Given how much Facebook trumpets the targeting of their advertising, I'm not sure what it says about me that I get ads like this. Wait, does Facebook know my credit report? Hey, I'm not that hard up for cash. And so what if I'm still paying off that Merry Go Round credit card I got in 1986? Having parachute pants in every color of the rainbow was totally worth it.
And while we're reviewing Facebook ads, how about this one? No-one's ever mistaken me for Pythagoras, but doesn't this have to be one or the other? Personally, I'd go with the $500/hour. I think. Wait. 60 divided by 10, carry the ... oh, never mind.
Here's a unique way to relieve stress from Japan. And no, it's not a bong. At least not exclusively. It's a shouting vase. For $79, you get a plastic pot that takes your loudest, most furious screams and emits a much quieter version through the hole in the base. So go ahead, shout. Shout. Let it all out. I mean, these are the things you can do without. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Come on.
Love the feel of grass between your toes? With grass flip flops, you can enjoy that feeling everywhere you go. Well, everywhere you can get away with wearing flip flops made of grass. Unlikely footwear innovator Krispy Kreme is offering them in the UK as part of their "Share The Summer Magic" campaign.
Seems like a very Krameresque idea to me ("It's a cologne that smells like the beach!").
Despite appearing in a number of films as a stuntman, Mark Harris gained his biggest audience as "Afro Ninja," star of an audition gone wrong that garnered several million views on YouTube.
But now you can see his non-concussion-inducing martial arts skills in a new feature film: Afro Ninja: Destiny. Via BuzzFeed
From the people who brought you "Helvetica" comes another documentary, this time about industrial design: Objectified. And while the movie won't be out until next year, and there isn't even a trailer yet, there is a blog.
Video from The Colbert Nation of Rush vs. Rock Band. They were "on" a somewhat disappointing 31% of the time. Now, Geddy, Alex, and Neil (or, judging by the gray hair and wrinkles, possibly their dads) were playing on "Expert" level, and likely playing the game for the first time, so they deserve a break. Actually, considering they've likely played Tom Sawyer a couple of thousand times or so, and they, you know, created the song, I'd say the game was wrong. And Alex didn't even have a guitar tech.
The whole "LOLcat" phenomenon has been so, uh ... phenomenal that it's spawned a whole little empire of sites known as The Cheezburger Network. One of those is Graph Jam, full of user-generated graphs about, well, just about anything. Though they're mostly weighted toward music and movies. A few are R-rated, but most are just good clean graphically representational fun.
While you're on said network, you may also want to check out Totally Looks Like, the content of which can probably figure out for yourself. Especially when I provide you with this ...
Hey, I like hamburgers. I like bacon. And I like donuts. But I guess I never thought of putting them all together like the creator of "The Luther" (named after the late Luther Vandross), one of seven incredibly tasty/scary burger creations.
It's a pleasure to once again make the acquaintance of Jesco White of Boone County, West Virginia. I first saw this documentary on a VHS that had been reverently passed from friend to friend. Now, thanks to the miracle of the Internets, it's available to all.
The Dancing Outlaw is at once a simple man, and an enigma. As his beloved wife Norma Jean says: "Jesse can be three people: he's Jesse, he is Jesco, and he is Elvis."
And you know all the stereotypes we're not supposed to have about Appalachia? This will do absolutely nothing to dispel those.
First of four parts is here, double-click on the video to go to the original YouTube page where you'll see links to the other three parts.
I've never been a zombie (as far as you know), but I can't imagine it would make dating any easier. No doubt it's hard to fit in a social life around your relentless pursuit of brains.
Fortunately, a new dating site, ZombieHarmony, can help.
Isn't Lisa Leslie old enough to have watched the late 80s Pistons? On a positive note, I'm sure this "brawl" will end up being the most watched WNBA highlight ever. Actually, it may be the only WNBA highlight ever.
Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, cakes go wrong. These are their stories. DUM-DUM!
A blog called Cake Wrecks brings together the very "best" of these ill advised and/or poorly executed confections. Be warned, a few are in very poor taste (and I'm not talking sugar content), and some involve naughty words (though often unintentionally). Others may contain nuts or nut byproducts. With those cautions out of the way, dig in!
