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	Eccentric San Francisco detective Dashiell Caulfield has been mysteriously murdered. Two of his former wives, Sydney Kovack and Carole Stanwyck, have jointly inherited Caulfield's private investigation agency as well as his dilapidated mansion in the city. Until the reading of the will, they'd never met. They don't know anything about being private eyes. But they discover they're pretty good at the gumshoe trade. Finally they even figure out who killed ex-hubby Ray. The two ladies invite all the key suspects to a dressy party at their mansion and seat them around the rather musty-looking living room, with the intention of unmasking the murderer à la Agatha Christie. The tension mounts. Suddenly a cry pierces the room and the lights dim.

	Is it the murderer, ready to strike again? Is it Caulfield's ghost, wailing for an encore? No-it's the director, crying "Cut!"

	We are on the crowded set of the new NBC mystery detective series, "Partners in Crime," whose sound stage is located in a cavernous warehouse in an obscure corner of Southof-Market San Francisco. The scene we have just witnessed is the climax of the initial two-hour episode of the series, which is scheduled for at least a 13-week run this fall on Saturday nights at 9:00.

	Loni Anderson has just changed into a dazzling evening gown-her costume for the climactic party scene that is scheduled to be shot a few minutes later-when we sit down for an off-stage interview. Heavily made up for the scene, her platinum blond hair radiant beneath the same bright lights that are reducing my own hair to dishrag consistency, Anderson calls for "her" chair, a high-seated director's model from which she stares down at me.

	This is one of the final days of shooting on the first episode, and the cast and crew seem a bit giddy, perhaps in relief. You wouldn't know it from the optimistic tone, but widespread press reports have talked ominously of turmoil and discord on the set. The series' original executive producer and director, Leonard Stern (who created the idea), was forced out by the network (or quit, depending on the source) early on; network higher-ups were
said to be displeased with the sophisticated level of the show. Two writers walked out of him. Production was plagued with delays. Rumors have also circulated about alleged feuding between the series' two glamorous costars, Loni Anderson, late of "WKRP in Cincinnati," and Lynda Carter, late of "Wonder Woman."

Anderson responds animatedly to my question: despite press reports on feuding of the set between Lynda Carter and herself, they are partners not only "In Crime" but in mutual admiration as well.

"People automatically assume that two attractive women don't want to work together, but that's ridiculous," Anderson tells me. "There's no competition between us. We both have our own followings... Our look is so interesting together.

"We each wanted to play someone different from our last character," Anderson says, referring to Carter's "Wonder Woman" and her own previous role as Jennifer (the bombshell of a secretary in "WKRP"). "In this show l'm the fighter and she's the lady."

Which role is more like the real-life Loni Anderson?

"Jennifer," she replies, "but this role is fun for me to do. On the 'WKRP' set I was always correcting everyone's grammar [Anderson is a former high school teacher and University of Minnesota graduate] Here I have to learn to talk street-wise.

"I related to Jennifer," she confides. "I always thought of her as my best friend. If I saw a dress, I'd think, 'I wonder how Jennifer would look in that?' Now I'm starting to do the same things with Syd. After 'WKRP' ended I felt like I'd lost my best friend. Now I have another."

Anderson, who is very close to her only child, Deidra (a UCLA student/, believes her daughter will prefer Syd to Jennifer. "She always thought Jennifer was a snot," Anderson admits with a laugh. "Syd is more down-to-earth."

Neither Anderson nor Carter ever intended to do another TV series, until "Partners in Crime" came along. The twice-divorced Anderson, now linked romantically to Burt Reynolds, changed her mind when her daughter moved to the [UCLA] dorm last September and she "needed more to do."

Brunette ex-Wonder Woman Lynda Carter observes: "This is the first time TV has teamed two stars like Loni and me. Hopefully the public will at least tune in out of curiosity. I know I would." Carter, recently married to a Washington, D.C. attorney, now commutes regularly between San Francisco and her homes in Washington and Los Angeles.

BUT WAIT. This serics has a third star, one we'll all recognize a star with style, elegance, photogeniety, and a string of credits loo numerous to list here. She hasn't done much steady TV work lately, it's true, except for the occasional Rice-a-Roni commercial. But like a pro, she's kept herself in shape, waiting for the call. May we present tile veteran star of screen and tube ...San Francisco.

Series producer Jonathan Bernstein views the three stars as a co-equal triumvirate. "The package that sold NBC oil the idea has been the same from the first," Bernstein says. "Lynda and Loni and San Francisco. Two beautiful ladies and the most picturesque town in the country."

Do the actresses themselves resent having tó share top billing with a city? Loni Anderson says no. "The chemistry between us and the city has been wonderful," she says. "San Francisco has glamor, and everyone wants to come to visit here. It's really the third star of our show."

