Silk Stalkings - The Complete Second Season [DVD]

When you look at police or forensics show nowadays it's as if you are looking at true crime scenes. This stark realism was thankfully missing from the glossy Silk Stalkings series, and made it that much more entertaining and relaxing to watch after a hard day's work. Chris & Rita were good-looking, well-dressed sexy partners who wore Miami Vice pastels and handled cases in beautiful millionaires homes in Palm Beach, Florida. The dialogue was sharp and funny, the side characters interesting, and there were popular-in-the-day celebrity guest stars, some of which are listed below along with their episode titles from this Season 2 DVD set:DISC ONESocial Call - Romy Walthall, Ray StricklynThe Wild Card - Dennis Cole, Rowdy Roddy PiperIn Too Deep - Melanie Smith, Jim YoungsBad Blood - Paul Scherrer, Patrick FabianDISC TWOHot Rocks - Krista Terreau, Tobin BellScorpio Lover - Edward Albert, Audrey LandersLove-15 - Carla Borelli, Todd WaringThe Queen is Dead - Dick Gautier, Anthony HerreraDISC THREEIrreconcilable Differences - Simone Griffeth, John Bennett PerryJasmine - Jamie Rose, Lawrence TierneyCrush - Jared Martin, Denise GentileWas It Good For You Too - Julie St. Claire, John VargasDISC FOURDead Weight - Erin Gray, John O'HurleyKid Stuff - Andrew Stevens, Elizabeth BurnsNight Games - Lana Clarkson, Rex SmithMeat Market - Andrea Thompson, Michael HarrisDISC FIVEGiant Steps - Tracy Scoggins, Victor BevineSoul Kiss - Steve Bond, Debbie McLeodLook the Other Way - Kim Gillingham, Alan FeinsteinStar Signs - Richard Eden, Gerard ChristopherDISC SIXVoices - John Snyder, Katherine ArmstrongCrime of Love - Gail O'Grady, Jay Acovone

This is the continuing story of a pair of Palm Beach (Florida) detectives investigating crimes of passion, AKA "sik stalkings". The detectives for the first four seasons are Chris Lorenzo and Rita Lee Lance, played respectively by Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture. If you're new to "Silk Stalkings" you should really look elsewhere, as the rest of this review assumes you're moderately familiar with the show.This was the second and last CBS "Crimetime After Prime Time" season before it moved to USA network.This season nailed the formula "Silk Stalkings" was to use for years to come. The golfing metaphors for sex are a thing of the past, and Rita's brain aneurism is never mentioned again. Mitzi Kapture does a voice-over in most episodes, but it's not the constant presence it was in Season One. While male guest roles continue to have diversity of character, women in guest roles are pretty much either Saints or Sinners, and the Sinners only have two ways to go: Sluts and Sociopaths. Thankfully, the fetish for big 1980's hairdos and hosiery ("silk stockings" -- get it?) has largely disappeared. And of course we still see too many San Diego hillsides to convincingly stand in for the flat land around Palm Beach.As this was a late-night budget show, we still get grainy video. The intro is unchanged; Mitzi Kapture still appears first in the credits with the big 1980's hair. (Later Rob and Mitzi alternated first and second billing.) Closed captions are new this season. In a budget-constrained show that's heavy on sex it's not surprising to see the occasional lapse in censorship; I counted two accidental nipple exposures (down from three in Season One). This season also marked the first use of blur to censor nudity -- it's cheaper to just shoot and blur later than it is to set up careful camera angles to keep things out of sight.Ben Vereen as Capt. Hutchinson only appears in two episodes. In the others he's been replaced by Robert Gossett as Lt. Hudson. Charlie Brill appears twice this season as "Myron the Mattress King", and his wife Mitzi McCall plays Myron's wife. Starting the next season Charlie Brill replaces Hutchinson and Hudson as the Homicide Division head, and Mitzi McCall again plays his wife.Anchor Bay screwed up this DVD quite a bit. There are 8 minutes missing from episode "Dead Weight" (the first of Erin Gray's two guest appearances on the show); you don't get to see the denouement at all.Additionally, during the 55 second intro after the disc loads (FBI warning, Anchor Bay logo, Stephen J. Cannell Productions Logo, and an animated credits sequence before the menu appears) the disc disables - FF - reverse - chapter forward - menu - top menu - searchYou *must* watch the full 55 seconds each and every time you load a disc. Bleah!Also during play there is no - search by chapter - search by timeThere are no additional chapter stops; just 4 for the 4 acts of each show. This means you can't skip past the credits except by fast forwarding.Episode order in this set is problematic. For one thing, this "Season Two" collection starts with the third episode of the year (the first two were at the end of the "Season One" DVD set), and includes the first show of Season Three. Episode 2.19, "Star Signs" is misplaced at the end of disc 5 instead of at its beginning. But Anchor Bay isn't the only culprit here. In the original play order coroner Noriko Weinstein first showed up in episode 2.11, "Irreconcilable Differences", but there's an introduction scene for her TEN episodes later (ELEVEN in the Anchor Bay order)!Recurring roles include- William Anton as ADA George Donovan- Dennis Paladino as mobster Donnie "Dogs" DiBarto- Marie Marshall as photographer Solonge- John Byner as con artist Cotton Dunn- Lucy Lin as coroner Noriko WeinsteinNotable guest stars for this collection are Romy Windsor, Roddy Piper, Salli Richardson, Luca Bercovici, Tobin Bell, Edward Albert, Audrey Landers, Josie Bissett, Henry Darrow, Jamie Rose, Erin Gray, John Laughlin, Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, Maddie Corman, Andrew Stevens, Barbara Niven, Charlie Callas, Andrea Thompson, Tracy Scoggins, Casey Sander, Gail O'Grady, and Jay Acovone.The extras for this DVD set are reminiscences by Stephen J. Cannell and Mike Post about their lives and careers, mostly NOT about "Silk Stalkings". There's a single SS script and a few Chris & Rita stills from the show.The production values still reflect the cheap budget, but the guest actors are a bit more competent this season. Mitzi and Rob are starting to get really comfortable in their roles. So don't let the bad Anchor Bay treatment keep you from collecting this set. It's good TV.

Silk Stalkingsシーズン2には、な、なんとクローズドキャプション信号が入ってます！もともとTV放送時にはクローズドキャプションが入ってたんですから、ほんのひと手間の事なんですが、これまでは入れてくれませんでした。アンカーベイ社も遂に改心したのでしょうか？今後のシリーズもちゃんとクローズドキャプション仕様になりますように・・・。