Somehow, We All Forgot This One
There are 80s TV shows that never really went away. Then there’s Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
For four seasons, Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner mixed espionage, comedy, suburban family life, and one very slow-burning romance. Millions watched it. Then, somehow, we all stopped talking about it. I can’t be the only one who remembers this show...right?
This Wasn’t Some Little Forgotten Show
First, we should probably clear something up. Scarecrow and Mrs. King wasn’t some obscure show CBS buried after 12 episodes. It debuted in 1983, lasted four seasons, and produced 88 episodes. That is a lot of secret documents accidentally finding their way into Amanda King’s hands.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And People Were Definitely Watching
In its first season, Scarecrow and Mrs. King finished as the 20th-most-watched show on television. A year later, it was still right there at 22nd. Think about that for a second. This supposedly forgotten show spent its first two seasons right around the Top 20. So where did it go?
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
It Started With One Really Bad Commute
The whole thing began when divorced suburban mother Amanda King encountered secret agent Lee Stetson at a train station. Lee was in trouble and needed someone to carry a package. Amanda happened to be standing there. Apparently that was all the résumé the Agency needed. Welcome aboard.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Amanda Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Spy
That was the joke, and also the reason the show worked. Amanda wasn’t a trained operative. She was a divorced mother of two living in suburban Virginia whose normal daily problems suddenly included international espionage. Somehow, school lunches and enemy agents wound up sharing space on the same calendar.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Kate Jackson Had To Forget “Charlie’s Angels”
Casting Kate Jackson was particularly clever because viewers already knew her as the ultra-capable Sabrina Duncan on Charlie’s Angels. Amanda was different. She was inexperienced and frequently out of her depth, but she was never helpless. She was observant, resourceful, stubborn, and usually figured things out before Lee expected her to.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Then There Was “Scarecrow”
Bruce Boxleitner played Lee Stetson, a polished Agency operative whose codename was Scarecrow. He knew surveillance, disguises, international intrigue, and pretty much every other skill an 80s television spy was expected to have. What he wasn’t prepared for was a determined suburban mom who kept wandering into his assignments and proving useful.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Boxleitner Needed A Hit Too
Before Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Boxleitner had starred in Bring ’Em Back Alive, which lasted only one season. Landing Scarecrow understandably hit him differently. He later recalled being so overwhelmed that he somehow wound up on a roof, where a security guard asked what he was doing. His answer was basically that he had no idea.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
The Chemistry Was The Real Secret Weapon
The spy plots gave Scarecrow and Mrs. King a reason to exist every week. Jackson and Boxleitner gave people a reason to come back. Amanda and Lee annoyed each other, depended on each other, protected each other, and slowly became something much more interesting than two coworkers exchanging classified folders.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And CBS Took Its Sweet Time
This was not a show that shoved its two leads together by episode six. Their relationship developed through undercover marriages, jealous moments, rescues, near-confessions, and approximately 47 million meaningful looks. Okay, we didn’t count the looks. But it certainly felt like that many.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Eventually, They Stopped Pretending
By the fourth season, the slow burn finally paid off. Lee proposed, and “Do You Take This Spy?” revolved around their attempts to actually get married while an international criminal investigation kept getting in the way. Because naturally even their wedding needed a spy plot.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
There Was Just One Tiny Problem
Lee and Amanda’s marriage had to remain secret. Amanda was still balancing family life with Agency work, while Lee’s career wasn’t exactly something you casually explained over Sunday dinner. Apparently international espionage is easier when your mother-in-law doesn’t know what you actually do all day.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Dotty Made Everything Better
Beverly Garland played Amanda’s mother, Dotty West, who lived with Amanda and helped with her sons. Dotty had no idea just how unusual her daughter’s work life had become, which meant Amanda regularly had to explain away some extremely suspicious behavior. Fortunately, 80s TV mothers were apparently very trusting.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And Amanda Really Was A Mom
Philip and Jamie weren’t conveniently forgotten whenever the spy plot started. Amanda’s sons, played by Paul Stout and Greg Morton, remained part of her life throughout the show. That family element helped keep Scarecrow and Mrs. King from becoming just another handsome-agent-chases-villain series.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Billy Melrose Deserves Some Love
Mel Stewart played Billy Melrose, Lee’s boss at the Agency and frequently the man attempting to keep the entire operation from flying apart. Boxleitner later remembered Stewart particularly fondly and talked about how much the actor made him laugh. Billy also had the difficult job of pretending Amanda wandering into everything was somehow normal.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Then There Was Francine
Martha Smith played fellow agent Francine Desmond, who had considerably more formal spy training than Amanda and wasn’t always thrilled about the suburban newcomer wandering into Agency business. Naturally, that made Francine a perfect counterweight. Someone had to look skeptical whenever Amanda saved everybody again.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Even The Agency Had An 80s-TV Cover Story
The Agency operated behind the International Federal Film Company, usually shortened to IFF. Because apparently if you’re hiding a secret intelligence operation, nothing says “please stop asking questions” quite like pretending everyone works for a film company. To be fair, it seemed to work.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Washington Was Part Of The Fun
The series was set around Washington, D.C., and the pilot made good use of the location. Boxleitner later remembered driving a 1963 Porsche Speedster around Washington during filming. There was one little problem: according to him, the Porsche had a habit of conking out after takes.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Then Scarecrow Got A Very 80s Upgrade
Eventually Lee was driving a 1984 Corvette, which feels considerably more appropriate for an 80s television secret agent. Boxleitner later joked that the car fit him like a pair of fiberglass pants. Somewhere, Don Johnson presumably felt a disturbance in the force.
