Cagney & Lacey:
The Menopause Years
4 DVD box set
$39.95 SRP
STREET DATE: August 25, 2009
RUN TIME: app. 95 min. each
ASPECT RATION: 1.33: 1
RATING: Unrated (contains some adult content including violence)
BOX SET CONTENTS:
- Disc 1. Cagney & Lacey: The Return (November 6, 1994)
- Disc 2. Cagney & Lacey: Together Again (May 2, 1995)
- Disc 3. Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling (October 25, 1995)
- Disc 4. Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions (January 29, 1996)
OVERVIEW:
"In my house," John Leonard began in his New York magazine review, of December 1994, "Cagney & Lacey was to prime time what The Golden Notebook had been to modern novels and modern marriage: street-smart feminism: politics and friendship; therapy on the barricades; brains on a rampage. Before Doris Lessing, we had never heard women talk like that in fiction. Before Cagney & Lacey, we'd never seen them act like that on television. Without Chris and Mary Beth, Thelma and Louise would not have been imaginable. And so it's a joy to have them back..." Mr. Leonard concluded his review with the cogent observation, "older, thicker, smarter, wrinkled and not the least bit apologetic about it."
As the producer of the original series and these reunion films, there is not much I care to add...except perhaps this: most professional analysts of these films invariably make some reference to the fact that during the series' six years on the air, no other actress...NOT ONE...only Tyne Daly or Sharon Gless...would win the EMMY for Best Dramatic Actress in a television series. These movies seemed to serve as a reminder to those commentators as to why that was.
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 made in the mid-1990s, each here on separate discs. The films herein, individually labeled Cagney & Lacey: The Return, Cagney & Lacey: Together Again, Cagney & Lacey: The View From The Glass Ceiling and Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions. Collectively they were all lovingly known as Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years.
Older, thicker and smarter, indeed. - Barney Rosenzweig
NOTABLE QUOTE: "I consider '
Cagney & Lacey' the best show on television" - Gloria Steinem,
TV Guide, January 16, 1988
MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
THE RETURN: While many "return" television movies don't do the original series justice,
Cagney and Lacey - The Return maintains the high standards set by the original series. The plot renews the friendship and interplay between Cagney and Lacey, but later in their lives. Things have changed: Mary Beth Lacey has quit the police force and having little success in finding work and Christine Cagney is now a married lieutenant working for the D.A.'s office...and facing the specter of menopause. They may have lost touch, but circumstances bring them back together again.
The Return remains true to the series. It is quality drama that concentrates on the personal lives and the interaction between two complex women dealing with a tough and dangerous job. Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly are amazing actresses playing two of the greatest female characters ever portrayed on television. This is a perfect movie, especially for fans of Cagney & Lacey or for anyone who enjoys drama about women.
© 1994 Dos Mujeres, Inc., All Rights Reserved, The Rosenzweig Company
TOGETHER AGAIN: New York's toughest lady detectives re-team to solve the murder of a homeless transient who had been terrorizing the residents of a posh apartment building with screaming threats, insults and physical intimidation. Though the cops think the culprit is another street person, Cagney and Lacey believe the real killer is one of the tenants, many of whom have ample reason to have murdered the boorish bum.
© 1995 Dos Mujeres, Inc., All Rights Reserved, The Rosenzweig Company
THE VIEW THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING: Cagney and Lacey must investigate a local precinct when a murder leads to suspicion of police corruption. When the findings of the D.A.'s police corruption investigation turn out to be useful to Cagney's political ambitions, she makes a choice that will have a lasting impact on her life, Lacey's and the twenty-year friendship between them.
© 1995 Dos Mujeres, Inc., All Rights Reserved, The Rosenzweig Company
TRUE CONVICTIONS: After the girlfriend of a murder victim from her building commits suicide, Chris gets romantically involved with the girl's still-married father. Meanwhile, Chris and Mary Beth are assigned to work New York's first capital murder case in a decade, and everyone seems to have an opinion on capital punishment.
© 1995 Dos Mujeres, Inc., All Rights Reserved, The Rosenzweig Company
DIRECTED BY: James Frawley, Reza Badyi, John Patterson, Lynn Litman
WRITTEN BY: Barbara Corday, Barbara Avedon, Terry Louise Fisher, Steve Brown and Michelle Gallery
PRINCIPAL CAST FOR ALL 4 MOVIES:
- Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney-Burton
- Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey
- James Naughton as James Burton
- David Paymer as Deputy Dist. Atty. Feldberg
- John Karlen as Harvey Lacey (Emmy Award winner)
- Molly Orr as Alice Lacey
ADDITIONAL CAST FOR "
THE RETURN":
- Susan Anspach as Deborah Nelson
- Martin Kove as Isbecki
- Carl Lumbly as Marcus Petrie
- Vonetta MCGhee as Claudia Petrie
ADDITIONAL CAST FOR "
TOGETHER AGAIN":
- Paul Lieber as Romeo DeCarlo
- Nicholas Pryor as Paul Coster
- Rose Marie as Mitzi Glass
ADDITIONAL CAST FOR "
THE VIEW THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING":
- George Coe as Dan Broadbent
- Lynne Thigpen as Capt. Gigi Cardenas
- Chip Zien as Asst. Dist. Atty. Douglas Trayne
- Sandra Oh as Officer Angela Lum
ADDITIONAL CAST FOR "
TRUE CONVICTIONS":
- Michael Moriarity as Matthew Wiley
- Chip Zien as Asst. Dist. Atty. Douglas Trayne
- Sam Copola as Jan Kaplovitz
- Beay Starr as Det. Mike Foy
- Darryl Theirse as Det. Lee Moyer
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Interviews from the Archive of American Television
- Disc 1. Cagney & Lacey: The Return
Interview with Barney Rosenzweig (20- 25 minutes)
- Disc 2. Cagney & Lacey: Together Again
Interview with Sharon Gless (20- 25 minutes)
- Disc 3. Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling
Interview with Tyne Daly (20-25 minutes)
- Disc 4. Cagney & Lacey True Convictions
Interview with Barbara Corday (20-25 minutes)
REVIEWS:
"...older, thicker, smarter, wrinkled and not the least bit apologetic about it" - John Leonard,
New York Magazine
"
Cagney & Lacey became the prism though which all other dramas with women would be viewed, upheld as a social document of professional women's lives in the late 20th century" -
Boston Globe
QUOTES:
"Hot flashes, insomnia, diminished libido. Why don't they take me out and shoot me?" - Christine Cagney
TRIVIA:
- Loretta Swit played Christine Cagney in the pilot but had to decline the role in the series because the producers of "MASH" wouldn't let her out of her contract
- The role of Cagney in the first 6 episodes of the series was played by Meg Foster
- The series was cancelled after the first season because of poor ratings, but a massive letter writing campaign by Gloria Steinem, Ms. Magazine and producer Barney Rosenzweig
- The series garnered 36 Emmy nominations and won 14 Emmy Awards
- They received matching stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame March, 29, 1995 in front of the SAG building
- "The Return" was the highest rated TV movie of 1994. and had a between a 23 and 31 share in L.A.. Baltimore. Detroit and Washington, D.C.
- Ms. Magazine named them "Women of the Year" in 1987 and Gloria Steinem did a TV Guide cover story "Why I Consider Cagney & Lacey the Best Show On TV"
