Cagney & Lacey ... and Me: An Inside Hollywood Story OR How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blonde

by Barney Rosenzweig

If they gave out Emmys for best book about an Emmy-award winning TV series, Executive Producer Barney Rosenzweig would have another to add to his huge collection. If you love Cagney & Lacey-as I do-this is a must read. Triple love it! -Rosie O'Donnell, comedian, actress, host of award-winning The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and co-host of The View"Cagney & Lacey ... and Me is terrific-a must-read for anyone interested in how the television business really works. From insecure stars with over-sized egos, to network executives blundering their way to success in spite of themselves, Barney Rosenzweig's chronicle of the rise and fall of the hit series Cagney & Lacey has it tempers, tears, greed, deceit, duplicity and sex-in short, more juicy melodrama than a daytime soap opera." -Steven Bochco, producer writer of award-winning series Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue"One of Hollywood's greatest producers is also a brilliant storyteller. Barney recounts tales from the front lines of network television battlefields-with candor, intelligence and inimitable wit. If you want to know how television really works, this is the book for you"-Linda Bloodworth and Harry Thomason, award-winning creators, writer, producers and director of Designing Women"Barney wrote a book?" -Peter Falk, Emmy-winning star of iconic television series, Columbo and twice nominated Academy Award star of motion pictures too numerous to mention

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

406 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[Christina Getrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

As part of my deep dive into Cagney & Lacey (see review of Apparently There Were Complaints: A Memoir I listened to the audio recording of Barney's book, available only on the audio DVD that comes with the 40th anniversary collection--see your local library :-). This was a fascinating read, as he delves into the day to day work involved in producing a television show, and boy are there details. I don't know how some shows ever make it to air with all of the wheeling and dealing that needs to be done first. Some of it got a little repetitive by the end, but it was overall very fascinating and I loved learning all of the backstory to getting C&L on the air and how it was canceled and resuscitated TWICE! And you get his side of the affair with Sharon Gless that led to their eventual marriage. It was cool to also read her side in her book. I found it all quite romantic; kind of crappy, of course, how it happened, because he was still married and he was her boss on the show. But also so sweet that they're still together all these years later. And Barney is a heck of a guy for conceiving the idea of C&L in the first place, wanting to make the first-ever "buddy movie" starring two women. Hard to believe, nowadays, that this had never been done until 1981. Anyway, another interesting read for anyone who enjoys behind-the-scenes Hollywood books. The audio version is more up to date, by the way, as it was recorded in I think 2017 or 2018, whereas apparently his book was originally published back in 2006. He mentions a few things to that effect as he narrates. He's definitely a raconteur and loves to tell stories, because you would swear he's just telling you stories and not reading at all, he talks kind of fast! But he's a pretty good narrator. His diaries must be huge for all the details he put in them that he's able to bring up here. A fun listen.

[Heather Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in the specifics of how television was made in the late 20th century, this memoir is very detailed on those points. Although there are plenty of personal anecdotes, too, this was extremely cerebral and too bogged down in network politics for me. His wife's book is my all-time favorite celebrity memoir, because it's warm, dishy, and personal. This isn't that. But I am still glad that I read it. Very smart guy, that Mr. Rosenzweig.

[Cynthia Bemis Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read this this as research for my podcast, Advanced TV Herstory. As historic record for the series, there are parts where his first-hand account and memory is invaluable. He also gives a practical accounting of how series were developed, favored and challenged by the networks, media and others in the business.

[Debra Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was too technical on ratings and fights. I loved the show but how the show came about and stayed on the air was too much.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Cagney & Lacey and the parts about the show itself were quite entertaining. Daly was quite the diva. Some of the other stuff was a bit sluggish for me.

[Mediaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better behind-the-scenes books regarding the making of a TV show but suffers from a gigantic flaw: the book's author is an obnoxious jerk who overestimates his abilities and pushes his feminist agenda.

Cagney & Lacey was good but not great 1980s show that hasn't rerun well but makes for an interesting story of how a television series is made. The show took years to get on the air and all sorts of minor details are included that give insight into the network programming process. But this book is more than that--it's a way for producer Rosenzweig to give his career story and try to enshrine himself in the TV history books. Not only does he repeatedly claim C&L was "one of the most esteemed dramas in the history of television" (really? count up those awards and compare them to the many others that have more!) but he actually compares himself to Norman Lear, the prolific sitcom producer who cranked out hit after hit while changing the entire industry. Rosenzweig, by comparison, is just a B-grade producer who got fired from many jobs (including Charlie's Angels!) and had very few success stories. Even C&L was a bomb when it started and it took the network executives to set it straight (though Rosenzweig disagreed the whole way!).

So you have to skip past the continued self-praise and know-it-all prose in order to get to the interesting inside details about how TV shows work behind the scenes. The book is well written but the author includes odd underlined footnote comments on almost every page, things that could have easily been included in the body of the book. He also constantly talks about "winning" arguments and trumping others. And then there's the constant push of the feminist agenda. It's never actually stated why he is so pro-feminist (though marrying some amazingly strong-willed industry women must have been part of it) but he just comes out and admits that he was trying to push the feminist cause in his programs. That means his shows were propaganda, not entertainment. The irony is that Rosenzweig is a blustery tyrant who pushes everyone else around and doesn't want to take orders from anyone, acting very king-like in how he oversees the women he works with while preaching female equality. If anything his over-the-top pro-feminist push in this book appears to be his need to overcompensate for his boorish behavior in wanting to lead and control everyone.

If you like behind-the-scenes TV books, you'll like this one. But unless you support the author's feminist agenda you won't come away liking him.

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Cagney & Lacey, and was one of those people who wrote a letter to prevent it from getting cancelled. I saw Sharon Gless and Tyne Daley on a talk show, and they were asked about the book. Both said that they hadn't read it, but that Barney lived through it all and knew it better than anyone, so the books was probably accurate. Now that I've read the book I can guess why neither woman wanted to read it. Tyne had to have known how she would come off - kind of crazed. Sharon probably didn't read it because she knew Tyne wouldn't come off well, and just wanted to be able to say she didn't know what her husband had written. Who knows, I'm just guessing.

As a 52 year old woman who watched a lot of tv during the time when C&L was on, plus all those other shows that Barney referred to in telling the tale, I really liked this book. C&L was one heck of an important show, to me, and to the times. It stood alone as the ONLY show that showed strong female characters who carried the show. They were real, and they were role models. They grew, and we grew to love them. Great show.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the show Cagney & Lacey - I remember avidly watching it as a teenager. The book is interesting enough, but you have to put up with Barney going off on many tangents about the intricate ins and outs of making a TV show, especially one that was lead by two women. There's also a lot of stuff in there about this ongoing contractual issues with the studios, which was for me less interesting. Admittedly I skipped a few pages as he was going on about non Cagney & Lacey stuff. I found the book a little self indulgent at times but nevertheless it was a pretty good insight into the making of the show and the leading ladies.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Hollywood celebrity bio, this. This is a Producer's playbook, from the last days of broadcast dominance, when one could still aim for a 30 share. Rosenzweig breaks it all down, to a nearly academic degree, from pitch, to pilot, to a 7-year Emmy dominance. By the time he falls in love with Sharon Gless, it seems just one more branch off the project plan. You will begin to troll the Internet for the full boxed set.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

HUGE fan of the series so just had to read this......disappointing. Very long trip to get to the interesting stuff.