Undeclared is the best show about school ever made. Cliqueclack Flashback = DONE.

Judd Apatow’s quickly-canceled college follow-up to his quickly-canceled high school series, Freaks and Geeks, was released my junior year of college. I hadn’t seen Freaks and Geeks at the time, so I had no idea who Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, or any of the other now-familiar faces in the cast were. I just knew that it was the funniest and most painfully-realistic portrayal of college life that I had ever seen.

The cast looked, dressed and sounded like actual college students– not 30-year-old hookers, which is a feat that has not been accomplished since. The guys were odd looking– a fact that was freely mentioned, and even the hot girls looked like normal hot college girls, not model/actresses. It was this realism that allowed the writing to shine and allowed the viewers to identify with every single thing these people were going through.

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From the neon lights of Biscayne Boulevard to the feral swamps of the Everglades, the mid-1980s belonged to Miami Vice. Debuting in 1984 — on NBC at 10pm — the series not only altered cop shows, it influenced all of television by bringing a movie-like look and feel to the small screen.

By setting and shooting the series in Miami, executive producer Michael Mann introduced America to a city vastly different from the sleepy retirement communities most associated with the sunshine state. Mann’s Miami was fast, modern, baroque and dark. The city was more than just a location, it was another character; a breathing backdrop to a series that reflected the glitz and glam of the ’80s.

Grab your shades and shorts and hop aboard the flashback train. We’re takin’ a trip to the 3-0-5, where gorgeous women, tanned bodies, cutting-edge sports cars and super-stealthy speedboats are the norm. Welcome to the world of Miami Vice.

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CBS

I don’t know what my deal is so far this TV season, but I have already fallen severely behind. I managed to catch all of the Thursday shows, but I missed the premiere of House, the first half-hour of Heroes, and the debut of Fringe. The fall season is coming up on me so quickly, that Do Not Disturb was canceled before I even got a chance to see it.

This past week was a little better, but the heavily promoted new CBS comedy Worst Week managed to get by me. Luckily, it’s available on my Comcast On Demand, so I was able to catch up on the first two episodes. Okay, I said “luckily,” because it seemed like a good idea at the time, but that was before I actually watched the show and discovered what a steaming pile of crap it is.

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