The Show Actually Went To Europe
Scarecrow and Mrs. King even gave its stars some serious passport mileage. Production filmed some of its memorable second-season stories in Europe, including episodes in Germany and Austria. This wasn’t always a California hillside being asked to work overtime as Bavaria. Sometimes Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner really were there.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And Lady Emily Was Jean Stapleton
“The Legend of Das Geisterschloss” sent Amanda and Lee to Austria, where they became involved in rescuing British agent Lady Emily Farnsworth, played by Jean Stapleton. Yes, Edith Bunker herself was suddenly mixed up in international espionage. If that doesn’t make you want to find the episode, we’re not sure what will.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Familiar Faces Kept Showing Up
Like most long-running 80s shows, Scarecrow and Mrs. King became a parade of actors who look much more familiar today. John Rhys-Davies, James Cromwell, and Jane Kaczmarek were among the performers who appeared during the series. Spotting familiar faces is half the fun of rewatching old television.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
The Show Knew Exactly What It Was
It wasn’t trying to be some painfully serious espionage drama. Scarecrow and Mrs. King mixed spying with romantic comedy, family television, action, and just enough danger to keep things moving. It was basically a spy thriller you could comfortably watch with your mother. Judging by the ratings, plenty of people probably did.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Then Came Friday Night
After finishing 20th nationally in its first season and 22nd in its second, Scarecrow and Mrs. King slipped to 28th during its third. Then CBS moved it to Friday nights for season four and the ratings fell further. Meanwhile, NBC was steamrolling prime time with shows like Family Ties and Cheers. Amanda and Lee suddenly had a tougher assignment than usual.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
But Something Much Bigger Was Happening
While filming the fourth and final season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Kate Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy. Suddenly, what was happening behind the scenes was considerably more serious than anything Amanda King was dealing with on screen.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Jackson Kept Going
Knowing what Jackson was going through makes those final-season episodes look a little different today. Making a weekly network series was demanding enough without simultaneously dealing with a major health crisis. Yet there she was, still playing the energetic, endlessly capable Amanda King.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
She Also Stepped Behind The Camera
Jackson wasn’t content simply starring in the series. She directed two episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, including the fourth-season episode “Unfinished Business,” and later talked about how much she enjoyed directing. Apparently Amanda King wasn’t the only woman involved with the show who kept finding herself doing another job.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
The Show Even Won An Emmy
Here’s another thing you may have forgotten: Scarecrow and Mrs. King was an Emmy winner. Composer Arthur B. Rubinstein won the 1986 Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series. Apparently even the background music was successfully completing missions.
Then CBS Pulled The Plug
In May 1987, CBS announced that Scarecrow and Mrs. King would not return for another season as the network made major changes to its prime-time lineup. The show ended later that month, bringing its four-season, 88-episode run to a close.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And Somehow, 88 Episodes Became A Footnote
That might be the strangest part. Plenty of shows with far shorter runs are constantly replayed, rebooted, referenced, and rediscovered. Scarecrow and Mrs. King made 88 episodes, finished 20th and 22nd in its first two seasons, starred two major television names...and still became one of those “Wait, I remember that!” shows.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
Bruce Boxleitner Certainly Hasn’t Forgotten It
Boxleitner went on to become beloved by another generation of television fans through Babylon 5, but Scarecrow and Mrs. King remained an important part of his career. Decades later, he has continued sharing stories about Jackson, Mel Stewart, the cars, European filming, and those four years playing Scarecrow.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
And Kate Jackson Was Already TV Royalty
Jackson came into the show with Charlie’s Angels and The Rookies already behind her, yet Amanda King became another character strongly associated with her career. That probably helped Scarecrow and Mrs. King stand out in the first place. Viewers knew Kate Jackson. They just hadn’t seen her quite like this.
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
I Knew I Couldn’t Be The Only One
Scarecrow and Mrs. King had a wonderfully ridiculous premise, two stars with terrific chemistry, a great supporting cast, international locations, romance, spies, and enough 80s television charm to fill Lee Stetson’s Corvette.
So now I have to ask: did you watch Scarecrow and Mrs. King back in the 80s? And how long had it been since you even thought about it?
Screenshot from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, CBS (1983–1987)
You Might Also Like:
70s TV Guest Stars Who Seemed To Be On Every Show. How Many Do You Remember?
What Happened To The Cast Of Cheers After The Series Ended?
