Silk Stalkings
From Free net encyclopedia
Locke Cole (Talk | contribs)
gotta use "thumb" keyword if you want the caption to display (otherwise it only shows up when you hover over the image, and then the wikilinks don't work, heh). =)
Next diff →
Current revision
Image:Silk.stalkings.logo.svg Silk Stalkings was a 1990s TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. After CBS ended the Crimetime experiment in 1993, the series ran exclusively on USA. The show was created by the prolific crime-show producer Stephen J. Cannell, perhaps best known for The Rockford Files. On the DVD extras, Cannell pointed out that of the 40 or more TV shows he has created, this one had the longest run, eight seasons.
Portraying the daily lives of two detectives who solved sexually-based crimes of passion ("silk stalkings") among the ultra-rich people of West Palm Beach, Florida, the tightly-budgeted Silk Stalkings was not actually filmed in West Palm. Most episodes were shot in San Diego. Some shows were filmed in Scottsdale, Arizona.
From 1991 to 1995, the lead characters were played by Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture, who played detectives Christopher Lorenzo and Rita Lee Lance, respectively. The on-again, off-again flirtation between Chris and Rita, who nicknamed one another "Sam," reminded many viewers of the earlier series Moonlighting and helped grow the cult following that the show maintained during its first few seasons and which continues to this day.
Image:Silk Stalkings intro.JPG
The two stars were truly equal co-stars. The opening credits would alternate, one week showing Estes first and then Kapture, the following week showing Kapture first and then Estes. The opening montage of quick cuts were "teasers" that suggested the sexy and violent subject matter of the show, but were not taken from any of the show's actual episodes. According to Stephen Cannell, in a DVD extra, they were developed initially as a promo, filmed and assembled by Ralph Hemecker in literally one day, and featuring a leggy blonde actress/model whom Cannell said was named Avalon Jones.1
After Estes and Kapture left the show midway through the 1995-1996 season, two new actors, Nick Kokotakis and Tyler Layton, were cast in the lead roles. Fans of the show did not embrace the new characters, who were replaced after that half-season by television veterans Chris Potter and Janet Gunn. The romantic chemistry between Potter and Gunn's characters, Tom Ryan and Cassandra St. John (who, according to the story line, had been married to and divorced from one another before their arrival on the series), revived interest in the show and it rebounded in the ratings. After three additional successful seasons, USA canceled the series in 1999. The final episode of the final season, placing Tom's career and relationship with Cassie on the rocks, was essentially a cliffhanger with no resolution.
DVDs of the first four seasons have been released, with the subsequent ones forthcoming.
The series was notably adult-themed, but being on cable late at night, it seemed to be "under the radar", not drawing the kind of notoriety of prime-time network series such as NYPD Blue. Coincidentally, the theme music for the four crime shows mentioned in this article, Rockford Files, Silk Stalkings, Renegade and NYPD Blue, were all written by famous cop-show composer Mike Post.fr:Les Dessous de Palm Beach
Footnote
1This may be a pseudonym. Cannell indicated some uncertainty about it on the DVD. In fact, he had a character with that same name in one of his episodes of Renegade.