My Favorite TV Show of the 80's

My favorite TV show from the eighties was Cagney and Lacey. I am not a fan of sitcoms, and I do not care for most game shows. Shows including music are fine on occasion.

Cagney and Lacey is about two female New York cops that were partners. Their personalities were totally different. Christine Cagney, played by Sharon Gless, portrayed a young, single woman, probably in late twenties or early thirties. Cagney was interested in climbing the proverbial ladder to success and of course, men. Lacey, on the other hand, was a married woman, possibly in her mid forties, who worried about her husband. She was extremely concerned as to whether or not she was a good wife, in spite of her job as a police officer in New York City. .

Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey did not always agree on job-related issues, as well as personal issues they often discussed. Regardless of that, they always confided in one another when problems in their personal lives arose. Each of these cops was dedicated to the other. Whether they agreed or not about a specific strategy involved in their work, they each tried to protect the other, as well as themselves.

Mary Beth was often feeling down because of some of her husband's idiosyncracies. I believe it was his worrying about her in such a dangerous profession. Often she and Cagney would have some heated conversations, as Cagney would try to tell her to stop worrying and simply think about going home when their shift ended. In such an instance, Mary Beth would sometimes come back with the accusation that Cagney did not understand since she had never been married.

I do not recall the two police officers discussing Christine's family, but I'm sure she had some relatives that probably lived nearby. She had her bad days too, whether it was a family thing or a spat with a boyfriend, or a recent first date gone badly. She was less inclined to discuss her personal life than was Mary Beth. Christine's partner knew when she (Christine) needed counseling whether she wanted it or not. Also, she usually gave it whether Christine wanted it or not. Cagney also often contended with an alcoholic father.

Each episode of the show was complete with exciting scenes of arresting a felon, or worse, and often some car chases and shooting.

Some of the other cast members included Harvey Lacey, Mary Beth's husband, played by John Karlen; Leutenant Bert Samuals, played by Al Waxman; Detective Victor Isbecki, played by Martin Kove; Detective Mark Petrie, played by Carl Lumbly and Sergeant Ronald Coleman, played by Harvey Atkin.

When the show first aired, the ratings were quite low, the reason, it leaned too much toward "Women, and the Strength Thereof." At that time, Cagney was being played by Meg Foster. The show was actually cancelled, until they replaced Foster with Sharon Gless, a more feminine-type actress. After all of this, the show soared to 'hit' status and graced many TV sets for five more years.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagney_&_Lacey
http://www.crazyabouttv.com/cagneyandlacey.html
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