Les deux font la paire

The cable network TVLand recently had a promotion weekend that Scarecrow and Mrs. King was part of. I was so excited to see a few episodes, but it made me wish that the series was on DVD even more!

Scarecrow and Mrs. King was a great series about an unsuspecting housewife who gets pulled into undercover spy work with a reluctant and then fully accepting spy. It's a little hokey, but great overall. Kate Jackson plays single mom, Amanda King and Bruce Boxleitner plays spy, Lee Stetson. The show was really all-inclusive, action, romance and comedy all in one.

The sexual tension in the 1st two seasons is a little like the dynamic between Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard in Moonlighting.

One of the best "fish-out-of-water" series ever filmed. Amanda King is an ordinary Arlington, Virginia housewife. Divorced for a year, dating a weatherman, living in her house with her boys and mother, she seems to be ...normal. However, while at train station, a mysterious man gives her a package and tells her to hand it "to the man in the red hat." Moments later he is chased down by some unsavory characters. It isn't long before Amanda King finds the man she trusted is Lee Stetson, spy. Soon, she finds her self drawn into his work, and darn if she isn't a natural! Only she has a problem; her family cannot know what she does for a living.

So "normal" Amanda King becomes a secret spy, and is partnered with dashing lady's man, Lee Stetson. Along the way Lee and Amanda become quite a team...and mix in a little romance.

This series is to me one of the best, and most satisfying, romantic series to ever be on TV. Unlike other 80s...(and shows today) the characters avoided the "back and forth" romance where the writers would make you frustrated by plots intentionally keeping the leads apart. Instead on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, the relationship between Lee and Amanda, "naturally" evolved from reluctant co-workers, to friends, partners, lovers, and married couple. It is a shame this series did not get a proper ending. Over 23 years later Scarecrow and Mrs.King is still my favorite show.

I watched this series all the time when I was little. Bruce Boxleitner is a great actor and really shines as the star, Scarecrow. As I watch it nowadays I feel that he must have enjoyed this series a lot, as he seems so natural and comfortable in his role. This is a cute, endearing show based on a simple premise. The first few seasons are especially great to watch, as the contrast between Lee and Amanda is most striking before their romantic relationship develops. (The fourth and fifth seasons are not quite as interesting, but they're inevitable) It's kind of a Lady and the Tramp story set in Washington, DC, with Lee being a charismatic government spy/ladies man, and Amanda a sweet, suburban single mother. What makes this duo so charming is the culture clash between their two worlds. He is forever "burdened" by her ineptness when it comes to government work, and she is always critiquing his lifestyle and trying to get him to live more like a normal, "real person".. Their unlikely partnership leads to plenty of fun and adventure for the audience, and eventual romance that is (fortunately) postponed for as long as possible. The writers and producers seem to know exactly what the viewers want, the guy and girl who like eachother but can't say it or deal with it, and end up tiptoeing around the issue for three seasons... except for the occasional hint or inuendo, executed with perfect style. "Charlie's Angels" fans will have fun seeing Kate Jackson in this different, motherly role, and I think most females will find it very hard to resist the boyish and talented Boxleitner. His skill with dialogue delivery is beyond compare. This series is a classic, great for anyone who likes a little action, humor and romance. It's best seen from the beginning, so you can really appreciate the relationship between these two TV greats.

I didn't get into this show until a few seasons went by. But once I did get into the show, I found that I really liked the characters portray by Bruce Boxleitner (Lee Stetson aka Scarecrown) and Kate Jackson (Mrs. King). Scarecrow was a suave American spy -- an American James Bond and Mrs. King, a divorced housewife who ended up becoming his partner with the perfect cover....a suburban divorced mom.

Mrs. King wasn't your gorgeous Bond girl....she was more of a pretty all-American girl next door/mom. There was something about her sly intelligence mixed with the slightly husky voice that I always found very appealing. With these two very attractive early 30 something actors playing off of each other, I always thought there was a sexual/romantic tension that radiated off the screen. I was very happy when the two characters got married and became a husband and wife team.

The plot lines were a bit beyond belief, but the way the two leads played off of each other made it fun to tune in.

I watched this show when I was a little girl. And it soon turned up to be one of my favorite shows ever: the leading characters are great, and they interact in the cutest way.

Kate Jackson plays Amanda King, the most ordinary, suburban mother whose greatest hope is a special discount at the grocery store.

Bruce Boxleitner plays Lee Stetson, a secret agent who loves being a spy and being a Don Giovanni.

Their meeting happens at the train station, when Lee is forced to ask Amanda for help. From that day,these two become the most unlikely pair of secret agent, and more than often Lee wonders just what the hell Amanda is here for: she has no clue about anything concerning spies, guns, or secret weapons. On the other hand, she has a lot of common sense, and she uses a special intuit that more than once saves them both.

As seasons pass by, Lee and Amanda develop a very special friendship, that eventually turns into love. It takes three whole years, though, to see them show their feeling for each other. And this, for fans (or for me at least), was like a secret hope, just like what happened for X-Files ten years later.

Technically speaking, this show is just like any other 80s TV show: poorly directed, badly edited and with stunt over-using (most of the time causing embarrassing shots where anyone could see it wasn't them!). It was set in DC, but filmed in California, so they mixed long-range shot of DC monuments with street shots of the WB lot. Bruce and Kate acted pretty well, Bruce being the best of the pair and giving on the whole a very charismatic portrait of Lee (which caused a lot of women to fall for the actor AND the character - as I did!). On the last season, though, Kate Jackson cut her appearances on the show due to a sudden illness, and after a few episodes without Amanda the show stopped. Too bad they didn't get a chance to film a decent end to a very nice show.

I recommend it to those who suffer old-times nostalgia, and to those who haven't forgotten Bruce Boxleitner in his glory days. Plus it has a great theme tune!