El Rey Acquires Rights to MIAMI VICE

EL REY NETWORK has acquired the rights from NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution to air all 111 episodes of the Emmy Award(R) winning series "Miami Vice" it was announced today. From Emmy Award(R)-winning and Academy Award(R)-nominated writer-producer Michael Mann, the series, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this fall, became appointment viewing on Friday nights and launched a national fashion trend inspired by the cool whites and colorful pastels worn by lead characters, Detectives James Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas).

"Miami Vice," which debuted on NBC in 1984, will join El Rey's line-up beginning January 2015. Viewers will see Don Johnson in his breakout role, decades before his turn as Sheriff Earl McGraw in El Rey Network's first original scripted program, "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series." "Miami Vice," which ran for five seasons, made its mark on the television landscape in part thanks to executive producer Mann's influence on the cop drama's look and cinematic feel. The rights extend through December 2016. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"'Miami Vice' the perfect addition to our lineup. Produced by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann, it was groundbreaking when it first hit the air and the series' distinctive cinematic look and feel reinvented the cop drama. It's absolutely one of my personal favorites and it will find a whole new audience through El Rey," said Robert Rodriguez, the network's Chairman and Founder.

James Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs are not your average Vice cops. Fashionable and slick, the partners are plugged into the Florida drug world for more than just the job. Tubbs relocated from New York City to Miami to avenge his brother's murder and soon teamed up with Crockett. Crockett, a former Florida football star-turned cop, is undercover as Sonny Burnett, a known drug runner. Together, Crockett and Tubbs are out to take down the Miami underworld of drug kingpins and prostitutes, while dealing with a few vices of their own.