Nash Bridges - Popular Culture References

Popular Culture References

• In 1997 an episode called "Wild Card" guest starred Philip Michael Thomas (who had been Johnson's co-star in Miami Vice) reuniting Johnson for the first time on television together since Miami Vice, and Tommy Chong (who had been Marin's longtime partner in the Cheech and Chong comedy team) reuniting with Marin. The Wild Card episode also contains a nod to Cheech & Chong's iconic "Dave" from their 1972 self-titled debut album. Philip Michael Thomas also guest-starred on an episode called "Out of Miami". It also featured Steven Bauer, the ex-husband of Don Johnson's ex-wife, Melanie Griffith. He played a Miami drug lord, which is a reference to his main role in the film Scarface. A version of the Miami Vice theme is heard playing in the background. In an early interview, Johnson compared Bridges to his Miami Vice character Sonny Crockett, saying Nash was "the same guy, just... ten years older."
• In the 1997 Season 2 episode, "The Counterfeiters", another one of Johnson's co-stars from Miami Vice, John Diehl, guest stars as a criminal posing as an S.I.U. officer.
• Aaron Spelling was so eager to cast Yasmine Bleeth in the role of vixen on Titans in 2000 that his company convinced CBS to grant her an early release from her Nash Bridges contract. (Coincidentally, CBS now owns the rights to most of the shows produced by Spelling).
• The first script was written by neighbors Don Johnson and Hunter S. Thompson as a TV movie about a drug-addicted cop, Nash, who dated a known mobster's daughter, and his Latino partner. Thompson appears as a piano player in the pilot.
• There were six different Barracudas made up to resemble the 1971 Hemi Cuda convertible that Nash drove. Four of these were built from 1970 and 1971 Barracuda convertibles and the 5th FX car made from a 73 coupe converted into a convertible. None of these actually had Hemi engines, but rather 318–440 engines including new Mopar Performance crate motors. 4 cars were automatic transmissions and two were 440 4spd cars. The color of the car as depicted resembles the factory's "Curious Yellow" option (an allusion by the factory to the porn movie I Am Curious, Yellow) but in fact screen tests proved the factory color did not read well on camera. All show cars were painted an off-the-shelf color from paint distributor Sherwin-Williams.