80s TV Ladies Susan Lambert Hatem

Susan and Sharon are thrilled to sit down with show business legend Sharon Gless. Multi-Emmy and Golden Globe winner, Sharon Gless has appeared in dozens of television shows such as “Nip/Tuck”, “Rizzoli & Isles”, “The Rockford Files”, “House Calls,”The Bob Newhart Show”, “Station 19” and “The Exorcist.” She has created iconic and ground-breaking characters in the shows “Burn Notice”, “Queer as Folk”, “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill” and of course “Cagney & Lacey”.

In 2021 she published her bestselling, no-holds-barred autobiography “Apparently There Were Complaints”. In this in-depth interview, Sharon Gless talks frankly about feminism, her ongoing friendship with Tyne Daly, her affair, marriage and almost-divorce from Barney Rosenzweig, her struggles with substance abuse and recovery -- and the lasting legacy of the characters she’s played.

THE CONVERSATION
The moment Sharon Gless knew she wanted to be an actress – and knew she would not fail“The first feminist I ever met…” -- Barney Rosenzweig??How Cagney and Lacey we’re NEVER friends.How Sharon was actually the VERY FIRST person approached to play Christine Cagney – and why she turned it down.Earning $186 a week as the last contract player at Universal.“The Woman Behind the Woman”: how talent manager Monique James left her position as VP at MCA/Universal to become Sharon’s personal manager – and changed her life.Being forced to watch herself on film to learn what she was doing right -- and wrong.Hashing out billing, and rehearsing her first table read as Cagney, with Tyne Daly over a bottle of champagne.Why Christine Cagney wanted to be first through the door with a gun.Improvising and window shopping for the Cagney & Lacey main titles.Participating with Tyne Daly and Gloria Steinem in the 2004 Women’s March on Washington –- and seeing the true impact of “Cagney & Lacey” for the first time.Being Stephen J. Cannell’s “good luck charm!”Falling in love with Debbie Novotny on “Queer as Folk”.
So join Susan, Sharon – and Sharon Gless -- as they talk poker nights with Tyne, the “C”-word, the other “C”-word -- and what did she really say to that flasher??

AUDIOGRAPHY
Official website: SharonGless.com
Sharon Gless Facebook page.

Sharon Gless’ autobiography “Apparently There Were Complaints” at Bookshop.
Watch the trailer for Sharon’s upcoming Documentary - Show Her The Money

WHERE TO WATCH
Cagney & Lacey on ROKU. On PLUTO. On Apple TV.
Trials of Rosie O’Neill on Roku. On a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.fabb786f-c6f2-3119-2850-659f6633a708" target="_blank"...

Join us to meet the woman behind Mary Beth Lacey! Sharon and Susan are excited and honored to talk with Emmy and Tony-award winning actress and the star of Cagney & Lacey, Tyne Daly.

In a career spanning eight decades, Tyne Daly has appeared on stage and screen in over 100 roles in everything from “The Mod Squad” and “Judging Amy” to co-starring with Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry film “The Enforcer”. She has received six Emmy awards – four for her outstanding portrayal of Mary Beth Lacey on “Cagney & Lacey.” In this intimate interview, Tyne Daly shares stories of her childhood, barely finishing high school, her early days acting in New York, her eventual move to Los Angeles with then husband actor/director Georg Stanford Brown -- and a lifetime of acting, politics and poetry.

THE CONVERSATION
How Dustin Hoffman opened the door for “non-perfect” people on film and TV.Coming to California -- and being “done at 21”!How the internet is the death of conversation and the power of words.Doing her early pilots – and hoping they didn’t go!“I Did My Cop” - How Dirty Harry almost kept Tyne from doing “Cagney & Lacey”How Tyne went to the mat for Meg Foster (the 2nd Cagney) at the end of season one – and almost lost her job for it.What it was like to read with the (many) actresses auditioning to play the third Cagney – and how it felt to hear what the producers said about them when they left the room.Why Tyne hasn’t re-watched the show – and doesn’t want to.Tyne’s idea for a new holiday: Interdependence Day – a day celebrating everything we have in common.Tyne reads the poem “Life While You Wait” by Wisława SzymborskaHow after a life time of striving and struggling – as an actress and woman – Tyne sees that certain battles are never over…What's Tyne's one word to explain the 21st century? And what's yours?So join Susan, Sharon – and Tyne -- as they talk Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Jimmy Stewart, “Colleagues with penises” and “Lining up with the pigs”!

