Cagney et Lacey

This show was unique in that it was the first time that two basically average looking women played the leads in a TV show that was not about the fact that they were just average looking women. The show was also ground-breaking in that both detectives in the partnership were women - smart, capable women. Women had gradually been integrated into TV police forces over the 15 years prior to this series, but they were usually part of a crime-solving team such as on "Ironside". The balance in this show was not through the well-known old cop/young cop formula. Instead, both detectives were 30-something women. The contrast came in the form of their marital status and their personal situations. Lacey was married and a mother, and Cagney was single.

There was a pilot and six episodes during the 1981-1982 season starring an actress other than Sharon Gless as Detective Christine Cagney. In the 1982-1983 season the show settled into the dynamic that made it so popular and which most people remember.

I enjoyed this show from the pilot movie with Loretta Swit of MASH fame as Chris Cagney,single and hungry to carve a career in the police force and Tyne Daly,as the sensitive,married mother of two,Mary Beth Lacey,both women recently promoted from uniform to plain clothes and dealing with highly chauvinistic male colleagues. When the TV series started,Tyne Daly was back but an actress with striking blue eyes,Meg Foster was now playing Chris Cagney. Apparently there was a feeling that the two women were now too alike,now,I haven't seen any of the Meg Foster episodes for 20 years,so can't really remember them but always felt Foster got a bit of a raw deal,when she was axed after just six episodes. Anyway,the series came with a catchy new theme tune and Sharon Gless now as Chris Cagney,who funnily enough,was always the production team's first choice for Cagney and the matching of Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless was excellent and according to Miss Gless the secret of playing Cagney was "talking tough and wearing pink!" The writing and acting was always first rate,one of my favourite episodes was "Burn Out" when Lacey,all set for a much needed vacation has her leave cancelled at the last minute and goes AWOL and ends up on a beach and after spending time with a woman of a similar age,who has drifted all her life,Lacey realises although she sometimes has to juggle so many things,she loves her life. Cagney and Lacey were not best friends,they could argue very forcibly,like the time when a member of the public was shot by accident,Cagney said he had a gun,Lacey didn't see it,leading to Cagney saying Lacey was just a cop for the money,not like her for a career,she later had to apologise for that one. I hope this entire series comes out on DVD soon,including the Meg Foster episodes too,I highly recommend it.

Cagney and Lacey was one of the best acted, best written, best conceived police shows in TV history. Ranking alongside Hill Street Blues and Morse in terms of its quality, I would suggest it is one of the finest television series ever made, greatly surpassing most TV made today. Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless kept this series going so beautifully, with never a dull moment, and never anything less than perfect performances. So instinctive, so moving, so engaging and so charming - the two are among the great television partnerships. The gritty, honest dynamic those two wonderful actors generated is a beautiful achievement. It is actors like this that make television occasionally magnificent. What a shame we don't have anything to compare these days to this.

Unlike most cop show on TV, "Cagney and Lacey" did not try and dazzle us with car chases, mind-bending mysteries to be solved or sex kittens posing as police officers (mind the nails!) . It was always about the characters. It was their experiences and reactions to the case and the crime around them, the pressures of the job, the conflicts with each other, that was the focus of the show. And the "Perps", or criminals, had their story, too. At its best, the crime-of-the-week drew you into an issue, a POV , a social problem, whose solution was dramatically argued through the reactions of the police officers involved - primarily the leads, of course.

Besides the writing, what made this work was that we cared about the leads, and we cared what they thought. We especially cared what happened to them. Outstanding, often stunningly realistic, acting from Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacey) made us feel like we knew these 2 people, and they made us root for them. Their acting rapport was such a lucky happenstance; they complimented each other's styles and characters beautifully. You can't buy that kind of performing chemistry.

Can you tell I'm a fan? Yes, if you want your crime drama with a large dose of humanity, wit, and intelligence thrown in with the obligatory car chases, check it out where you can!

Cagney and Lacey was an amazing television series that addressed several tough issues through the eyes of two women protagonists. One of the only dramas on television to star two women, Cagney and Lacey was remarkable in portraying women as serious participants in a tough and dangerous profession. The series starred Tyne Daly (4 Emmys) and Sharon Gless (2 Emmys) - in my opinion the best acting team on television. The show featured two very different women bickering, laughing, crying together and backing each other up through a series of triumphs and crises. The women were not victims - they were ordinary women doing a rough job and doing it well. The characters and the story line developed over the run of the show. Mary Beth had a baby; almost lost a son and fought cancer. Chris struggled through a series of unsuccessful relationships; was promoted to sergeant and faced her alcoholism. This show wasn't just a cop show - it was a show about two women who happened to be cops. The series was canceled three times and has the distinction of being the first series to returned to the schedule because of massive fan protest at the original cancelation. Well worth watching if you get the chance. It is, however, rarely shown on television.