High-strung workaholic David Starsky and laidback ladies' man Ken ''Hutch'' Hutchinson are detectives who patrol the crime-ridden streets of Bay City, Calif. When the murdered body of a drug dealer is found on a local beach, Starsky and Hutch follow the clues to repeat offender Reese Feldman . But time and again the mismatched cops fail to apprehend the shifty Feldman, while under their noses he goes about planning his biggest trafficking operation yet.