AUDIOGRAPHY

Visit the Official Cagney & Lacey Facebook page.
& Official Tyne Daly Facebook page.

WHERE TO WATCH:
Cagney & Lacey on Roku
The Bread Factory, Part 1 and Part 2
Stream for free with library card or university log-in: Kanopy.com
- On Apple TV.
- On Amazon.

BOOKS & MORE
Remembering Cagney & Lacey with Sharon Gless & Tyne Daly by Brian McFaddenPoems New and Collected by Wisława Szymborskaa href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/new-handbook-for-a-post-roe-america-the-complete-guide-to-abortion-legality-access-and-practical-support-robin-marty/14783054?ean=9781644210581" target="_blank"...

Wait! There were THREE Cagneys?
In Part 2 of our conversation with creator/executive producer Barney Rosenzweig, we follow along as the massive success of the Cagney & Lacey TV movie launches it directly into a weekly series for CBS and into a very tumultuous road from multiple cancellations to hit ratings and 14 Emmys. The rest, as they say, is 80’s TV herstory…

THE CONVERSATION
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS, PART 1: “We want ‘Cagney & Lacey’ as a mid-season pick-up!” BUT… “You’ve got to be on the air in 20 weeks. And -- you need a new Cagney”.After Loretta Switt, but before Meg Foster… Susan Clark (Webster, Coogan's Bluff) was almost Cagney -- except for one small problem only Barney noticed. (“Lacey & Lacey” anyone?)GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS, PART 2: Cagney & Lacey premieres to a 38 share!” BUT… “Then it plummets to a 22 share. You’re canceled.”Time slot matters: Why would it be a bad idea to air Cagney & Lacey after massive-hit Magnum P.I.? After Cagney & Lacey is dropped, what 80s detective duo TV show was saved from the chopping block by taking the slot? Spoiler alert: Simon & Simon!How did Barney snatch victory from the jaws of defeat - and wrangle a last-minute reprieve that results in a second-season order.THE FINAL CAGNEY: How the second season renewal is dependent on replacing Cagney one more time. The end of House Calls gives us the third - and final - Cagney in the form of… drumroll… Sharon Gless!GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS, PART 3: “Your ratings are great! You’re nominated for Emmys!” BUT… “The Thornbirds came on and destroyed your ratings. You’re canceled – AGAIN!”The Barney & fan-driven letter-writing campaign to save the show from death -- AGAIN!The Abortion Episode – and why Barney thinks it’s one of their weakest.How Barney’s on-set affair led to the end of one marriage (to Barbara Corday, Cagney & Lacey writer/creator and then Columbia Television president) and the beginning of another (to series co-star Sharon Gless).Looking Back: Barney reflects on the many ways his journey with “Cagney & Lacey” changed his career, his personal philosophy – and his life.
So join Susan & Sharon – and Barney – as they talk Moonlighting, Dead to Me – and why you should always call your mom…

AUDIOGRAPHY

WHERE TO WATCH:
On Apple.
On Amazon.
On Pluto.
More Streaming Options on Decider.

Visit the Official Cagney & Lacey website.
Read Barney Rosenzweig’s Blog!
Get Barney’s book: “Cagney & Lacey… and me”
BOOK: “From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies” by Molly Haskell

Weirding Way Media (Mike White & Chris Stachiw)

Need help or want to help? ABORTIONFUNDS.ORGbr...

Buckle up, kids - We’re kicking off our series on Cagney & Lacey!

