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'Judging Amy' episode reunites 'Cagney & Lacey' stars
By BRIDGET BYRNE For The Associated Press
February 2, 2003
LOS ANGELES - It sounds like Mary Beth Lacey is yelling at Chris Cagney.
The stars of the 1980s cop series "Cagney & Lacey" are acting enraged over a betrayal of friendship. But this is "Judging Amy," not the groundbreaking CBS show in which the two played detectives.
Tyne Daly, once Lacey, now plays social worker Maxine Gray, mother to title character Judge Amy Gray. Sharon Gless, once Cagney, is guest-starring as a social services official investigating complaints against Maxine, her one-time college roommate and co-worker.
Originally Gless had agreed to play an old college roommate who shows up for a happier reason: to be maid of honor at Maxine's wedding. But real-life events overtook the scenario. Richard Crenna, who played Maxine's fiance, was hospitalized and unable to work.
In early January, while filming the rewritten reunion episode, "Maxine, Interrupted" (airing Feb. 11, 9 p.m. on WEVV-CBS44), Daly clung to the hope Crenna would recover. But he died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 17.
Crenna's absence in the episode was covered by sending his character on a business trip to China. A future episode will address why he never reappears, depriving Maxine of a second chance at married life.
Gless' presence on the 20th Century Fox Studios set was clearly comforting to Daly.
"My mother used to say, 'Sweat is a great relationship cement,'" jokes Daly, referring to the rigorous years of making "Cagney & Lacey."
Unlike their latest scripted relationship, Gless' and Daly's real-life bond has been steadfast.
"Time has been very good to both of them ... they were wonderful together, clearly enjoyed themselves and brought the kind of energy, spirit and humor to their work that they always have," says "Judging Amy" co-executive producer and director James Frawley.
Frawley directed episodes of "Cagney & Lacey" (1982-88 and "Cagney & Lacey: The Return" in 1994, the first of four made-for-TV reunion movies.
"Chemistry is something that exists or it doesn't," he says. "With these women, it's apparent on the screen ... they are smart enough as actresses to know that if there is a resource that actually exists, there is no reason not to tap into it."
However in their latest roles, friendship cracks.
"They damage each other a little bit. They don't mean to, but it's emotionally intricate, which is always fun to play," five-time Emmy winner Daly says of the characters.
"It's 'What happened? Where are you - the person I knew once - where did you go?'" says Gless.
This is not the first time the actresses have been on each other's shows. Daly guest-starred in 1991 on Gless' short-lived series, "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill." And Daly would like to appear on the Showtime cable series "Queer as Folk," on which Gless plays a flamboyant mom coping with her son and his gay friends.
"Tell them I'll come if I can play a total stranger ... a strange woman who shows up at your diner and is in some kind of trouble. That would be really fun to play," Daly muses as the actresses eat lunch together during a break in filming.
Sneaked a script of "Queer as Folk" while it was still in development, Gless immediately called Showtime to say, "I want this part." She says it was the first time she'd "gone after a role since the '70s." She's thrilled to be in a "real eye-opener."
"I had a tremendous lesbian following as Chris Cagney," she begins to say.
"Men loved her, too, but they were too shy," Daly interrupts. "I used to get all these letters saying, 'Can you get me Sharon Gless' address?'"
"Now I have a whole new contingent of fans: gay men," Gless continues.
She's delighted to be able to be "wacky" in a "crazy wig" in "Queer as Folk," rather than in one of the more conventional roles typically offered to "a woman my age."
Gless is 59, still married to "Cagney & Lacey" producer Barney Rosenzweig. Daly, long divorced from actor-director Georg Stanford Brown, will turn 57 on Feb. 21.
Both women feel comfortable in taking some credit for infusing the image of television's lead actresses with more substance and responsibility. "Cagney & Lacey" broke ground by showing that women could be buddies and do a traditionally male job.
"It's wonderful now to see categories of actresses for the Emmy who had something really to do that isn't just the secretary to the detective ... but really rich, wonderful portraits," says Daly. "So on a good day I feel great, and on a bad day I feel it's not enough, it's not enough, it's not enough. We need more."
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