\/6549398011288886112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>&#8220;Top Of The World,&#8221;<\/strong> <\/a>which was Episode 20 of Season 1 of<strong> CRIME Story<\/strong>, which Michael Mann, himself directed. After going on staff, I wrote the Season 2 opener: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch-online\/tv\/crime-story\/6549398011288886112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The Senator, The Movie Star and The Mob. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michael then put me in The Writer&#8217;s Room on Season 4 of <strong><strong>MIAMI VICE: <\/strong><\/strong>where I co-wrote<strong><strong><a title=\"A bullet for Crockett\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x4uLD1EVmLM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> &#8220;A Bullet For Crockett&#8221;\u00a0 <\/a><\/strong><\/strong>Later, Stephen J. Cannell hired me as the show runner on <strong>WISEGUY<\/strong> where I wrote the &#8221; Season 4 opener:\u00a0 <strong><strong><strong><a title=\"Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HezQ0HDSpUc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fruit of The Poisonous Tree<\/a>:<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-8597\" title=\"Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 4.23.52 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-31-at-4.23.52-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-31-at-4.23.52-PM.png 351w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-31-at-4.23.52-PM-300x229.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><strong>Crime Story<\/strong> starred, the late great former Chicago detective <a title=\"Dennis Farina\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001199\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Dennis Farina. \u00a0<\/strong><\/a>That opening episode was the first major television role for <a title=\"Kevin Spacey\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000228\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Kevin Spacey<\/strong><\/a> playing a Bobby Kennedy-like figure who flies to Las Vegas to hold racketeering hearings.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PL-Credit-Castillo-Crocket-Tubbs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-7621\" title=\"PL Credit, Castillo, Crocket &amp; Tubbs\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PL-Credit-Castillo-Crocket-Tubbs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PL-Credit-Castillo-Crocket-Tubbs.png 640w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PL-Credit-Castillo-Crocket-Tubbs-300x213.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Miami Vice episode <a href=\"https:\/\/miamivice.fandom.com\/wiki\/The_Rising_Sun_of_Death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Rising Sun of Death<\/strong><\/a> was based on an investigation I did for <a href=\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/peter-lance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>ABC News<\/strong><\/a> on The Yakuza.<\/p>\n<p>Another Season 4 episode, <a href=\"https:\/\/miamivice.fandom.com\/wiki\/Baseballs_of_Death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Baseballs of Death<\/strong><\/a>, was based on my ABC News probe into the use of cluster bombs.<\/p>\n<p>The Season 4 <strong>Wiseguy<\/strong> episodes, starred <a title=\"Steven Bauer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000874\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Steven Baur<\/strong> <\/a>who replaced <a title=\"Ken Wahl\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0906261\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Ken Wah<\/strong>l<\/a> in the lead role. Cannell, who died tragically years before his time, was arguably the most prolific writer-producer of drama in TV history.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nWiseguy<\/strong> also co-starred <a title=\"Jonathan Banks\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0052186\/\"><strong>Jonathan Banks<\/strong>,<\/a> the veteran character actor whose career would later soar to new heights on &#8220;Breaking Bad&#8221; and &#8220;Better Call Saul.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-14660\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer-1024x651.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"495\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer-1024x651.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer-768x488.jpg 768w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Wiseguy-Steven-Bauer.jpg 1158w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/>Ironically Bauer jump-started his career again after appearing opposite Banks and <a title=\"Bryan Cranston\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0186505\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Brian Cranston<\/strong><\/a> as Don Eladio Vuente, boss of the Mexican Ciudad Juarez Cartel who was poisoned by Gustavo Fring, the New Mexico meth kingpin played by <a title=\"Giancarlo Espo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0002064\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\"><strong>Giancarlo Esposito.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Miami Vice&#8221;<\/strong> was a breakthrough series, created by <a title=\"Yerkovich\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0947608\/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr1\"><strong>Anthony Yerkovich<\/strong><\/a>, but fully realized by <a title=\"Michael Mann\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000520\/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr46\"><strong>Michael Mann.<\/strong><\/a>Think about how many writer\/producer\/directors could bring as much production value to a network cop series. After Miami Vice, not only did the use of source music change in prime time network television, but The City of Miami itself was remade in the color pallet that Michael painted.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nbc.com\/classic-tv\/miami-vice\/video\/a-bullet-for-crockett\/n30624\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-8605\" title=\"Bullet for Crocket title\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crocket-title-300x216.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crocket-title-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crocket-title-800x576.png 800w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crocket-title.png 838w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Think about how many writer\/producer\/directors could bring as much production value to a network cop series. After Miami Vice, not only did the use of source music change in prime time network television, but The City of Miami itself was remade in the color pallet that Michael painted.<\/p>\n<p>He brought feature film production values to television and soon-to-be stars like <strong>Bruce Willis, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn, Benecio del Toro, Stanley Tucci, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Charles S. Dutton, Michael Chiklis, Joan Chen, Ron Perlman, Annette Bening and Wesley Snipes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Also, the series boasted an astonishing list of legendary character actors like<strong> Oliver Platt, Luis Guzman, Tony Sirico, Tony Plana, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Miguel Ferrer, Joaquim de Almeida, Mark Linn-Baker, Lonette McKee,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Chris Elliott, John Turturro, \u00a0John Spencer, Phillip Baker Hall <\/strong>and<strong> James Hong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And then there was the &#8220;stunt casting&#8221; of performance legends like<strong> Phil Collins<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Glenn Frey,<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>James, Brown, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Leonard Cohen, Issac Hayes<\/strong> and <strong>Frank Zappa.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All of that the work of the great casting director <a title=\"Bonnie T\" href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0863659\/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr65\"><strong>Bonnie Timmerman<\/strong><\/a>, who also cast <strong>Crime Story<\/strong> for Michael Mann and most of his other feature film work. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crockett-still-badge2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-8609\" title=\"Bullet for Crockett still badge\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crockett-still-badge2-300x206.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crockett-still-badge2-300x206.png 300w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bullet-for-Crockett-still-badge2.png 786w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"MIAMI%20VICE%2C%20CRIME%20STORY%20%26%20WISEGUY\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>If you&#8217;re hungry to watch some of the great police series from the late 80&#8217;s + 90&#8217;s, find a full list of my writing &amp; producing credits on IMDB.com\u00a0Then go to the following links\u00a0to screen some of the episodes I wrote. My first script ever was &#8220;Top Of The World,&#8221; which was Episode 20 of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[598,490,587,588,591,599,600,595,111,602,592,491,586,107,126,594,590,493,603,589,593,597,596,601,120],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4584"}],"version-history":[{"count":118,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22615,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4584\/revisions\/22615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}