Silk Stalkings premiered on CBS on November 7, 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming block, before moving exclusively to USA Network after CBS ended that experiment in June 1993.

The show's title is a wordplay on the phrase 'silk stockings', reflecting its focus on sexually based crimes of passion among the wealthy elite of Palm Beach, Florida.

Silk Stalkings was creator Stephen J. Cannell's longest-running series.

Although set in Palm Beach, Florida, most episodes were actually filmed in San Diego, California, with some shot in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Ben Vereen, who played Captain Hutchinson early in the series, was forced to leave the show during the second season due to an off-screen accident, though he later returned for a few guest appearances.

Actor Charlie Brill and his real-life wife Mitzi McCall played on-screen couple Captain Harry Lipschitz and his wife Frannie; Brill ultimately appeared in more episodes (129) than any other cast member, surpassing leads Mitzi Kapture (101) and Rob Estes (100).

The show's opening credits alternated star billing weekly between its lead duos (Kapture/Estes, then Kokotakis/Layton, then Potter/Gunn), except for Kapture's final episode, where she alone was featured before the new co-stars appeared.

According to Stephen Cannell, the show's provocative opening title montage was created purely as a promotional piece, shot and assembled in a single day by Ralph Hemecker featuring a model Cannell identified as Avalon Jones, and did not contain footage from any actual episodes.

When leads Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture departed in 1995, their replacements Nick Kokotakis and Tyler Layton failed to win over fans and were dropped after only half a season, becoming known among fans as the 'lost cast' since no on-screen explanation was given for their exit.

The introduction of new leads Chris Potter and Janet Gunn as Tom Ryan and Cassandra St. John revived audience interest and boosted the show's ratings, extending the series for three more seasons before its 1999 cancellation.