The female buddy cop drama “Cagney & Lacey” was a groundbreaking show that depicted working women in a way that few ’80s series did. It’s a sad irony that actress Meg Foster, who played detective Christine Cagney when the show started, was forced out of the series for sexist, homophobic reasons.
Foster was not the first woman to play Cagney. Loretta Swit played her in the made-for-TV movie that kicked off the franchise, though she wasn’t able to star in the series because “M*A*S*H*” wouldn’t let her out of her contract. Foster took the part opposite Tyne Daly’s Mary Beth Lacey when the show premiered on March 25, 1982. However, CBS canceled the series after six episodes, and although executive producer Barney Rosenzweig convinced the network to bring it back, CBS demanded some changes.
The network worried that Foster and Daly were too similar and not feminine enough for American audiences. In a jarring interview with TV Guide, one CBS executive said the pair came across as butch lesbians, using a slur to make his point. Foster had previously played a lesbian character in the 1978 film “A Different Story,” further concerning executives. In order to reverse the cancellation, “Cagney & Lacey” needed to ditch Foster, and Rosenzweig acquiesced. Cagney’s role was recast and given to Sharon Gless for the rest of the series and four reunion TV movies.
Meg Foster was hurt by the firing but continued acting
Even after replacing Meg Foster with Sharon Gless, “Cagney & Lacey” was still under threat of cancellation. Citing low ratings, CBS canceled the show for a second time in the spring of 1983, only for a fan letter-writing campaign to save the series by convincing the network that it did indeed have a passionate audience. The show was canceled for a third and final time in 1988.
Multiple cancellations aside, “Cagney & Lacey” was a critical hit, and it’s remembered as one of the best police procedurals. Gless won a pair of outstanding lead actress Emmys in 1986 and 1987, and her co-star, Tyne Daly, won four. We’ll never know if Foster could’ve won any awards as Cagney had she gotten a chance to continue playing the part.
Foster was very hurt by the firing, and she had trouble getting work for a while after word of her axing spread. According to one newspaper at the time, “She told friends that she felt as though she had been hit by a truck.” Foster’s acting career recovered, though none of her later roles were as iconic as Cagney. Her more notable credits include playing Evil-Lyn in the 1987 “Masters of the Universe” movie and the female lead of John Carpenter’s cult classic “They Live.”