Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years

Some television series are shut down before their time. There are still places to take the characters that the cancellation precluded there exploration. Then there are those shows that just keep getting renewed season after season although the stories and characters became hackney long ago. Fortunately some fortunate series are given a reprieve from the vast wasteland of cancellation but s little marketing device known as the made for television sequel movie. If the first one is successful demonstrating a continuing fan interest then it becomes possible to wind up with several movies extending the story lines even further. This change from episodic television to ‘made for TV movie’ affords the cast and crew a chance to delve into the characters in a very different fashion. The writers can focus on a deeper consideration of a central story or two instead of the more typical crime of the week format. One of the best examples of this is from crime drama series that ran for seven years in the mid-seventies; ‘Cagney & Lacey’. After its cancellation in 1986 the loyal fans continued to tune in with the show in syndication. Those ratings were sufficient to prompt the first of what will be four TV movies that continued the story of two New York City female detectives; Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) and her partner Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless). This show was revolutionary in its day. Most TV detective series were dominated by male characters and women, if even included, were relegated to rather minor roles. Sure there were a few female police detectives but they were either partners with a man or brash and unrealistically tough. Mary Beth and Christine were realistic women that the ladies in the audience could readily identify with. They were a highly effective team consisting of a motherly housewife and an urban single woman. This better reflected the female demographic that the vast majority of crime dramas have ignored right from the very start. This was the mid eighties when women were beginning to make strides for equality in the work place and this series was the start of a new type of programming.

It has been several years since the conclusion of the series and both women have moved on to new phases of their lives. Mary Beth has been retired from the police force for a few years and is enjoying being a stay at home mother and wife. The two oldest boys have moved out leaving only the youngest, Alice at home. Her Husband Harvey (John Karlen) is just trying to make ends meet with only one income and a slow economy. Christine has gotten married to James Burton (James Naughton) who she met in Alcoholics Anonymous and is currently a rising star in the Democratic Party. Christine has joined the upwardly mobile ranks using the hyphenated surname of Cagney-Burton. The former partners are reunited after years of minimal contact at a party the Burtons threw to celebrate Jim’s pending job in the new Clinton administration. At the party Harvey has a heart attack and is saved by Christine. This sets up much of the personal drama that will sustain the character arcs for all four films. Harvey is a proud man used to working every day to provide for his family. Now he is watching life from the side lines and as the cash becomes increasingly tight watch as Mary Beth is forced to re-enter the work force. Unfortunately there are not many jobs available for a fifty year old ex-detective.

Christine is currently a senior investigator for the District Attorney’s office. The current major case is the theft of a large shipment of guns confiscated by the police and intercepted prior to their destruction Christine manages to hire Mary Beth to help with the investigation. This becomes the emotional center of the films and a foundation for the involvement of the audience on a very personal level. These are circumstances that millions of women are all too familiar with and understand. While Mary Beth and Christine settle back into their old investigative routine things at the Lacey household id turning increasingly tense, Mary Beth wants to be able to have sex with her husband but Harvey is reluctant and withdrawn at one point he regrets surviving the heart attack. Christine is also undergoing significant marital upset. Jim wants to take a fairly high ranking job in the president’s administration but it would mean moving to Washington D.C it doesn’t take long before the two women begin to demonstrate signs of stress. Much to the chagrin of Christine Mary Beth begins smoking again. Christine and her husband’s marital problems escalate. exacerbated by living in different cities. Christine is not willing to give up her job or personal identity. Adding to it all Christine discovers she is being groomed to be the first woman police commissioner of New York City; the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

The crime stories are scaffolding to support the drama of the two women the title for the four film DVD set;’ Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years’ is highly appropriate especially since Christine begins to go through the change of life. Even if you were not particularly a fan of the original series this is a great set to add to your collection. It is well written and acted realistically making it one of the better representatives if the genre.

Posted 09/27/09