September 16, 1984: "Miami Vice" Premieres

September 16, 1984: Miami Vice premieres on NBC. And every cop in America says, "What the hell? Cops don't wear pastels! Not even when going undercover!"

The head of NBC's Entertainment Division, Brandon Tartikoff, wrote a brainstorming memo that simply read "MTV cops." He didn't mean actual singing cops, which was a mistake that ABC and show-creator Steven Bochco would make in 1990, with Cop Rock. What he meant was using the style and colors of MTV: Blues, greens, pinks -- specifically, "No earth tones." Miami seemed like the perfect city for such a show.

Don Johnson played James "Sonny" Crockett, an undercover Detective with the Metro-Dade Police Department. A knee injury ended his football career at the University of Florida, but didn't stop him from serving in the Vietnam War. He lives on a houseboat, with a pet alligator named Elvis.

Philip Michael Thomas played Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, a New York Detective who came to Miami to avenge the death of his brother. Having broken too many rules to be taken back by the NYPD, Crockett helps him get into Metro-Dade.

The show also brought Gregory Sierra, formerly of Barney Miller, back to police work, albeit in drama, as their commanding officer, Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez who is killed 4 episodes in. He was replaced by Edward James Olmos as Lieutenant Marty Castillo.

Keeping with the term "vice," Crockett and Tubbs specialized in drug, prostitution and gambling cases. Therefore, like the prime-time soap operas Dallas on CBS and Dynasty on ABC, Miami Vice symbolized 1980s excess, and style over substance.

Czech composer Jan Hammer wrote the show's theme song, and it hit Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100. Glenn Frey, formerly of The Eagles, appeared in an episode of the show, and 2 of his hit songs were featured on the show: "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues." Singer Sheena Easton played a singer for whom Crockett served as bodyguard, and then married, before she was murdered, sending Crockett into an emotional tailspin.

The show lasted 6 seasons; made stars of Johnson, Thomas and Olmos; and inspired a 2006 film version. Don Johnson later starred in the CBS show Nash Bridges, and, with ex-wife Melanie Griffith, is the father of actress Dakota Johnson. Philip Michael Thomas later starred in several TV-movies, and specialized in video game voiceovers. (UPDATE: In 2024, Johnson began playing the captain of a cruise ship in Doctor Odyssey.)

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It’s hard to believe that this show and the kid-themed sitcom Punky Brewster premiered on the same network on the same night. But they did. Soleil Moon Frye played Penelope Brewster, a 7-year-old apparent orphan, who hated her name and used the nickname, and lived on her own with a puppy named Brandon, before being found and adopted by an aging photographer named Henry Warnimont, played by George Gaynes.

The dog's name was an inside joke: NBC president Brandon Tartikoff had a childhood friend named Peyton Brewster, who was nicknamed Punky. And in the pilot, Gaynes used a "green juice and brown juice" joke that dates at least as far back as The Odd Couple.

In 2021, Frye, by then 45 years old and the author of several children's books, starred in a brief revival series, playing a divorced mother who had followed her adoptive father into the photography business, and opened her former apartment as a foster home for lost kids.

Also on September 16, 1984, E/R premiered on CBS. It was set in a hospital in Chicago, and George Clooney was in the cast. It had that in common with ER, a drama series that NBC would launch 10 years later.

But this E/R was a comedy, starring Elliott Gould (who had previously played "Trapper John" McIntyre in the film version of the medical/war comedy/drama M*A*S*H). Also on this show were Mary McDonnell, Conchata Ferrell, Corinne Bohrer, and Luis Avalos, who had played Doctor Doolots on the 1970s PBS children's show The Electric Company. And Lou Rawls sang the theme song. But, unlike ER, which lasted 15 seasons, long enough for the daughter of one of the original characters to join the hospital staff in the final episode, E/R lasts only one.

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September 16, 1984 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd outpitched Dennis "No Nickname" Rasmussen. Jim Rice went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs. For the Yankees, Mike Pagliarulo hit a home run, Dave Winfield went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Don Mattingly went 1-for-4.

At this point, Winfield and Mattingly were battling it out for the American League batting title: Winfield had a .352 average, Mattingly .342. In contrast, the current holder of the batting title, the Red Sox' Wade Boggs, was only at .316. When the season ended, Mattingly won it with .343, Winfield was at .340, and Boggs was at .325. It was the only season between 1983 and 1988 that Boggs didn't win the batting title.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-3 at Wrigley Field. As in 1969, these 2 teams battled it out for the National League Eastern Division title. At the close of this game, the Cubs led by 8 1/2 games, which was about their peak in 1969. This was the last game of a 3-game series, and the Cubs won the 1st 2. This time, there would be no "September Swoon": The Cubs went 14-3 from August 18 to September 4. As the Mets did in 1969, the Cubs clinched on September 23.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Steve Sax singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Reds player-manager Pete Rose did not put himself into the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-8 at Milwaukee County Stadium. For the O's, Wayne Gross went 2-for-4 with a home run off Don Sutton and 4 RBIs, Eddie Murray went 1-for-4 with 2 walks, and Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with 2 walks and an RBI. For the Brew Crew, Robin Yount went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Paul Molitor was injured and did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lee Lacy hit a home run to put the Bucs up in the top of the 10th inning, but in the bottom of the 10th, David Green singled 2 runs home to win it.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Frank Viola allowed 5 hits over 7 2/3rds innings, and Ron Davis finished the 5-hit shutout.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 10-9 at the Astrodome in Houston. Tony Gwynn did not play. The Padres led 9-3 after 4 innings, but the Astros came from behind to win.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3 with a walk, and Rod Carew did not play. The next day, Reggie hit the 500th home run of his career, off Bud Black of the Kansas City Royals, but it was the only Angel run in a 10-1 Royals win.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. George Brett did not play.

And these games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 43-23 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 30-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks, 38-23 at Sullivan Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. Known as Schaefer Stadium from 1971 to 1982, it would be renamed Foxboro Stadium in 1989, before being replaced by next-door Gillette Stadium in 2002. And, yes, the name of the stadium and the name of the town were officially spelled differently.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Detroit Lions, 21-17 at Tampa Stadium.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-17 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 24-14 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-33 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. This was the Colts' 2nd regular-season home game in Indianapolis, after moving from Baltimore.

* The Chicago Bears beat their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, 9-7 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-20 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat their arch-rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, 22-20 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Houston Oilers, 31-14 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 30-20 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-17 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.