Until recently, I never knew this theme tune existed, or that Meg Foster played Cagney. Sharon Gless played the role with more spirit.

I’m glad StartTV is currently running all of the season episodes of “Cagney & Lacey” including season 1 that has a different opening theme.

Who else prefers the Sharon Gless episodes?

Different theme tune......Different Cagney!

I saw an interview with Sharon Gless and she said that she was always wanted for the part of Cagney from the start even for the TV movie, but was under contract at Universal. When a show she was on was cancelled, then they got her to sign on for C&L.

This intro kicks the shit out of the other one. This makes it seem more gritty and serious.

Sharon and Tyne are the best of friends ever since Cagney and Lacey, they're big pals, they met back stage at a theatre recently and looked overjoyed to see each other, they gave each other a massive hug. They're very close.

My favorite Cagney and Lacey intro.

I was wondering if this opening was here...I remember the Meg Foster episodes having a blues-type tune sung by a female singer, and I was correct!

This is probably going to read back like heresy to most Cagney and Lacey fans... but - I always preferred foster to gliss. Gliss was likeable and relatable in some ways but she honestly always seemed like an odd fish out of water , passing time waiting for mr right to come along so she could hang up her badge and live happily ever after. Foster's Cagney had vulnerabilities and nuance but was also very tough.. complex - Which enabled Lacey's character in turn to have a contrasting softness to her unremitting steeliness that came to define her character after the pairing with gliss and was lost ultimately. It's such a pity her characterization was so unpopular with the network the trajectory of her portrayal was never allowed to meaningfully develop. Gliss wasn't awful .. don't misunderstand but foster was just much more interesting in the part.

@KaitainCPS

2 жыл бұрын

Gless

I feel bad for the actress Meg Foster, being replaced in the role. She's a decent actress. I read she took it hard. But taking one look at the opening preview scene of Season 2, Episode 1 with Sharon Gless, followed by the new lighter theme ....it was clear to me they did the right thing, revamping the show. Gless fits like a glove and has better chemistry with Daly. As much of a blow as it may have been at the time, even Meg Foster has to look back now and realize it was showbiz and Gless was just a better fit.

Like the first season of "Simon & Simon", this music was the best version. Hated it when they changed it.

I guess when I was younger I started watching the show in the second season because I had no idea Meg Foster was Cagney in the first season. Watching now on startTV and I got to say season one it’s a lot more violent and grittier then the Gless years. It’s feels more like a 1970s cop movie.

This beat go hard in the beginning!!!

Hell yes, two lesbians bustin' perp's in the 80s!

I hope the bring these Meg Foster episodes on DVD along with the pilot movie,which had Loretta Swit(Hotlips MASH)as the first Chris Cagney! Sharon Gless(Cagney Mark3) and Meg Foster worked togethor on "The Trials Of Rosie O'Neill". The network didn't want Ms Foster so she had to be dropped to save the show.

"And they call these plain clothes?" LOL

Yes also the tv pilot movie with Loretta Swit as Chris Cagney mark1,I hope they release the pilot movie and the Meg Foster episodes in a DVD release sometime.

I watched this in my media class for a crime drama analysis weeks ago, and im still laughing now :L

many thanks for this,i never even knew meg foster was in the first season.

If anyone in the UK ,has the Meg Foster episodes,please get in touch,they're very rare

i remember this show well mostly the theme anyway i used to hear it on tv when i was 4 yrs. old.

i have nothing against the shows you mentioned, but this was a VERY well written show...the Emmys also seemed to think this was a "high quality" show...

Those opening titles were state-of-the-art cool in 1972! What? The show started in 1982? Never mind.

Hi,Funnily enough,I just got some Meg Foster episodes in the post from a friend,Lacey is quite the dominant character in a lot,think Meg Foster got a raw deal but I really like Sharon Gless too,I have the TV movie taped from the telly a few years ago,liked Loretta Swit too.

Martin Kove was in the first series with Meg Foster as was Sidney Clute(Paul La Guardia)they're just not in the opening credits. Anyone in the UK got the Meg Foster episodes,they're very rare!

Thank you for the answer :) It was stange not to see himm in the credits with Carl Lumbly.

I saw the very first episode when it aired. It was March 1982 I was seven years old. TV really sucks now ! Now all you see are people born that same year making fools of themselves.

The Meg Foster version might have worked if this show was aired three years prior, however times were evolving again in 1982 and people wanted more real stuff and not escapism.

My three comments 1. I like the other opening with Sharon Gless much better. 2. The visuals in these opening credits remind me of Rhoda. 3. Meg Foster looks like Kirstie Alley.

funky. seen a few eps of season one, prefer Meg foster to Sharon g. she has more of an edge.

These were the first six episodes with Meg Foster as Cagney,the network would only renew another season if Cagney was recast,enter Sharon Gless and the familar opening with the flasher etc.

it definately needed changing!

Great music but prefer the other.

A message to the people ! All of the Meg Foster episodes are available through imdb-HULU. In my opinion Meg Foster's character was not butchy at all, she was just too brassy. I do agree ith the writers the Meg Foster's Cagney just did not really click very well.

I quite like C & L. They get regular reruns here in GB. Must say I have never seen this intro or indeed the 1st series before. Very different to the upbeat sax intro I'm more used to.

@wolfylove8929

5 жыл бұрын

Wasn't in on after Hill St Blues? I love both these shows still

yup, definately needed changing indeed

Meg Foster who played Christine Cangey season one but it didn't work out for foster and Sharon Gless played the same role as Christine Cangey in Season 2 till series ended in 1988.

