Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Sonny Crockett...All-American

Let's bring this blog back to the mainstream (in other words, things most people have heard of) and talk about one of the greatest characters in the history of American television, and why he should be revered, respected, and emulated by people worldwide in order to make the Earth a better place to live.

James "Sonny" Crockett was an undercover vice cop, patrolling the streets of Miami with his loyal partner in search of drug traffickers and hookers whose only goals were to make money and make our society a worse place to live in. Sonny was an all-American wide receiver for the University of Florida where he ran a 92-yard TD in the final seconds of a game before transferring to what he called the "Southeast Asia Conference." Yep, Sonny was a war hero (he served two tours) as well as superior athlete. Combine that with a cool name, James Crockett with a nickname of "Sonny" and you have a guy who immediately makes you think of the word, "cool."

Sonny had a fashion sense that defined a generation. Sporting a t-shirt, Italian sport jacket, white linen pants, and sock-less loafers, this became the look to have. Combine a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses and a hot Ferrari with a shiny gold badge, and yeah, you have a true American hero, who defined the word "bad-ass."

With a great man comes great friends, and in this case that man was Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, who patrolled Miami with Sonny in a pair of Ferraris, one a Daytona Spider and later a Testarossa. Crockett and Tubbs teamed up in the pilot episode to chase down Calderone who had killed Rico's brother. At the conclusion of the show, Crockett asked Tubbs if he had ever considered a career in "Southern law enforcement." A great partnership was born.

Obviously a guy with these credentials had no troubles getting laid. The show started with Sonny banging fellow cop Gina Calabrese (played by Saundra Santiago) before he moved on to other conquests. Most notably, he was married to Sheena Easton before she was gunned down in the show, Julia Roberts was his main squeeze in the final season, and he was with Helena Bonham Carter for quite some time until she turned to drugs (which led her into the arms of Tim Burton). Sonny lived on a big boat in the marina with his pet alligator Elvis. Could you ask for better home protection than that?

How did it all end? Sonny walked away from his low-paying, non-appreciated job when politics yet again interfered with his ability to get the job done (wouldn't we all want to do this?). He took the car and moved down to the Florida Keys where he could spend the remainder of his days drinking "black jack," fishing, and banging hot women. What a gig.

And he had his own theme song...check it out below.


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