Cagney & Lacey: 1

Debuting on CBS in 1982, this TV series about New York-based female detectives was cancelled after the first season, but revived after viewers mounted a massive letter-writing campaign to save it (it went on to earn a total of 36 Emmy nominations, racking up 14 wins). A series that tackled controversial social issues while also dealing at length with the personal lives of its protagonists, Cagney & Lacey unfortunately doesn't stand up all that well after a quarter century. In fact, owing to the plethora of realistic cop shows that followed in its wake, the series now seems more than a little contrived and hokey, while the hot-button issues of 1982 are no longer provocative in light of today's more permissive primetime climate. Still, fans of Chris Cagney (Sharon Gless) and Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) will be delighted to see this four-disc set collecting all 22 “true beginning” episodes (i.e., minus the other Cagneys: Loretta Swit in the pilot feature and Meg Foster in the first six episodes) from the 1982-83 first full season, which cover topics ranging from date rapes to hate crimes, while also dramatizing the plight of fellow cops dealing with drug abuse and sexual discrimination. DVD extras include the well-made if self-congratulatory two-part documentary “Breaking the Laws of TV.” Incidentally, producer Barney Rosenzweig released a memoir at the end of 2006 entitled Cagney & Lacey...and Me: An Inside Hollywood Story, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blonde. Optional. (E. Hulse)