Cagney & Lacey on dvd? (1 Viewer)

[julienUK]

I was just wondering if any of you knew if anyone was planning to releasde this tv show?

I used to love it as a kid.

Some dvds are available here in the uk, but not in season set.
So before buying I was just wodnering if it was coming in the States!

Thanks!!

Julien

 

[David Rain]

This was the show that wouldn't die. It was cancelled and brought back more than once. I'm hoping that if it does come out the original TV movie (with Loretta Switt as Cagney) will be included to suplement the rather short first season (with Meg Foster as Cagney).

 

[julienUK]

U see I didn't know several actresses played the part of Cagney!

I see it is a very very good show.
I have some VHs of the tv movies but my tapes are kind of dying lol

Who owns the rights to this show??

 

[David Rain]

When the show was cancelled originally after it's first season the network would only give it a second chance if they would replace Meg Foster with Sharon Gless. And that's when they caught lightning in a bottle.

I'd also love to see Sharon Gless' series Trials Of Rosie O'Neill on DVD. Or at least on TV again.

 

[BradleyK]

Liz Smith's column today says, "SIR HOWARD Stringer of Sony, once the head of CBS, and producer Barney Rosenzweig are working together on a 25th-anniversary DVD edition of the groundbreaking "Cagney & Lacey" TV series, which starred Tyne Daly and Barney's wife, Sharon Gless."

Great news!

 

[David Rain]

I'm hoping this is season sets and not an "ultimate collection". But I'll take what I can get. The reason this show would be tricky to launch as season sets is because the first season (after the TV movie) was very short and featured Meg Foster as Cagney. So how exactly do you market that ?

"The complete first season of just a few episodes starring someone you don't recognize in Sharon Gless' part" On Sale Now !

 

[Jay_B!]

the logical thing would be to bunch seasons 1 and 2 together. Likewise it would be smart to do the same thing with seasons 3 and 4 since season 3 was abreviated considering it was cancelled at the end of season 2 and picked back up in early 84.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

cagney & lacey fans get your butts over to tvshowsondvd.com and answer the sony/tvshowsondvd question as to what you want sony to release. They give you 3 choices pilot/s1/s2, pilot/s2 or just s2. I hope everyone votes for a release of the pilot/s1/s2 together otherwise i won't be buying and i have been waiting for this release for awhile.

 

[Linda Thompson]

In case anybody hasn't voted yet, here's a direct link to the TSoD item which Aryn referenced above:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5459

Like Aryn, I seriously hope that everybody will vote for a full Pilot/S1/S2 release. Given the relatively minor differences in the proposed MSRPs (and projecting the eventual street prices from there), I hope this will seem the logical response to most voters.

Kudos to the studio for asking for the input upfront.

And, as always...thanks to Gord and Dave for their efforts.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I voted for the whole shebang; pilot, season one and season two all in one big box. That's fine with me; it ends up being the equivalent of 30 episodes, and there's a couple other box sets that have been that big before. I think a complete set is the only fair way to do it; it's not fair to Meg Foster to have her contribution just forgotten forever. Anyway, the hard-core fans will want to see her episodes too. I don't recall ever seeing any of them in syndication so that makes me wonder if they were left out of the syndication package entirely.

 

[MattHR]

It's obvious Sony doesn't have much faith in the pilot or season one, since they didn't offer the option of a "Pilot/Season One" release.

They are offering as options, the "Pilot/Season Two" or "Season Two only" for the same SRP of $50. Why would anyone vote for "Season Two only" -- even if they didn't really care for the pilot -- since there's no savings?

For the extra $10, it's a "no brainer" to vote for the complete "Pilot/Season One/Season Two" package. I hope this is the release that gets the vote.

I've never seen the pilot or Season One episodes, so thanks to DVD -- and like-minded voters, I just might be able to. That's one of the many great things about TV-on-DVD: long-lost pilots and episodes left out of syndication can be "resurrected" and given "new life."

 

[David Rain]

I voted for everything, too. Loretta Switt made a great Cagney in the TV movie. She was unable to do the series as the producers of M*A*S*H would not let her out of her contract. Meg Foster replaced her and even if you do not care for her in the role, Tyne Daly is fabulous as always as Lacey. She's the real connection between all versions of the show.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

Good to hear that everyone is voting for the whole shabang. They probably shoulda had option to include S3 aswell since it is only 7 episodes itself. I just don't trust sony on future releases this is probably all we will ever get. I am still waiting on more hart to hart and fantasy island, it seems like it's a lost cause when it comes to sony and future season sets. I will be happy to own atleast a couple seasons of C&L anyways.