Sharon & Susan begin their look back at the classic 80’s TV series Cagney & Lacey with a conversation with the show’s creator and executive producer, Barney Rosenzweig. Rosenzweig’s career spans five decades and hundreds of hours of television including Charlie’s Angels, Daniel Boone, Christie, Twice in a Lifetime, and The Trials of Rosie O’Neill.

But he made TV history when he approached writers Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday with a simple yet revolutionary idea: “Write a Robert Redford/Paul Newman buddy movie -- but for women.” They in turn wrote Cagney & Lacey to answer the burning 1980s question: “Can women be buddies under pressure?” Together, they created a legendary television series that Rosenzweig elegantly describes as “a show about two women – who just happen to be cops”.

Cagney & Lacey is a police procedural drama - starring Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless - that premiered in 1982 and ran until 1988. The franchise included 125 episodes and five TV movies. The show has been the recipient of 37 Primetime Emmy nominations with 14 wins, including four wins for a leading actress in a drama for Daly and two wins for Gless.

THE CONVERSATION
Three Cagneys, Two “pilots”… and One Lacey! - How Tyne Daly’s Mary Beth Lacey went through three Christine Cagneys: Loretta Switt, Meg Foster -- and finally Sharon Gless.But what’s a Showrunner? - Barney explains his role in collaborating with writers, directors, actors and artists to bring a singular vision to life.A Life-Changing Epiphany – How a night at the movies with future wife Barbara Avedon showed a “50’s guy” what sexism really is.How Cagney & Lacey were almost played by… Anne Bancroft & Raquel Welch??Working publicity for MGM's Howard Strickling and directors Martin Ritt and Tony Richardson - which one was "the worst experience of my life"?How to shoot Toronto for New York – there is a trick…How a chance meeting with Suzanne Levine got Cagney & Lacey on the cover of Ms. Magazine – and a 48 share!
So join us as we talk about University of Southern California yell-leaders, 1965 MGM-epic Ben Hur, car bombs – and throwing up over “director’s cuts”!

AUDIOGRAPHY
- Visit the Official Cagney & Lacey website.
- Read Barney Rosenzweig’s Blog!
- Get Barney’s book: “Cagney & Lacey… and me”

Help us keep making this show and get ad-free episodes: WE’RE now ON PATREON!

For more information or to download a transcript of this podcast, visit our website - 80sTVLadies.com
Don’t miss out on everything 80s TV Ladies. Sign up for our mailing list!

Could you be a stuntwoman? Find out what it takes.
Susan and Sharon are honored to talk with legendary award-winning stuntwoman Debbie Evans Leavitt. In a career spanning six decades, Debbie has risked life and limb in classic television shows and massive blockbuster movies. She talks doubling Stephanie Zimbalist on Remington Steele and what that moment between take-off and crash-landing feels like. Debbie has flipped and fallen and raced in Charlie’s Angels, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Vega$, ChiPs, The A-Team, Hill Street Blues, Magnum, PI, Cagney & Lacey, CSI, NCIS: Los Angeles, Fear the Walking Dead, Major Crimes, and Criminal Minds.

Her many feature films include The Jerk, 1941, Jagged Edge, Heaven’s Gate, Witches of Eastwick, The Ring, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fight Club and Pineapple Express as well as Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Resurrection, this year’s The Batman -- and eight of the ten Fast & the Furious movies including the upcoming “Fast X”.

As one of the few women to survive and flourish in one of Hollywood’s most notorious boys' clubs – the world of stunts – Debbie Evans has navigated a treacherous career filled with challenges not limited to high-falls, fist fights and car chases. She takes Susan and Sharon over the hurdles and around the curves of a life that has been fast, furious, deeply rewarding – and never less than thrilling.

So buckle-up and grab your crash strap – here we go!

