Rumors/Rezi Badiyi

By now most of you know that the article in the UK’s the Daily Mail got somehow garbled in my phone interview and that the story of the imminent revisiting of Cagney & Lacey either on television or the big screen is simply not accurate.

These things happen, although I am not at all clear how in this case since I was asked at the outset of the interview if the rumor of an upcoming production was true and I unequivocally responded that it was not. The conversation went on about the plausibility of such a thing and I acknowledged that we had often been approached by various writers and producers over the years and that we even had a few viable approaches including making it multi generational by bringing Cagney’s niece, Bridget, onto the force.

I believe I went on to lament that my perception was that MGM, the holders of the Cagney & Lacey copyrights, had other priorities, including revisiting their motion picture series of the James Bond franchise. That led me in the interview to segue into my thoughts about the website and the taking of the successful survey of fans, urging MGM to release the entire series on DVD.That was really my purpose in doing the interview in the first place. Oh well. 


I normally don’t mind these things. I have been misquoted or misunderstood more than once in my life, and am only sorry to have disappointed those of you who got excited about the prospect. You know… eventually the story will be accurate. Someday MGM will get around to remaking Cagney & Lacey; hopefully while our fan base is still on the planet. In that case, the Daily Mail has scooped all its competitors once again.

I don’t want to leave this site without making mention of the passing of one of the members of the Cagney & Lacey first family, director Reza Badiyi. He was more than a good friend. He was an inspiration to all of us as well as being one of the most prolific, efficient and caring directors I have ever known.

It was in one of our very first episodes with Sharon as Christine Cagney. We had a strong scene of conflict between the two women. It was a very good… very tough scene, with both women pulling out a lot of potent emotional pyrotechnics. Everyone on the set had to be impressed with the talent these two were demonstrating in those early days of our series as Reza, next to the camera, watched carefully. “Cut,” he said, then added, “…Let’s do one more.” He moved to the two actresses who had given their all and probably couldn’t imagine why their director hadn’t printed the take and moved on. Instead he came close, leaned toward them, and very gently said, “Don’t forget the love.”

Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly have told me more than once it was one of the most important directions they had ever received in their storied careers. “Don’t forget the love.” We will not, and we will always remember this beautiful, talented, man… Reza Badiyi.

Barney Rosenzweig, September 2, 2011