Like me, you're no doubt mourning the passing of Estelle Getty. But instead of cursing the darkness, I choose to light a candle. Or, its modern equivalent: post a YouTube video.
Many years ago, Estelle was part of a "workout" video featuring older folks. Perhaps as a tribute, someone has remixed that video with a snappy little number from Beyonce, featuring a gentleman named "Slim Thug." Not sure what the song is about, though they seem very concerned with "checking up on it."
The video takes a turn for the worse at the very end, however, when Estelle has to mention ... I can't even repeat it.
Ever thought to yourself (likely after watching an X-Files marathon): "Hey, why haven't I been abducted by aliens?" Fortunately, there are ways to increase your chances. You'll find a number of them in this useful (if brief) guide to alien abduction.
Among its helpful tips:
"Acquire some interesting or unusual characteristics - juggling for instance. Most other-worldly visitors have not come for vengeance or even experimental purposes, but for entertainment. They are often children of aristocratic alien dictators out on joyrides in their parents' spacecraft. They are not interested in the mundane human cliche. They want to see backflips, double-jointed thumbs, and champion hot dog eaters."
An exaggerated look at the interaction between agency and client. Though not our agency's clients, of course. Their implicit trust in our expertise is one of the main reasons I leap out of bed every morning. Well, most mornings.
You read it right: 15. The list of guest-starring actors was just so long, I just couldn't cut it down to just 10 like the musicians in Part One, the actresses in Part Two, or "Others" in Part Three. In fact, even expanding to 15 left out people like Ving Rhames, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ron Perlman, Alfred Molina, and Nathan Lane--plus a bunch more you'll find listed at the bottom of the post. So who made the cut? May I have the envelope please ...
15. Dr. Haing S. Ngor True, he doesn't have nearly the list of credits of the others on this list (or even the "runner-ups"). But I give him extra-credit for two reasons: 1. He did win an Academy Award for his work in "The Killing Fields." 2. Dude survived the real "Killing Fields" in Cambodia. After that, I doubt the brevity of his IMDb listing caused him many sleepless nights. On Vice, he portrayed "Inspector Nguyn Van Trahn" on Season 3's "Duty and Honor" aka (for some reason) "The Savage."
14. Michael Madsen Of course, if you put much stock in the length of someone's IMDb listing, Mike Madsen's your man, with 161 entries (and counting). His most notable role is likely as the sadistic "Mr. Blonde" in "Reservoir Dogs." Or you may remember him from an appearance on "Jake and the Fatman," though that's less likely. Anyway, as "Sally Alvarado" in Season 1's "Give A Little, Take A Little," Madsen played a drug dealer. And who can forget this episode's other big guest star, Burt Young. Pauliiiie!
13. Stanley Tucci The producers of Vice loved Stanley so much, they had him guest start three times as two different characters. First as "Steve Demarco" in Season 3's "Baby Blues," and then twice as mobster "Frank Mosca" in the "Contempt of Court" and "Blood & Roses" episodes from Season 4. In another bit of late-eighties TV history, shortly after his last Vice appearance, Mr. Tucci appeared in "thirtysomething" as Michael and Elliot's nemesis "Karl Draconis." With a name like that, what else could he have been?
12. Chris Cooper Joining Dr. Ngor on the list of Miami Vice guest star actors with Oscar statues on their mantels (with another to come further down the list), Chris Cooper is one of those hard-working character actors who you'd see on the street and think "He looks familar ..." but not be able to name. In the big "Mirror Image" finale from Season 4, Cooper played dirty cop "Jimmy Yagovitch." The episode also featured another Oscar-winner you may have heard of: Julia Roberts.
In case you can't put a face to Mr. Cooper, here's some video ...
11. John Leguizamo Like Stanley Tucci, John Leguizamo played two different characters on Vice. Though between Season 2's finale, "Sons and Lovers" and Season 3's "Afternoon Plane," his first character's name changed from "Ivan Calderone" to "Orlando Calderone." So it's almost like 2.5 characters. At any rate, Mr. Leguizamo was back in the final season's "Victim of Circumstance" in a definitely non-Calderone role as "Angelo Alvarez," though he took a demotion from drug kingpin to mere drug dealer.
