6 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Cagney & Lacey,’ the Groundbreaking Cop Drama That Changed TV Forever
When Cagney & Lacey hit the airwaves on March 25, 1982, it wasn’t just another cop show — it marked a revolution for female characters. Though they weren’t TV’s first lady “buddy cops,” thanks to Charlie’s Angels, Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey represented TV’s first everywoman characters, whose personal lives and struggles mattered as much as their detective skills. As Cagney and Lacey, Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly didn’t just solve crimes; they tackled real-life social issues, from workplace sexism to gun violence to alcoholism and beyond, in a clear-eyed way that was rare for television — especially when female characters led the show.
But the road to success was as complicated as its lead detectives’ lives. Cagney & Lacey weathered multiple casting changes, network interference from CBS and even an early cancellation before an outpouring of fan support resurrected it. What followed was a remarkable six-season run that redefined the police-procedural genre, earned 14 Emmys (most for its leads) and paved the way for today’s female-led dramas.
More than 40 years later, Cagney & Lacey remains a cultural touchstone, inspiring generations of TV heroines from Law & Order: SVU‘s Olivia Benson to Rizzoli & Isles‘ Jane and Maura. But how much do you really know about the show?
1There were three Cagneys
The show spun off from a TV movie featuring M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey. Swit told Emmy Legends that she refused to proceed as Cagney unless Daly, her friend, was cast as Cagney’s partner. Swit was also instrumental in getting character actor Dick O’Neill his role as Cagney’s father, Charles, in the film and the series by writing a backstory for her character.
Swit wanted to leave Hot Lips behind to play Cagney in the series, but CBS refused to release her from the still highly rated M*A*S*H. The actress appreciated her ability to redefine women’s TV roles with both characters, but felt she had more power to play strength and independence in the Cagney role.
The show still struggled to find its Cagney, even after it debuted. Aqua-eyed actress Meg Foster held the role for its first six episodes. But CBS executives deemed her portrayal “too masculine and aggressive” and worried about public chatter that the detectives were attracted to one another, leading to abysmal ratings. Loyal viewers protested the series’ cancellation, but CBS insisted that producer Barry Rosenzwieg replace Foster before the network would bring it back. Switch actress Sharon Gless — whom Rosenzweig wanted for the role in the first place — played Cagney for the duration of the series and the resulting TV movies.
2It was a renaissance for Epstein
© CBS / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Cagney & Lacey revived the career of Robert Hegyes — Welcome Back, Kotter‘s beloved Juan Epstein — after Kotter went off the air. Hegyes played undercover detective Manny Esposito from 1986 to 1988, and appeared in several of the Cagney & Lacey TV movies.
The actor said he pestered the show’s casting director, Diane Dimeo, for a part and got invited to audition to play a gang member. It didn’t sit well with him. He revised his audition scene in a pretty colorful way involving Dimeo and figured he’d blown his chances. A week later, Dimeo called Heyges back and said that, if he behaved himself, he could audition for the Esposito role, and he landed it on the spot. “That was over 50 episodes of absolute acting lessons from two of the best, Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless,” Heyges told Pop Goes the Culture TV. “I never went to my dressing room, ’cause I watched their rehearsals.”
3Filmed on the mean streets of sunny L.A.
© CBS / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Though the show was set on the gritty streets of New York, it actually filmed in Los Angeles, which was often painfully evident to native New Yorkers. Coincidentally, the Cagney & Lacey set was converted warehouse at 2630 Lacy Street, now known as Lacy Street Production Center.
4A producer married two different women who worked on the show
Frederick M. Brown/Newsmakers
Rosenzweig was married to Cagney & Lacey cocreator Barbara Corday at the time the series aired, but they divorced in 1990, and he married Gless in 1991 — luckily, after the show ended, or it could have made for some awkward days on set.
5They were the first female TV cops to be honored by the NYPD
“We were the first women — the first actresses — that had ever been honored by the New York Police Department,” Gless said in an interview with the Television Academy foundation. “There was a big, huge thing. The chief of police was there, and they honored us for the quality of work we were doing in portraying them. How cool is that?”
6Undone by TV’s most famous yuppies
Everett Collection
In its final season, Cagney & Lacey was moved from its Monday at 10/9pm CT time slot to Tuesdays at 9/8pm CT. Though the series had ably held its own against Monday Night Football, it was soon undone by a popular new upstart: ABC’s baby-boomer drama thirtysomething. But the characters lived on in multiple, highly rated TV movies, and is currently available to stream, minus the Foster-featured first season, on Pluto.
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