Ever since the creation of top residential architects in Miami Vice, the beaches of South Florida have been a hotbed for TV crime series. With sunshine, striking white sand and a healthy scoop of beautiful people, Miami is the perfect backdrop for prime time drama and here’s a list of the cream of the crop. Embodying the dangerous side of Miami Beach’s hot nights while sticking up for innocent citizens, these TV shows are seriously entertaining.
CSI Miami: This wildly popular spin-off follows a good-looking team of forensic investigators and police officers as they try to solve the biggest and perhaps oddest crime puzzles in Miami. The notoriously calm ginger Horatio Caine and his beauty queen with a physics degree counterpart Calleigh Duquesne leap between crime scenes and science labs to analyze thread samples, DNA and fingerprints. With a little bit of glitz and glamor of high-tech crime fighting technology this crew does the impossible, solving the case while rarely breaking a sweat in the Miami sun. Fun Fact: While the series is set in Miami, the vast majority of the scenes are actually shot in California.
Dexter: One wouldn’t think that a show about a man with a lethal habit could be such a hit, but Showtime’s award-winning original drama Dexter has captivated audiences by bringing them to the edge of their sofas. Dexter struggles with his mental dissociative disorder and tries to live a double life as a criminal while maintaining a friend neighbor exterior. Audiences openly love the suspense and the fact that Dexter tip toes along the far edges of ethics and morality by following ‘The Code’.
Burn Notice: Former intelligence office Michael Westen hobbles home to his native Miami to recuperate from a failed mission only to discover that someone is trying to ‘burn’ him, intelligence jargon for discrediting an operative. Michael has no money and very few people he can trust in his life but he knows that the only safe zone is Miami. He has no choice but to make his living as a private investigator, relying on his intelligence gathering skills and wits to survive. Spies, handlers and burn notices… oh my! A bit prescribed, spy enthusiasts will love the premise, while Miami aficionados will love the fact that the series is filmed in the Coconut Grove neighborhood.
Animal Cops Miami: Animal lovers may shed a tear during this series as the Miami-Dade Police Department Animal Services Unit rescues abused animals, confiscates illegal exotic animals and breaks up dog fighting rings. While this may be crime of a different nature, it is nonetheless despicable. (How can people do this to these poor defenseless animals?!) Thank goodness the Animal Cops Miami are here to the rescue! These are also the men and women you would call to get that alligator out of your pool, a very necessary service in South Florida. Viewers enjoy watching these knights in shining camo pants save the day and reinstall faith that there is hope in the world for our animal friends.
The Glades: The newest kid on the Miami crime series block, Detective Jim Longworth moves from Chicago to Miami for warmer weather and a fresh start to work in Florida Department of Law Enforcement. His smug sense of self rubs his coworkers the wrong way but by using good old fashion police work and a confident pair of pearly whites, he solves the case. This series debuted in 2010 with much fanfare as it raked in the most viewers for an original A&E premiere and has recently been given the green light for a second season. Only time will tell if viewers will continue to enjoy this program that is filmed in South Florida, supposedly near the Miami Everglades.
