Cagney & Lacey - Cancellation and Return

Cancellation and Return

Cagney & Lacey premiered in March 1982 with high hopes from the industry, in the wake of the TV movie. Reviews of the series, however, with Meg Foster in place of Loretta Swit, were instantly mixed. Critics praised the level of storytelling, but put emphasis on the aggressiveness that both Daly and Foster expressed with their characters. Although the press wasn't initially bad, ratings tanked well below the performance of the TV movie; as soon as the six episode order was finished in late April, CBS canceled the program. Executive producer Barney Rosenzweig, however, was determined to reverse the network's decision. Well aware that Daly and Foster received much notice for their ultra-feminist, masculine portrayals of the female detectives, Rosenzweig believed that perhaps another attempt to hire Sharon Gless for the role of Cagney would cause CBS to recant their action.

Gless had been initially unavailable for the movie and series, which were produced by Orion, because of her long-running contract to Universal Television (she was the last actress ever to be signed to a long-term contract with a studio, in 1972). Gless was even actively utilizing her Universal contract at the time the series went into production, having taken over as female lead (in place of Lynn Redgrave) on the CBS sitcom House Calls. However, rumors were also rampant that House Calls was getting the axe that spring, in a matter similarly related to politics rather than ratings (it was the No. 8 show on television during the 1980–81 season, and was still in the top 30 even after Gless replaced Redgrave). Rosenzweig had to wait until the fall schedule was released at upfronts in May to learn if Gless was going to be available, but it was further unclear if Universal would have allowed her out of her contract.

Prior to the unveiling of that year's network upfronts, a CBS executive noted to the press that the cancellation of Cagney & Lacey was highly motivated by the jarringly tough nature of the female leads as well as low ratings. The official claimed that, in response to the strong portrayal of Daly and Foster, that "we've perceived them as dykes". This remark set off massive protest, and put Rosenzweig into high gear in his dealings with CBS. Sure enough, the cancelation of House Calls was announced among insider circles just before upfronts, and Rosenzweig pressured CBS executives to relaunch Cagney & Lacey in the fall with Gless replacing Foster. Gless met with Cagney & Lacey producers again to consider the role, but while always having taken to the character, had doubts about joining for the fall of 1982 because, after House Calls, she "didn't want to make a career of replacing actresses". The convincing nature of Rosenzweig, and the continued endearment of the Christine Cagney character to Gless had her relent in the end, and she was officially on board. Gless and Rosenzweig successfully prompted Universal to terminate the actress' contract, and with the promise that Gless would play a more feminine Cagney, CBS granted Cagney & Lacey a last-minute berth on the fall schedule.

Ratings, unfortunately, were still low during the first year Daly and Gless starred on the series together. Cagney & Lacey was canceled by CBS a second time in May 1983, in which, after almost a year of decreased buzz about the show, an ever larger public outcry exploded. Fans of the show, organized by Rosenzweig, staged a letter-writing campaign. At the same time, CBS switched its time slot for what was to have been its final three months on the air during summer reruns. This relocation resulted in the ratings suddenly rising. The viewer protest, coupled with the post-cancellation improvement in the Nielsens and the Emmy nomination that year (which Tyne Daly won in September), resulted in success for the public. That fall, CBS announced the return of Cagney & Lacey as a mid-season entry, on Monday, March 19, 1984. The network would have wanted to return it sooner, but not long after the second cancelation came to pass, the sets at Orion had already been destroyed, and the cast had been let out of their contracts. One cast member, Tony La Torre, had already joined another series, the ABC sitcom 9 to 5. When nearly all of the Cagney & Lacey cast received new contracts in late 1983, La Torre was able to return as well, since 9 to 5 was canceled by ABC just weeks into the 1983–84 season. Cagney & Lacey was back into production by January 1984.

TV Guide celebrated the show's return with the cover reading "Welcome Back, Cagney & Lacey--You want them! You've got them!". The show finished in the top 10 for the 1983–84 season, and went on to earn 36 Emmy Award nominations and 14 wins throughout its run until 1988, including six nominations for stars Daly and Gless: four wins for Daly and two for Gless. The series itself won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Drama Series in 1985 and 1986. The show's ratings leveled out to where it hovered around 30th place in the Nielsens during seasons four to six, a period where many state the show to have been in its creative peak. Despite continued ratings prosperity and Emmy wins for its stars, rumors of the show's permanent cancellation still circulated every year at renewal time.

The series continued to air Monday nights at 10/9c until the middle of the 1987-88 season, holding its own against ABC's Monday Night Football and NBC Monday Night at the Movies. Midway through its seventh season, Cagney & Lacey was moved to Tuesdays at 10/9c, where it began to compete against scripted series thirtysomething (ABC) and Crime Story (NBC). Cagney & Lacey lost viewers from the freshman critical success thirtysomething, which, despite being the time slot winner, only ranked #45 overall. CBS' reason for relocating Cagney & Lacey was because it was believed that its Monday slot would further build an audience for Wiseguy, another new critical hit of the season that had average ratings at best. By the end of the season, Cagney & Lacey was left at 53rd place, and the 20-point drop from the previous season was enough for CBS to have doubts about renewing the show. With the final episode of the seventh season ending on a cliffhanger, CBS was considering to bring the show back, but when May 1988 upfronts were released, Cagney & Lacey's permanent cancellation had indeed occurred. For the summer of 1988, the series moved one last time, not back to its familiar Monday time slot, but to Thursdays at 10/9c.

The series also gained considerable popularity internationally. It was originally shown in the UK on BBC1 where it regularly made the top 10.