THE CONVERSATION
Remembering 37 episodes of “Remington Steele” includingLearning to run “like Laura Holt”Falling from a burning building!Jumping Laura’s VW Rabbit into a pond!Stunting for the guys! Using a fat suit and bald cap to double as Remington and Laura’s nemesis Norman Keyes – and getting punched by Pierce Brosnan!Riding motorcycles with her dad and her first time on a bike (she crashed)Building a Honda 55 step thru piece-by-piece at age 8 (took a year)Having fun on the set of “The Fast and the Furious” films with Michelle RodriquezGetting her first movie gig with Roger Corman on the aptly named “DeathSport”Being mentored by “stunt mom” and veteran stuntwoman Jeannie EpperDoing her first car flip on “ChiPs”Doubling Stepfanie Kramer on Hunter.Taking the wheel of the Cody Coyote on Hardcastle & McCormick.Playing cowboys and guitar with Kris Kristofferson on the set of Heaven's Gate.Being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003 – a dream come true.Susan, Sharon and Debbie talk about crashing, flipping, speeding and Gosling! (Ryan, of course…) as Debbie explains the subtle art of giving people “the respect they don’t deserve”…

AUDIOGRAPHY
Debbie Evans Official website.
Learn more about women working in the field of stunts at WomenInStunts.com --
BOOKS
Stunts: The How-To Handbook: Secrets From an Award-Winning Hollywood Stunt Woman by Angela Meryl - Get it on Amazon.
THE STUNTWOMAN: The True Story of a Hollywood Heroine by David L. Robb and Julie Ann Johnson - On Amazon - Paperback - Kindle.
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story (Screen Classics) by Mollie Gregory - a href="https://amzn.to/3HqFAuD" target="_blank"...

It’s the return of the 90’s TV Babies!
Susan and Sharon welcome back Serita Fontanesi, Megan Ruble and Sergio Perez to get their 90s TV take on “Remington Steele”. We asked them to watch three episodes and share their thoughts:
The pilot: “License to Steele”S1, Ep21, “Sting of Steele”, featuring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Steele’s mentor Daniel Chalmers – and Beverly Garland, making a return appearance as Laura’s mother, Abigail HoltS2, Ep03, “Red Holt Steele” – you know, the one where Laura’s house blows up and she almost sleeps with Remington…
The 90s TV Babies loved “Scarecrow & Mrs. King” – what will their verdict be about “Remington Steele”? Let’s find out!

THE CONVERSATION
Why are 80s TV shows SO SLOW?! Or are they?Who knew Pierce Brosnan was SO skinny? Did James Bond fans think he wasn’t “man” enough to be 007?What’s more compelling? An intricate plot – or the “feels” between Laura and Remington?Was the villain in the pilot based on John DeLorean – or Elon Musk??Everyone knows Pierce Brosnan – but Sergio shares the joy of discovering Stephanie Zimbalist for the first time!Hey – why doesn’t Laura even know his real name?Where does the Venn diagram of beloved media overlap for Serita and Sergio?And what would a Season Six with no Pierce Brosnan look like?The 90’s TV Babies (with help from the 80’s TV Ladies) dig deep into the romantic comedy soul of “Remington Steele”, discussing intersectionality, feminism, issues of identity and voice – and why can’t the show be just a little more like “Grey’s Anatomy”?!


PLUS – Listener Questions! “Remington Steele” writer Robin Bernheim sends us answers to your questions about the casting of Tony Roselli, and whether Laura Holt would have evolved differently as a character if women had been running the show?

New segment: “80’s TV Ladies Salute” where we recognize the ladies (and men) of 80’s TV who we recently lost.

AUDIOGRAPHY
Watch all 5 seasons of “Remington Steele.”
Watch on Amazon.
On Apple TV.

8TL SALUTE - We salute the following 80s TV Ladies in Memoriam:

Kristie Alley
Earl Boen
Irene Cara
Carole Cook
Sonya Eddy
Diane McBain
Adam Rich
Helen Slayton-Hughes
Dorothy Tristan
Barbara Walters

For more information or to download a transcript of this podcast, visit our website - 80sTVLadies!

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