I doubt it,the DVD release was well publicised in the US and the UK.The next season was only 6 episodes(as the show came back fromm cancellation) Would be a good idea to release that with th epilot movie and the 6 Meg Foster episodes.

The song on the second half of the intro ("Ain't That The Way") was used as the theme for the feature-length/movie pilot. Does ANYONE here know where I can find the theme for "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill?

Sharon gless and Tyne daly are best pals, they're bosom buddies.

Sharon Gless was the 3rd Chris Cagney,Loretta Swit played her in the movie pilot,Meg Foster was axed fro not being enough of a contrast to Tyne Daly. Sharon Gless made the part,her own.

@mullettmark I agree with you. It is either ironic that producers called her a dyke which I totally disagreed with. We just have to admit at that time it was still a male dominated enviornment and srong women were not viewed positively on US tv at that time.

Meg Foster was Evil Lynn in the He-Man movie.

@andrismajors8171

5 жыл бұрын

Yes,and played with Rutger Hauer where he play blind.

I didn't know Meg Foster did C&L I always thought it was SHARON GLASS

@paoloblanc oddly I always liked her eyes.

@paoloblanc That's the way my older brother and I felt at the time. M.F. does have some unusual eyes.

WOW! I remember this! Did they omit this from the DVD set?

No wonder she played Evil-Lyn in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!

@kevindavis296

3 жыл бұрын

And she played Hera in Hercules The Legendary Journeys.

Damn they always walking did they have a squad car ?

@vkoo32 cant really say meg she was only in 6 episodes.

As much as I loved Sharon Gless, I remember really liking Meg Foster's take on Cagney. Would love to see whole eps again. Someone said they were repeated on cable here in UK but I didn't know and missed them!

William Simmons

I really love this intro, especially the song "Ain't that the Way" by Michael Stull and Marie Cain. Does anyone know where I can find this? I'd pay a small fortune for just that song! :-)

I watched the original C & L tv movie & two Season 1 episodes back to back on the THIS TV channel the other night . Loretta Swit was good in the role of Cagney. Meg Foster's Cagney didn't work because her character and Lacy's shared the same personality and physical appearance, the only difference is one was single, the other had a husband and kids. No strong contrast. Also, the tv movie Harvey was a hottie, in a late 70s/early 80s Marlboro Man kinda way.

Did they really filmed the show in NYC?

It seems that the first season DVD release came and went and I haven't seen or heard anything about season 2. Could it be that the first DVD release wasn't successful?

I've just watched most of the Meg Foster epsiodes for the first time in about 25 years,recently. Meg Foster is a good actress but to me she didn't have Chris Cagney's energy to the level Loretta Swit had in the pilot movie and Sharon Gless,who took over did. They also should have dyed Meg's hair to make her look like Loretta Swit,these early C and L episodes very good,hope they make it to DVD sometime.

Woah, I've never seen this. Someone else as Cagney? And where's the classic theme?

Simmons

Meg is a good actress, but I remember not quite right for the role. Would like to see her episodes again, reevaluate her performance farther removed from my memories of Swit and Gless's interpretations.

Saw the Meg Foster episodes recently,Lacey and Cagney were too alike,Sharon Gless made the part her own,thought Loretta Swit was good in the movie too.

Thanks they changed the opening when Sharon Gless started in the series, this one was realy bad. Martin Kove wasn't in the first season of the show?

Know what you mean.

Who were the hottest female cops on tv during the 1981-82 . Trish Noble, Meg Foster or Randi Oakes.

I like Meg Foster but this role just didn't do it with her. Sharon Gless was made for the role and the second theme is a TV legend !

What's with the jazz/blues song? The 2nd theme was more appropriate.

"When, after running across town, they eventually show up to where the tish is hittin', no surprise that the male cops are already there putting the cuffs on the bad guys and probably laughin" i know this is an old comment, but, how did you get ~THAT~?? THEY were the only cops there and THEY put the cuffs on the person. that's the whole point. lol

SIMMONS

C and L that is

Simmonz

Now don't get me wrong, I love Meg Foster, but her Christine Cagney didn't really work as well up against Tyne Daly's Mary Beth Lacey as Gless' version would later do. Also, this "theme song" is horrible, if it can even be called a theme. Bill Conti's next theme that accompanied all the seasons with Sharon Gless is one of the coolest tv themes in history. Everything just fell right into place the moment Sharon Gless joined the show.

i liked meg foster but i must admit they made her look like some tough, cold-hearted dyke in the mini-series (season 1). they could have some adjustment in this area. at any rate, sharon gless was an ok replacement. i'd love to see the pilot with loretta swit, can anyone upload it?

@wheelinthesky300

9 жыл бұрын

It was not a pilot, but a TV Movie, and I saw it when it aired in 1981. It was a sleeper hit, very entertaining. My mother and I agreed it would make a good series, of course the problem was Loretta Swit was not going to leave MASH. Loretta can be a tough gal, as we saw on MASH, but she was actually softer than both Gless and Foster. The TV Movie was slightly more humorous than the series, with some comic moments coming from both police woman learning the ropes.

@filomango69

9 жыл бұрын

thanks very much for the info. i would love to see that tv-movie! anyone, please? please upload if you have a copy

@kjamison5951

5 жыл бұрын

I hope you've seen it by now. Rather than me post a link, search "Cagney and Lacey Loretta Swit" in KZread. Pilot TV movie shows up.

lol, its not as good but still a classic

It's ok but the rework in season 2 is much better

simmons?

Gless has such beautiful feet.

@reggieholder576

6 жыл бұрын

someone's got a fetish.gross.

rubbish, wheres the intro with the flasher?

tyne daly was way hotter back then.