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Created by Stephen J. Cannell, the weekly, hour-long police drama Silk Stalkings dealt with unusual and frequently kinky crimes of passion amongst the wealthy elite of Palm Beach, FL. During the series' nine-season run, three different "dog and cat" teams of undercover cops pieced together the clues and snapped the cuffs on the perps. Introduced during season one were Sgt. Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes) and his partner Sgt. Rita Lee "Sam" Lance (Mitzi Kapture), the latter also serving as the series' narrator. Chris and Rita took their orders first from grouchy, by-the-book Captain "Hutch" Hutchinson (Ben Vereen). He was transferred to the Ft. Lauderdale division midway through season two, then briefly replaced by Lt. Lou Hudson (Robert Gossett). By the time season three rolled around, Chris and Rita were answering to bombastic hypochondriac Captain Harry Lipschitz (Charlie Brill), who in turn answered to his domineering wife Fran (Mitzi McCall). Characters such as Harry and Fran provided comic relief to offset the drama and tension inherent in the stories. Likewise cast in a humorous vein were radio sex therapist Melissa Cassidy (Kim Morgan Greene), libidinous morgue attendant Roger (Danny Gans), bon vivant con artist Cotton Dunn (John Byner), and Runyonesque gangster Donnie "Dogs" DiBarto (Dennis Paladino). While it was "strictly business" between Chris and Rita during the series' early seasons, their relationship deepened into romance after Chris was shot and nearly killed by a demented woman at the end of season three. Ultimately, Chris and Rita were married at the beginning of the fifth season, but one month later Chris was fatally shot while trying to rescue Rita from a kidnapper. She became so distraught that she quit the force, whereupon Captain Lipschitz formed a team of replacement cops: ex-Chicagoan detective Michael Price (Nick Kokotakis) and Southern belle detective Holly Rawlins (Tyler Layton). Come season six, and both Price and Rawlins were gone with little explanation. Their replacements were Det. Sgt. Tom Ryan (Chris Potter) and Det. Sgt. Cassandra "Cassy" St. John (Janet Gunn), who had once been husband and wife. Tom and Cassy remained the stars until the series' curiously downbeat finale. Debuting November 7, 1991, Silk Stalkings was a coproduction of over-the-air network CBS and the USA cable network, and ran on both services until November 4, 1993. The series' final seven seasons were first-run exclusively on USA until the series' end in late 1999.