Don Johnson not only starred in the series, but co-created it and owned a percentage of it. When the show went into syndication, he did quite well financially.
The script that Hunter S. Thompson and Don Johnson wrote and pitched to NBC was much darker than the series ended up, and wasn't particularly suitable for prime time. In it, Nash was a drug addict who was dating the daughter of a wanted San Francisco, California mafia figure.
Nash Bridges had more episodes in its first run than Don Johnson's other hit tv show Miami Vice. Nash Bridges ran for 122 episodes versus 111 episodes for Miami Vice. In 2019, it was announced that Nash Bridges would return to tv with a two hour movie followed by a new season of episodes.
The series premise was created by Don Johnson and Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson can be seen briefly as a restaurant piano player in the first two episodes.
In Revelations (1997), Jan-Michael Vincent guest starred. An alcoholic, he was completely drunk and incoherent. The other actors pretended he was able to deliver lines as they interacted with him.