Let you suspect that the "threestar" concept was cooked up by the show's publicity department and spoon-fed to everyone involved, be advised that the enthusiasm for working here seems genuine. Actors and crew members who normally live in Los Angeles have nothing but praise for the city.

"Often a city where you're shooting on location will become a hassle," says Steve Levitt, the young actor who plays Michael, Raymond Caulfield's protégé. "But here the city itself is a character. Sometimes we'll line up a shot just for the pretty scene in the background. And the people here have treated us so well. In L.A. they're bored with film crews. Here they stop to watch, even if they're late for work."

"Partners in Crime" is the first network series shot entirely in the city since Karl Malden grabbed his American Express Card and deserted "The Streets of San Francisco" back in 1977 after a five-year run. And while the warehouse sound stage is closed to the public, much of the filming of "Partners" has been, and will Continue to be, very public indeed-on location around the city and the Bay Area.

For the movie-length first episode, which was in production here from late April to early June, the cast and crew set up camp at various sites in the Marina, the Tenderloin, Pacific Heights, the Union Square areaeven Oakland. They took over restaurants, hotels, and saloons, blocked off streets, staged car chases, and paid visits to boxing gyms and mansions. For the remainder of the series, which recommenced production in mid-July and is expected to continue until November, just about any part of the city and surrounding regions may be transformed into Hollywood north for a day.

One contingent of actors and crew is particularly delighted to be working in San Francisco, however-those who are local residents. In the initial two-hour episode, 21 local actors have speaking roles, and a host of nonspeaking extras and stand-ins was also used. Ninety-fivé percent of the production staff is local.

Says Steve Levitt, "Down in L.A. it's just another job-get it in the call and get home. Everybody's jaded. But here everyone's giving 120 percent. The production staff is always five steps ahead of us."

The difference is that this type of opportunity doesn't hit the San Francisco film community very often. "There's never enough year-round work here," says prop man Pat Pending, whose San Francisco business, False Fronts, offers "motion picture set decoration while a wait," and whose last big project was the locally filmed movie The Right Stuff "It's seasonal. Right now it's raining work, and everybody has a job. But you sacrifice something by living here. L.A.'s the heart of the business. You have to make the choice between career and location."

"It's nice to do something all the way to the end," says local actress Diane Spain, a Lynda Carter lookalike who will serve as the star's standin for the entire series. Spain, who supports herself solely through her acting work, says she "usually goes from one thing to the next, always waiting for a call from the agency. This is fun. I get to see all my friends every day."

For Mary Ellen Avila, standing in for guest star Kim Miyori, it was the first day on the job. Despite tile tedium of stand-in work-stand-ins are used primarily to set up the lighting for a scene, and their main requirement is to possess height and coloring similar to a star's-she was bubbling with excitement. "I'm all actress, but I get only sporadic work," says Avila, who supplements her income with management consulting jobs. "I do industrial films, print modeling, voice-overs. I'm registered with five agencies here. The key thing is to be available. If you get called for a particular day you have to make it. If you don't, you're out."

"Having a series filmed here means local actors can do what they're supposed to do-act-and not have to work as waiters," says Joan Spangler, who as a representative of the Grimme talent agency, helped place many of the local extras in their "Partners in Crime" roles. Spangler was on the set to watch as one of her clients, singer-actor David Reighn, crooned "Laura." She wiped a tear from her eye. "This is the first tune I've heard David sing in such an important role."

According to Stephen Kolzak, the Los Angeles-based chief casting director for the series, "Our intention is to use as many San Franciscobased actors as possible. Two to four guest stars each episode will be from Los Angeles but most will come from up here. There's an untapped wealth of talent in this area, and it doesn't matter if their faces aren't immediately recognizable. I even prefer it in a show like this. That way the audience can become more involved with them as characters."

(Note to all you would-be stars out there: If you or one of your "cute kids" is looking for a possible role in "Partners in Crime," San Francisco casting director Patricia de Oliveira says you shouldn't hang around your neighborhood drugstore waiting to be discovered, but should sign up with a local talent agency. "That's who I contact when I have a particular role in mind," she says. "I have a lot of friends who are always asking me to cast them. But I'm trying to bring the best talent we have to the part-and that doesn't necessarily mean someone I know.")

By now you're probably asking the same question I was: if San Francisco is such a wonderful setting for a TV series, why is this the first one to be shot here in seven years? (Parts of some series-such as the current Hotel-have been filmed here, but largely for a few exterior shots; principal production remained in Los Angeles.) San Francisco, it seems, has its drawbacks as well as its assets.

"In many ways it's more expensive to film here," says producer Jonathan Bernstein. "You have to spend money on housing and accommodating actors and crew that you wouldn't have to spend in L.A. And union pay scales are higher here. But these things are somewhat offset by others-you can be more flexible with staffing here; there are fewer union requirements. And studio costs are cheaper."

Finding a studio, however, was a bit of a problem.