10. John Turturro A favorite of both Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers, John Turturro has portrayed a number of oddball characters during his long career. In Season 1's "Rites of Passage," Turturro was more slimy than strange as John Traynor, a pimp for high-end call girls. One of those gals happens to be the younger sister of Tubbs' old flame, played by Pam Grier. Hilarity most definitely did not ensue.
9. Steve Buscemi Another actor who's found success playing characters who are a little "out there," Mr. Buscemi appeared on Vice as "Rickles" in Season 3's "El Viejo," which is, of course, Spanish for "The Viejo." You may remember from our earlier look at top musician guest stars that "The Viejo" also featured an appearance by country legend and wacky-tobaccy enthusiast Willie Nelson.
8. Wesley Snipes Currently awaiting sentencing for charges relating to income tax evasion, some of Wesley Snipes' earliest earnings were as drug dealer/pimp "Silk" (aw, poor guy had to work two jobs) in Season 3's "Streetwise." One of Silk's stable is in love with a character played by ...
7. Bill Paxton "Vic Romano," played by Mr. Paxton in "Streetwise," is an undercover cop with questionable taste in women. Specifically, Carla, a 17-year old hooker. "Streewise" came out the same year (1986) as "Aliens," the movie featuring my favorite Bill Paxton character, the rather high-strung "Private Hudson." "Game over man!"
6. Ben Stiller Yes, a young Ben made an appearance on Vice as the slimy con man "Fast Eddie Felcher" in Season 4's "Amen ... Send Money." Brian Dennehy was also on board as the excellently named televangelist "Billy Bob Proverb." And because I can't find any video or anything else profound to say about this episode, I'll throw out the fact that its German title was "Das goldene Kalb," "The Golden Calf."
5. Laurence Fishburne "Larry" Fishburne (so reads his credit) played Keller, a crooked prison guard in Season 3's "Walk Alone." That same year (1986), Laurence/Larry also appeared in the Michael Mann Executive-Produced "Band of the Hand," which was also set in Miami. Mr. Mann probably figured he could save on airfare by flying Laurence in for both gigs. '86 was also the year Fishburne began another, very different role: "Cowboy Curtis" on Pee-wee's Playhouse.
4. Viggo Mortensen A young Viggo made an appearance in Season 3's "Red Tape" as vice squad member "Eddie Trumball" alongside a partner (in the cop sense, not the other way it's often used in South Beach) played by Lou Diamond Phillips. Sadly, we didn't get to see Eddie after the credits because, well, you'll see ...
3. Liam Neeson Liam Neeson and his Gaelic charm showed up in Miami as "Sean Carroon" in "When Irish Eyes Are Crying," which kicked off the supposedly "darker" Season 3. Instead of one of the usual rogues' gallery of drug dealers and pimps that populated the show, Mr. Neeson plays an IRA terrorist. Gina falls for him, though when she learns about the whole terrorist thing, it puts a little strain on their relationship, as you'll see here:
Bonus video! This episode also featured a notable scene that sort of set the tone for the changes that were on deck for the new season (beyond Tubbs wearing glasses for some reason).
2. Benicio Del Toro After three former Oscar nominees in a row, we come to a guy who actually took home the hardware. Del Toro plays "Pito" in Season 3's "Everybody's in Showbiz" episode. This was actually his first screen credit (at least according to IMDb), and no doubt helped him land the role of "Duke the Dog-Faced Boy" in "Big Top Pee-wee" the next year.
Catch him looking a little worse-for-wear at the beginning of this clip. Plus you get to hear Sonny dubbed into Japanese. Hai!
1. Bruce Willis No, he hasn't won an Oscar yet--though his rumored role as Hannibal Smith in the A-Team movie may change that. But Bruce has been a huge star for a lot of years. And a few years before his career really took off on "Moonlighting," Bruce appeared in "No Exit" from Season 1 as "Tony Amato," a very bad arms dealer and even worse husband.
You can see evidence of both sides of his villainy in this fan-created "trailer" from that episode.
