Cagney and Lacey
 Christine
Cagney and Mary-Beth Lacey were New York City police detectives and they were women
- a bizarre concept for TV cop shows
at the time.
They did everything their male counterparts did, but
they did it like women - talking incessantly and supporting each
other through everything from bad dates to alcoholism to rape to
breast cancer.
Lacey had a very complex and involving marriage, while Cagney
was a career-driven woman with no desire to settle down.
They were
friends because they admired each other's honesty and competence,
and because they could rely on each other in a dangerous job that
they both loved.
The "reality cop" series was based on a TV movie
screened in 1981, which had starred Loretta Swit and Tyne Daly.
Swit was unable to appear in a series because of her prior
commitment to M*A*S*H, so Meg Foster was signed to play
Cagney in the 1982 episodes.
 Foster was eventually dropped for
being "too tough, too hard and not feminine". She was
replaced in late 1982 by Sharon Gless.
Detective Chris Cagney was the beautiful blonde; ambitious,
hard-headed, single and following in the footsteps of her father
Charlie. Detective Mary Beth Lacey couldn't have been more
different.
Away from work she devoted her life to her dependable
husband Harvey and their sons Harvey Lacey Jnr. and Michael.
At
the 14th precinct the duo (who sorted out most of their problems
in the Ladies Room) were supported by their tough but caring boss
Lieutenant Samuels, earnest Detective Mark Petrie and womanising
Detective Victor Isbecki, who helped them to fight crime and stay
undercover with the constant threat of being caught out.
Apart from facing some of New York's toughest criminals Cagney
and Lacey also had more than their share of personal traumas.
Cagney was a victim of date rape and struggled against alcoholism
(Sharon Gless later confessed to the same problem).
 Mary Beth - who wore her heart on her sleeve - was gunned down
in one episode and was also arrested for demonstrating against
nuclear waste transportation.
Tyne Daley's real-life pregnancy was written into the plots and
the enormous Mary Beth was wheeled into the delivery room
(clutching husband Harv's bowling trophy) with Chris mopping her
brow.
Later John Karlen, who played the idyllically supportive Harv, blamed the stresses of the show for the break-up of his 21
year marriage.
The show was cancelled in 1983 but was brought back the next
year when CBS received a flood of mail supporting the show.
Revived, it ran until 1988 and won 14 Emmy awards. A number of
infrequent TV movies followed the series.
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