Police detective David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) goes undercover as a mental patient at a state-run asylum where a suspicious number of inmates wind up dead in an equally suspicious space of time. His partner detective Ken Hutchinson (David Soul) infiltrates the same place as an orderly which tells you who drew the short straw.
The situation allows Hutch to have some fun thinking about whether he'll decide to just leave Starsky there. From their first meeting and after years working together each is convinced that the other is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Their colleagues on the force don't necessarily disagree.
In the mix is ambulance chasing reporter Jane Hutton (Suzanne Somers) also undercover as an inmate. In there too is a real inmate who has an unresolved issue with our two heroes. The mystery unravels a little too quickly and too neatly. But the tour de force suspense of the conclusion makes up for a lot.
Suzanne Somers is to women what Velveeta is to cheese. Casting her in the role of a journalist was the ceiling of absurdity on a show that hit it many times. She was born to play a flighty airhead. I can think of any number of actresses who would have been more convincing and appealing. But my opinion is the minority view. North American audiences loved her. The ratings of each of her hit series prove that in the only way that matters.
If you noticed a similarity in the theme music in season 3 episodes of this show to Mission: Impossible you aren't the only one. The only theme that properly captured the substance of the show was in season 4.