Other Guest-Starring Actors: David Strathairn, Dean Stockwell, Brad Dourif (three more Academy Award nominees), Ian McShane, Paul Gleason, Jimmy Smits, Ed O’Neill, Terry O’Quinn, Charles Dutton, Luis Guzman, John Heard, Gary Cole, Richard Belzer, Jeff Fahey, John Spencer, Miguel Ferrer, Oliver Platt
Should be quite an event. In case this is being read by any little people in the Steel City, here's the Craigslist link. And since, my tiny friend, you'll end up being "ordained," I'll definitely be keeping you in mind should my wife and I renew our vows.
Since I want to finish strong with the long, long list of actors who have been Miami Vice guest stars, after reviewing musicians in Part One and actresses in Part Two, I thought I'd take a look at a group I've creatively named "Others." Not primarily actors or musicians, they're a diverse lot: a model, a comedian, an NBA legend, a corporate titan. I picked them as much for the oddity of their appearing in a prime time TV drama as for their "celebrity." In fact many of them wouldn't even make the cut for "The Surreal Life" or its many spawn.
10. Michael Bay Today, Michael Bay is a A-list director of movies that feature lots of explosions and dramatic slo-mo shots of lead characters walking toward camera: "Bad Boys,""The Rock,""Armageddon," etc. In fact, Mr. Bay is often accused of the same "style over substance" charges that have been leveled at Miami Vice. And no doubt his own style was influenced by his time on the Vice set while playing a goon (and that's how his credit reads, "Goon") in Season 2's "Free Verse." Joining Michael at the craft service table that week were Jeremy Piven's dad and the jet-setting celebrity you'll see at #5.
9. Roberto Duran Known both for having "Hands of Stone" and for his infamous "no mas" surrender to Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran was one of the world's top boxers through the Seventies and Eighties. While you might assume that Roberto was in the two-part boxing themed "Down for the Count," he actually played convict "Jesus Maroto" in Season 2's "Payback."
8. Iman Lately known as Mrs. David Bowie, former supermodel Iman was the oddly spelled "Dakotah" in the "Back in the World" episode from Season 2--notable for being Don Johnson's directorial debut (he'd go on to direct four episodes in all). Possibly due to an exercising of his director's perogative--or because he figured he could save on some child support payments--Patty D'Arbanville, the mother of his son Jesse, also made an appearance in that episode. As did ...
7. G. Gordon Liddy Formerly a Watergate "plumber" and currently an irascible right-wing talk show host, Liddy made two appearances on Vice: "Back in the World" from Season 2, and "Stone's War" from Season 3. In both he played politician/drug dealer "Colonel Maynard," a blast from Sonny's Vietnam past. "Stone's War" is also notable for the introduction of another important Vice character: Sonny's white Ferrari Testarossa.
6. Leonard Cohen Poet, novelist, and member of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame for his work as a songwriter (he also was a "singer," though he did more of a melodic spoken word kind of thing), Leonard Cohen's on-screen credits as an actor are quite limited. But one of those is Interpol agent Francois Zolan in Season 2's "French Twist"--another doozy from the pun-happy Vice episode titlers.
5. Bianca Jagger Former Mrs. Mick and Studio 54 denzien Bianca Jagger was "Carmen" or "La Muerta" in Season 2's "Free Verse." Assumedly she mostly went with "Carmen" since introducing herself as "La Muerta" would have blown her cover as a deadly assassin. In this case, she was out to kill a Latin American poet (played by the aformentioned Jeremy Piven's dad).
4. Don King In a big stretch, boxing promoter and hairstyle icon Don King played boxing promoter "Don Cash" in Season 2's two-part "Down for the Count." Of course, you always get the sense that Don King is playing a character named "Don King" anyway.
3. Lee Iacocca Addressing the dearth of Fortune 500 CEOs appearing in cop shows, former head of Chrysler Lee Iacocca had an uncredited role as Parks Commissioner in the finale to Season 2, "Sons and Lovers." This is the kind of completely random casting that I love about Vice.
2. Bill Russell With 11 NBA Championships and five league MVP wins, Bill Russell is certainly the most accomplished athlete to appear on Vice. In the gambling-themed "The Fix" from Season 2, Russell plays "Judge Ferguson," a degenerate gambler being hounded by a bookie played by none other than a pre-Kramer Michael Richards. Former NBA All-Star Bernard King also appeared as Russell's son, a college basketball player.
