“Thank you, Cagney & Lacey.”
Those were the first words spoken by Helen Mirren to an
international TV audience at the Emmy Awards in 2001. The brilliant actress spoke
those words as she held aloft the statuette she had just won for Outstanding
Lead Actress (Prime Suspect).
That evening of Ms. Mirren’s win was a decade after the
series featuring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly as two New York cops had completed
its run on CBS. Yet, Ms. Mirren remembered.
Twenty-five years later, the University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA) is also saying “thank you, Cagney & Lacey” this time
by hosting a tribute evening October 7 at the Billy Wilder Theater on the famed
Westwood campus in California.
The archivists at that University will screen two episodes
and then be joined by Sharon Gless and me on stage for a little dialogue about
how it all came to be. Tyne Daly, who has a last minute “gig” shooting in New
York City, will join us on tape.
The episodes that will be shown are from the seasons of 1984
and 1985; both are Emmy Award winners: “Heat” directed by Karen Arthur, and
“The Gimp” directed by Sharron Miller.
Some of the C&L alumni will be in that audience:
writers Georgia Jeffries and Kathyrn Ford as well as Ron Ramin who composed the music for most of the series’ episodes.
The UCLA thing is nice; the fact that there are periodic rumblings in Hollywood
about a remake of the series is … oh, so much better.
And I still get a kick … after all these years (nearly 50) …
when the NY Times crossword puzzle contains a Cagney & Lacey
clue … something that still happens over a half dozen times a year. And has
there been a television season in the last four decades where one or more of
the new crop of cop shows does not make a Cagney & Lacey reference
in dialogue? I don’t think so.
The photos I get of beloved pets named after my dynamic duo
brings a smile, and lately I have been watching, with admiration, the multiple collages
of video highlight material edited by various fans from The Cagney &
Lacey Appreciation Group on Facebook. That has only been topped for
me by a video presentation added on the same site, just last week, underscored
with an original song that is a tribute to the producer of the show (guess
who?). You think it is easy to get Rosenzweig and Cagney & Lacey
into a lyric? Ask Ms. Katy Milne, a fan who brought a smile to this old guy’s
countenance with her musical tribute.
There are television series that have won more than the 14
Emmy Awards Cagney & Lacey achieved (although no other CBS drama has
managed to do that before or since) and there are shows that have been rated
higher. None, however, has had more impact or become more a part of the
language than Cagney & Lacey. None.
An industry “joke” I always liked, evoked that very essence
of “impact.” It was more than the female lead shows that came after my series.
It goes to the fundamental way that Cagney & Lacey altered the television
business.
The “joke” goes that before Cagney & Lacey,
a producer selling a new idea to a network for a series featuring a private
detective, would conclude the pitch by leaning into the buyer with a
conspiratorial look around the room before imparting the essential difference …
the hook… that would set this private eye apart from all others:
“He’s blind.”
The self-satisfied producer would hardly be able to contain
his glee at this “reveal.”
After Cagney & Lacey, the Network exec
might well nod, acknowledging his understanding of the gimmick’s virtue, but
then ask, “…Okay, but does he have a dog? Is he married? Is he an alcoholic? What
is his home life like?”
That was the difference. The change-over from plot and
action- driven melodramas to strong characters and their relationships with one
another and how their work would impact their families. That is what Cagney
& Lacey changed; that is what will be celebrated at UCLA on October 7.
You would not be able to surmise any of this from perusing
Prime Video on your home television screen. Odd, in that Prime Video has a
vested interest in the success of Cagney & Lacey because Prime Video
is owned by Amazon, and Amazon owns MGM and its library which includes Cagney
& Lacey. Yet, turn on Amazon Prime and, assuming you can find any of
the 125 episodes or five films that were made with that title, you will read in
the show’s description a vanilla-like understatement that Cagney & Lacey
was “nominated for a Golden Globe.” That’s it. No mention of the 14 Emmys won
by the show (plus innumerable nominations), no mention of the Golden Globe that
was actually won (not simply a nomination), and no mention of any of the other
national and international salutes.
Do I sound disappointed? It does roil my sensibilities. It
is, in fact, hard for me to understand why Amazon has not even tried to spruce
up the look of the show with fresh prints … it has, after all, been 40 years.
And they own it! Perhaps they are not NYT crossword fans, or pet lovers,
and are unaware of the tributes by decades-long fans.
Maybe? Perhaps? How about perchance … thanks to this nod
from UCLA … it just may be conceivable that Amazon will deliver something to
your television screen instead of leaving it out in the rain in a box too far
from your front door. Possibly? Ya think? No matter what they do or don’t do, I
still unabashedly say, “Thank you, Cagney & Lacey.”
Barney Rosenzweig
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