Mill Creek Entertainment
Release date: March 9, 2010
MSRP: $14.98
Runtime: 20 episodes, 720 minutes, 4 discs
Silk Stalkings is another Stephen J. Cannell-created series previously released on DVD by Anchor Bay, discontinued, and now re-released by Mill Creek. First aired in 1991 as part of CBS’s Crimetime After Primetime lineup, the show focused on two partners in the West Palm Beach, Florida PD assigned to sexually-based crimes of passion.
As its timeslot and title suggest, the show was more risqué than much of network TV at the time, but seems tame compared to today’s fare. While there was a lot of flash, co-stars Mitzi Kapture and Rob Estes had more substance in their performances than you might expect. Kapture’s Rita Lee Lance was beautiful, but also driven by a brain aneurysm that plagued her with headaches and threatened to burst anytime. Estes’s Chris Lorenzo was more casual on the surface, but a dependable partner and friend to Rita. Both actors could pull off the show’s mix of saucy and serious dialogue.
When Crimetime After Primetime was cancelled in 1993, Silk Stalkings moved to USA Network, where it ran until 1999 with new partners rotating in a la Law & Order—a testament to the strength of its premise. I have a soft spot for first seasons and enjoyed revisiting the show as first conceived. The first season also features Ben Vereen as Chris and Rita’s captain and Danny Gans as medical examiner Roger.
This set has no extras and is packaged in inconvenient, flimsy paper-and-cellophane sleeves, but as with all Mill Creek sets, the $14.98 price is the real draw.
–Gerald So