"When we first arrived in San Francisco, we were surprised to discover there was no sound stage-at least none big enough to hold our sets," Bernstein recounts. "So we scouted around, and even thought about renting one in Berkeley-but we were scared we'd get stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge just when we needed to get to the studio. Finally we found this facility last February [the warehouse on Custer Street, South of Market] and had to paint it, put heat in, soundproof the stage-the works."

Actor Steve Levitt recalls when he first arrived in San Francisco to read for a leading part. "I got in a cab and told the driver I wanted to go to NBC's "Partners in Crime" on Custer Street. I thought everybody would know where it was. The driver looked at me like I'd just asked to go to Indonesia. Finally we found a gas station where we could look at a map. I barely made it in time for the audition."

The warehouse-studio was only the first of the challenges faced and met by the show's locations manager Gail Stempler and assistant Laurie Milne, both local residents. When our reporter was on the set, Stemplerr was just heading off to scout out a suitable fat farm in the area for all upcoming episode, but Milne elaborated upon the trials and tribulations of the locations department.

One day, for example, the crew was shooting in front of the Curran Theatre on Geary Street off Union Square when a pre-Democratic Convention street-paving crew came along with priority rights. "We'd neglected to check the street-paving schedules," Milne says, "so we had to pack up and move all our equipment nearby. For a film crew, that would normally be a disaster; it takes forever. But we managed it somehow. Meanwhile, we had to shoot the rest of the scene with pneumatic drills going in the background."

On another occasion the staff had arranged to take over the former Delices de France restaurant on Mason Street for some midday shooting (ironically, it's supposed to represent a New York restaurant in the scene/, which necessitated cancelling all lunchtime reservations that clay. At the last monent the production schedule was chanted to another day. "They were good sports about it," Milne says, not sounding entirely convincing.

There have been humorous moments as well.

"One of the locations where we did interior shooting was Paul's Saloon on Scott Street," Milne recounts. "The script called for an exterior shot for a car stunt scene, but we couldn't actually use the front of Paul's Saloon because the street is too busy. So we chose a nondescript door nearby and dressed it up like the front .door of Paul's-with a sign, posters, plants, welcome mats, and so on. But it was just a door leading to some empty office space. Well, one of the locals spotted it and thought, great-a new saloon in the area. So lie event there the next night for a drink, and it was gone.

Then there was the scene that called for the mandatory cable car, before the cable cars resumed running in June. The crew used an ersatz cable car-a motorized one-"-hick meant that Carter and Anderson ended up riding through the foggy, flat streets of the Marina trying to look as if they were being jostled along on tracks. Milne does not wish to go on record as to the geographical accuracy of that scene. "I live here, and I have to work here," she says with a laugh and a squirm.

On the whole, according to Milne, San Francisco residents have been very cooperative with the showwhile the staff, in turn, has tried to head off potential problems in advance. "We're local and know what it's like to lose your parking space to a film crew," she says. "I was out on Nob Hill till 1 A.M. putting leaflets on cars saying that if we take your parking space, park in a garage and send us the bill. People have appreciated it."

When filming a scene on location, the crew has to obtain permission from city authorities as well as from owners of any houses that appear in more than just a passing glimpse. (They don't have to worry about casual passersby slipping into a scene, because they always block off an area and use paid extras only.) The city doesn't always give its permission, however.

Robin Eickman, who coordinatesmotion picture activity in San Francisco for the Mayor's Office, says that requests from film companies are examined on a case-by-case basis, in close consultation with the police department. "A lot of it is just common sense. It depends on the area and the time of day. We would tend to restrict shooting in the financial district during the lunch hour, for instance. The biggest problem is usually parking. The movie companies bring everything but the kitchen sink-and sometimes that-and then they have to park it all. So it can be very difficult, but we try to be as cooperative as possible."

The only hard and fast rule is a 10 P.M. curfew on filming in residential areas because of a noise abatement ordinance. In practical terms, this means the crews must start packing up their gear by 9:30, perhaps only an hour or so after (lark during the summer; that makes it difficult to shoot at night.

Eickman estimates that about a dozen features are filmed in whole or in part every year in San Francisco, resulting in invaluable exposure for the city's tourist trade and perhaps $50 to $100 million annually in more direct revenue for the film companies in the form of hotel rooms and restaurant meals, the purchasing of equipment, and the hiring of local residents.

"Partners in Crime" producer Bernstein agrees that the impact on the local economy is considerable. "We spend $30,000 a day here," he says. "But that multiplies eight to ten times once it's generated into the economy."

How long will NBC and San Francisco remain "Partners in Crime"? Only the ratings will eventually tell, but actor Steve Levitt believes we'll all get to know each other very well.

"They're using San Francisco to the limit," he says. "There are only three sets here (in the warehouse-studio. Everything else will be shot on location, and by the time we've hit the same restaurant for the 50th tune, everybody's going to be groaning, "Oh God, here they come again."