Hey look, a video!
1. Chris Rock You're probably saying, isn't Chris Rock an actor? Well, did you see "Beverly Hills Ninja" or "Pootie Tang?" If so, you'd feel more comfortable classifying him as a comedian. Any acting ability he has was on early display as techy file clerk "Carson" in the "Missing Hours" episode from Season 4. Not sure what went on in that episode, though apparently Trudy had an encounter with a UFO. In any show not named "The X Files," that's not a good sign.
And here's Mr. Rock in action, another reason to love (or hate) YouTube.
Other Guest-Starring, uh, Others: Tommy Chong, Peter Allen, John Matuszak, Danny Sullivan, Penn, Teller, Emo Phillips
In Part Two of our flashback tour of Miami Vice guest stars, we turn to the ladies. While not as prominent a group as the musicians from Part One, as diverse as the "Others" we'll see in Part 3, or as numerous as the actors in the forthcoming Part 4, there still are some big names here, including three Oscar nominees and two Oscar winners––one of whom went on to become the biggest female star in Hollywood. Can you guess who without scrolling down? Let the games begin!
10. Amanda Plummer Okay, we're not exactly starting off with a bang. But the top three actresses are the real deal, honest! And, hey, Amanda was Honey Bunny in "Pulp Fiction," so that's something. More importantly for our little exercise, she was legal secretary Lisa Madsen in Season 5's "Fruit of the Poison Tree."
9. Kelly Lynch In "Roadhouse" she was the Patrick Swayze's girlfriend. In "Drugstore Cowboy," she was Matt Dillon's girlfriend. And more recently in "The L Word," Kelly was ... er, her girlfriend's girlfriend. But before all that, in Miami Vice's "Death and the Lady" from Season 4, Ms. Lynch played two lookalikes, at least one of whom is named Lori Swan and gets murdered.
8. Laura San Giacomo Another star of rather modest wattage, Laura has had a solid post-Vice career, kicking off with "Sex, Lies and Videotape" back in '89. And remember TV's delightful "Just Shoot Me!"? Uh, me either. Anyway, Ms. San Giacomo portrayed Tania Louis in "Leap of Faith" from Vice's final season. She was among a group of younger cops that were supposed to be part of some kind of ill-conceived spin off series. Guess that didn't work out.
7. Kyra Sedgwick Kyra holds the distiction of being less than one degree away from Kevin Bacon, having been married to him since 1988. No doubt he was smitten after watching her play Sarah MacPhail in Season 2's "Phil The Shill" episode opposite #1 guest star musician Phil Collins. And since this is my list, I'm giving her extra points for being in "Singles," one of my favorite movies.
6. Rita Moreno I know what you're thinking. But the woman did win an Oscar. Granted, it was in 1961, and it was for "West Side Story," but still, she has the hardware. And instead of hooker or one of Crockett's girlfriends, she played Congresswoman Madelyn Woods in "Miami Squeeze" from Season 5. As the show isn't called "Miami Virtue," it likely won't surprise you to learn Rita's character was corrupt.
5. Pam Grier Appearing in three episodes in Seasons 1 and 5, Ms. Grier got to nicely bookend the series playing "Valerie Gordon," Tubbs' old flame from New York. She probably was bummed that her character's name wasn't nearly as cool as some she'd played in the movies, like Coffy, Gozelda, Foxy Brown, or "Ayesa, the Panther Woman."
Valerie comes to the rescue mid-way through the video below, and then again at the end making kissy face with Tubbs.
4. Helena Bonham Carter Okay, here's the first of three Oscar nominees in a row. Helena showed up in a couple of episodes in Season 3 playing Dr. Theresa Lyons. Sonny actually plans on making her the second Mrs. Crockett, but she has a deep, dark secret. Hint: it starts with "H" and rhymes with "heroine."
She did get her own Jan Hammer-composed theme though. You can hear it in this fan-created montage featuring a very young (and, frankly, not terribly attractive) Bonham Carter and Jan's haunting "Theresa."
