Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years

Cagney and Lacey are back - my favorite female police partners return in this four-disc boxed set featuring all of their reunion movies on DVD for the first time.

The team of Christine Cagney, portrayed brilliantly by Sharon Gless, and Mary Beth Lacey, portrayed equally well by Tyne Daly, hardly need any introduction. Co-starring in Cagney & Lacey during the 1980’s, the women portrayed two women detectives fighting crime and sexism in the New York City Police Department.

In doing so, Cagney & Lacey redefined gender roles in TV dramas. Now, it hardly seems possible that a series starring two women leads would not only be controversial, but a true pioneer in challenging the sexism that prevented women from obtaining untraditional jobs, but it was. While another groundbreaking cop show of that era, Police Woman, starring Angie Dickinson, should also be lauded, it was Cagney & Lacey that went much further in focusing the series spotlight on two professional women, and dealt directly with the sexism that they encountered among the public and within the own New York City police department.

The series went off the air in 1988, after 125 series episodes. Four reunion movies followed, and are collected here on DVD for the first time: Cagney Lacey: The Return, 1994; Cagney & Lacey: Together Again, 1995; Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling, 1995; and Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions, 1996.

“Inside this package you will also find some history excerpted from my memoir `Cagney & Lacey… and Me,’ along with some other observations about the four reunion films,” said Barney Rosenzweig, creator-producer of the series and the movies. Rosenzweig is also married in real-life to Sharon Gless.

The first film re-introduces Cagney and Lacey, and what they’ve been up to in the intervening years. Things have changed. Lacey has quit the force, and Cagney is now a lieutenant working for the D.A.’s Office. But the biggest change is that Cagney has married, and the two best friends have lost touch.

“Both Sharon and Tyne had aged and put on some weight and we would make no attempt to mask that, but would, instead, hang a lantern on it. It was quickly decided that, consistent with her characters oft-stated desire, Lacey would by then have taken her retirement while, in those intervening years, Cagney would garner a major promotion and (much to Sharon s dismay), gotten married. Even casting her old pal, TONY award winner James Naughton as the husband, could not get Sharon to be happy about this decision…which we defended as a device we felt would help sell the passage of time to our audience,” Rosenzweig said.

In addition to Naughton’s James Burton, the guest-cast includes Susan Anspach, who plays Deborah Nelson.

Happily, most of the supporting cast from the series returns, including John Karlen as Mary Beth’s husband, Harvey Lacey; Al Waxman as Lt. Samuels; Carl Lumbly as Det. Marcus Petrie; and Martin Kove as Detective Isbecki. New cast members are David Paymer, who plays Deputy Assistant District Attorey Feldberg; Vonetta McGee who portrays Petrie’s wife, Claudia; Kenny Johnston who replaces Troy W. Slaten as the Lacey’s son, Michael; and Molly Orr as the couple’s daughter, Molly.

“Despite virtually the entire series cast making an appearance in this first of the quartet of films, we make it clear in the early going that both Cagney and Lacey have moved on and that the familiar actors that are seen in those early moments will not be part of the shows going forward. The device to get Lacey back to work and, once again, in alliance with Christine Cagney not only worked well for us, but provided residual emotional material for all four films,” Rosenzweig, said.

I won’t ruin the movies by providing spoilers. Just know that fans, new and old, of Cagney and Lacey will not be disappointed.

John Karlen, an incredible actor who is sadly underrated, appears throughout the movie reunions. Other guest cast members include: George Coe as Dan Broadbent; Lynn Thigpen as Capt. Gigi Cardenas; Chip Zien as Assistant District Attorney Douglas Trayne; and Sandra Oh, as Officer Angela Lum.

The first movie is also being released in a separate single-disc package on the same release date as the boxed set.
Rating: 5 / 5
Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years

Whats amazing about these four TV movies is how they retain the feeling of the original TV show. Each film feels like a slightly extended TV episode (and that’s a compliment!). Just like the wonderful series, there is a central mystery to each but the REAL focus and power is in the the lives of Cagney and Lacey. The writers wisely chose to remain faithful to the TV show and not try to change a winning format just because they had more time to tell the story. These four films were made when several other TV shows were being brought back to TV in reocurring TV movie formats (like Columbo, The Rockford Files and Perry Mason). Its a shame that C&L was treated so badly when CBS changed presidents and after very impressive reviews and ratings, the second two TV movies were dumped in bad time slots with no advance advertising. Each film contains a newly-produced 20-minute interview that offers fascinating, affectionate, and brutally honest recollections by Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, producer Barney Rosenweitz and creator Barbara Corday. You can’t go wrong purchasing this DVD set. Remember that your purchase shows there is an interest in bringing the complete series to DVD. So, make your purchase in the hopes of guaranteeing their release!
Rating: 5 / 5
Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years

I truly enjoyed the 4 movies that are sequals to the TV Drama Cagney & Lacey. They all were up to par to the excellence that characterized Cagney and Lacey week after week while it ran on TV. And the extra features, which are commentary by producer Barney Rosenswieg as well as Sharon Gless & Tyne Daly was interesting Being female and having had worked as a law enforcement officer, I related to more than the pertinent issues this show presented. When they cancelled Cagney & Lacey, I felt a big hole left in the small screen. That is until the cable channels started producing quality TV Drama again. I suppose it would be no surprise to those who know me that my current favorite in this genre is THE CLOSER.

And now something aimed at Amazon. When are we going to see the rest of the seasons for Cagney & Lacey up for sale @ Amazon? What is taking sooooooooo long?
Rating: 5 / 5
Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years