 

[MattHR]

Aryn, do you know if the reason for this very short season was due to the writers' strike, or some other reason? If it was the strike, it seems to have been affected more than most shows were.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

Matt: I think it may have been one of the times the show was cancelled but i am not 100% sure on that. My memory is a little foggy on it, but i know it was cancelled atleast once or twice and brought back to due a massive writing campaign.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

Found this info doing a google:

Cagney and Lacey was an police drama series, which aired on CBS for six seasons from 1982 to 1988. The series stars Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly as New York City police officers and, later, detectives.

Loretta Swit played the role of Christine Cagney in the original television movie, but had to decline the role in the series when the producers of M*A*S*H refused to let her out of her contract. Subsequently, Meg Foster played the role of Cagney when the series first aired as a midseason replacement in the spring of 1982, but was replaced by Gless in the fall, after the network deemed Foster too aggressive and likely to be perceived as lesbian by the viewers, which was not yet tolerated in the early 1980s.

In 1983, the series was cancelled by CBS, but was subsequently brought back to the network's schedule after fans of the show organized a major letter-writing campaign. TV Guide celebrated the shows return with the cover reading "Welcome Back". The show went on to earn an impressive 36 Emmy nominations and 14 wins during its run, including 6 nominations for stars Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless and 4 wins for Daly and 2 for Gless.

The show also garnered controversy. In 1985 there was an episode about the bombing of an abortion clinic which several CBS affiliates refused to air. But no episode was more shocking and controversial than one in 1987 called "The City is Burning" based on the December 1986 racial incident in Queens, New York's Howard Beach Neighborhood. The explosive episode included racial slurs that were taboo in primetime. Other storylines included the birth of Lacey's third child, and Cagney's experience as a a victim of date rape.

The show also included a dose of comedy with a number of hilarious episodes. The show's success was due in part to the well-written scripts and the superb acting of Gless and Daly. Cagney and Lacey is ranked with Hill Street Blues and others as one of the best dramas on television.

Al Waxman also starred as Cagney and Lacey's supervisor, Lt. Bert Samuels. Dan Shor joined the cast from 1985 to 1986 as detective Jonah Newman.

The first season main titles are accompanied by the theme song "Ain't That the Way" by Michael Stull, sung by Marie Cain, and show Cagney and Lacey being promoted to plainclothes detectives and later disguised as prostitutes. From season two the instrumental theme tune is composed by Bill Conti, and among the incidents depicted in the main titles is Lacey dragging Cagney from a shop window.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I too don't even remember Meg Foster (LOL). I do remember seeing the pilot movie and thinking this would make a great series. Loretta Swit really was good in the role, and too bad MASH groaned on and on because it would have been a better role for Loretta in the long run (face the facts; she really had outgrown Hotlips by that point in time). I don't remember Meg Foster's episodes, but I remember picking up on the show in season two with Sharon Gless in the lead. In many ways, the chemistry between Sharon and Tyne was even better than that with Loretta...this series really is very good!

 

[Katherine_K]

I can't imagin why anyone would vote for anything but the full shabang. The price point is not that different for the completeness sake.

 

[MattHR]

...at least no one from this forum had better vote for anything but the "full shabang."

I think $60 SRP for the complete pilot/S1/S2 set is one of the better values available. Let's hope this is the version released -- and the price remains as quoted.

This set will be a great example of the evolution of a TV series: Pilot --> short Season 1 w/ cast change --> full Season 2 w/ another cast change.

If this release is successful, I'd image they'd then combine the very short Season 3 with Season 4. That would leave three more full seasons and the four "reunion" TV-movies.

Let's hope for a complete series release. The show deserves it.

On a side note, I still can never get used to seeing Sharon Gless on Showtime's Queer as Folk. I hear the familiar voice, but her appearance has really changed since her C&L days!

 

[Gord Lacey]

This may be hard to believe, but MORE people have voted for JUST season 2 over season 2 and the pilot. Yup...people are crazy!

Gord