3. Annette Benning Back before "The Grifters," "Bugsy," and the resulting marriage to Warren Beatty, Ms. Bening appeared as Vicky Madden in Season 3's "Red Tape" episode. Honestly don't know how Vicky figured into the plot of someone feeding drug dealers information about upcoming busts, but I do know Crockett and Tubbs teamed up with Lou Diamond Phillips and a another young actor who shall remain nameless until you read the upcoming "Top Guest Star Actors" post. My intensive research also uncovered the fact that in Germany this episode was titled "Sprengstoff", meaning "Blasting Agent." Yes, I like to inform as well as entertain.
2. Melanie Griffith As far as I know, Melanie is the only actress on the list who was actually married to Sonny in real life. Certainly the only one who was married to him twice. However, Melanie's appearance in the groan-inducingly titled "By Hooker By Crook" episode from Season 3 occurred between their bouts of wedded bliss. Though she did at least get to play his love interest, the socialite/madame Christine von Marburg. Supporting Melanie in her role were other guest "stars" Vanity, George Takei, and Rock n' Wrestling Connection member Captain Lou Albano.
You can see most of them in the poor-quality video below. But at least its been dubbed into Portuguese, which is nice. Also, this is supposedly an "uncut" version that was only on the VHS (remember those?) release, not the cable version or DVD. So some extra shots of Mel and Don ... uh, pretending they're still married. Mostly backs and hands grasping sheets in a suggestive manner.
1. Julia Roberts Yes, one of this pretty woman's first credits was as "Polly Wheeler" in "Mirror Image," Season 4's cliffhanging season finale. Julia's character is the assistant to a Colombian businessman who, given that this is Miami Vice, is also a drug kingpin. As you may recall, after an explosion on a yacht, Sonny awakes to find he has lost his memory. Because he was undercover at the time, he's told by the bad guys who rescue him that he is Sonny Burnett, notorious drug dealer.
Anyway, here's Sonny "I'm Wearing A Tie So You Know I've Got Identity Issues" Burnett/Crockett and Ms. Roberts. Wow she looks and sounds young. Which, at 21, I guess she was. Then again, in 1988, weren't we all?
Other Guest-Starring Actresses: Penelope Ann Miller, Joan Chen, Eartha Kitt, CCH Pounder, the aforementioned Vanity
If you could watch 10 unscripted commercials featuring Gary Busey giving business advice, you'd consider it one of the best days of your life. But imagine not 10, not 20, not 30, but 40--yes, I said 40--commercials beamed directly from Buseyworld. Below is but one insanely great example. You can watch them all on a special Gary Busey On Business YouTube channel.
In some of them he's mumbling so badly I have no idea what he's saying. But then again, that's often true even when he's speaking completely clearly.
One of many phrases the British use that has yet to gain wide usage here in their former colonies is "who is he when he's at home?," referring to a person's true nature. UK-based photographer Steve Schofield seems to be answering that question with his "Land of the Free" series of portraits, most of which feature some obviously dedicated British sci-fi fans.
While you'd assume they "dressed up" for their photos, I have a feeling more than a few wear their costumes on a fairly regular basis. By which I mean every single minute possible. There are even a couple of family shots of Trekkies (or "Trekkers" if you insist), refuting the widely held belief that they're incapable of breeding.
While I've backed off a bit from my long-held contention that Miami Vice is the greatest show in the history of television (the main source of my disillusionment? Three words: Philip Michael Thomas), I still maintain that it featured the greatest roster of guest stars of any show ever. Well, of any TV drama. The Muppet Show was also pretty strong.
Anyway, years ago I created a list of the show's many notable guest appearances. It was a document that became famous with the four or five people I shared it with. Now, through the magic of the Interweb, I can reach a theoretical audience of millions. And a realistic audience of ... four or five.
At any rate, the list is so extensive, I've broken it down into four parts: Actors, Actresses, Musicians, and "Others." Let's start with the musicians, shall we? These are just the artists who actually appeared on the show. As far as Vice's revolutionary use of popular music, that will be a whole other post or seven. Here we go ...
10. Frank Zappa Zappa played "weasel dust" dealer "Mario Fuente" in the Season 2 episode "Payback," which also featured Mr. Hands of Stone, Roberto Duran.
9. Gene Simmons Remember back before his reality TV career when Gene Simmons was in a band? Any members of the KISS Army out there? In Miami Vice, Dr. Tongue got to play a character with a great name--"Newton Blade"-- to kick off Season 2 in "Prodigal Son." Other notable guests in this episode include: Pam Grier, Luis Guzman, Penn Jilette, and Charles Dutton.
8. Iggy Pop Okay, IMDb failed to give me an episode listing for Iggy's guest shot, but I had it on my original list and I saw him mentioned elsewhere as appearing on-screen, so I'm going with it. I'll guess it was "Kill Shot" from Season 3, as that episode featured the his classic "Wild Child."
7. Miles Davis I don't recall this episode--"Junk Love"--from Season 2, but he played "Ivory Jones." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he was a jazz musician. I'm only ranking him this high because, well, he's Miles Davis.
6. Ted Nugent The Motor City Madman none too surprisingly portrayed a bad guy, "Charlie Barret," the femme fatale's henchman in Season 2's "Definitely Miami" episode. The Nuge (not to be confused with "Noogie," a recurring character played by Charlie Barnett--wow, that is kind of confusing) also had his song "Angry Young Man" featured.
Here he is in all his no-shirt-under-a-linen-blazered glory:
5. James Brown I can't dis the The Hardest Working Man In Show Business by ranking him lower. In this case, his work was in "Missing Hours" as "Lou De Long" alongside Chris Rock in Season 4. One review I read called this the worst episode of the entire series, but it did feature The Godfather of Soul's "I Feel Good," so it can't be all bad.
4. Glenn Frey Glenn makes it this high because he was the first major musician to guest on the show, portraying "Jimmy Cole" in "Smuggler's Blues" from Season 1. That show also featured his hit song of the same name.
Hey, look, here he is now!
3. Sheena Easton I know, I know. While this Scottish siren isn't a music legend like some of the others ranked lower, she did have the largest role on the show of any "musician" by far. As singer Caitlin Davies (ooo, a stretch), she was featured in four episodes in Season 4, and actually became Mrs. Sonny Crockett (and, assumedly, Mrs. Sonny Burnett as a bonus) in "Deliver Us From Evil." Alas, a long and happy life together was not meant to be.
Try not to tear up as you watch their nuptials. BTW, I think Sonny's hair being this feathered signaled the beginning of the end for the show.
2. Willie Nelson Did someone say "legend?" Long before he was singing duets and smoking blunts with Snoop Dogg, Willie crossed over to play "Old Texas Ranger" in the "El Viejo" episode from Season 3.
He shows up toward the end of this video, getting tough with an extra weaselly looking Steve Buscemi.
1. Phil Collins Yes, Phil Collins. While only appearing in one episode as "Phil Mayhew" in Season 2's "Phil The Shill" (along with Kyra Sedgwick and Emo Philips), he gets extra points for writing and performing the seminal Miami Vice song for the seminal Miami Vice music-driven scene: "In The Air Tonight" from Season 1, Episode 1.
Hard as it may be to believe today, this scene was a breakthrough in episodic television and unlike anything that had come before. So forget seeing Phil act, let's just let him sing ...
Other Guest Starring Musicians: Isaac Hayes, Little Richard, Frankie Valli, John Taylor
All relationships have their challenges, so if you and your new paramour from the Cretaceous Period are in love, I say go for it. But there certainly is an argument to be made for caution.
A unique visual take on the Abbott and Costello classic.
There are actually a bunch of these out there, a few can be found here. As they use original audio (and depictions thereof), you may want to mind the volume. If you've seen Jules spouting off in Pulp Fiction, you know what I'm talking about.
... not with a bang, or even a whimper, but with Kenny G. This video from 1991 is a truly unique cultural artifact featuring the talents (such as they were) of Gary Busey, Harry Hamlin, Nell Carter, Brian Bosworth, and ... well, really, what else do you need to know? I give you "Voices That Care."
While I like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens as much as the next guy, bumping around online I've found a few of my other favorite things. On the off chance someone out there will enjoy them as much as I do, I thought I'd share. So enjoy.
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