Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Monday, February 11, 2013

TV Show Review: Scarecrow and Mrs. King - Season 2

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun show that entertains

Cons: Typical 80's cheese

The Bottom Line:

At home and abroad

Nothing tops these two agents

For pure 80's fun

"Any Questions?" "What Am I Ever Going to Tell My Mother?" "You'll Think of Something."

The 80's produced a lot of shows with silly premises that were really lots of fun. A perfect example of that is Scarecrow and Mrs. King. The set up may be silly, but each episode is so fun you can't help but come back for more.

Lee Stetson, aka Scarecrow (Bruce Boxleitner), is a spy for The Agency. He's been without a partner for a while until he was teamed with Amanda King (Kate Jackson), a divorced housewife. While still a civilian, she seems to find herself in the middle of plenty of harrowing adventures. For example, she's targeted by a white-slavery ring. She's named in a book that outs civilians used as spies. She's framed for a mole giving away the secrets of a very important operation. She even finds her own obituary in the paper. And several of her charity events seem to involve international intrigue. Of course, Lee proves to be the factor that gets them into some case like clearing his uncle of getting his Air Force men killed. That is, until Lee gets burned out.

The fact that Amanda sees so much action doesn't sit well with Francine (Martha Smith), a trained spy who often sits out assignments when it appears Amanda fits in better. There is one case where they both go undercover as maids, and it's nice to see Francine respect Amanda by the end, although this is 80's TV. The next episode, she's snipping at Amanda again. Rounding out the agency cast is Mel Stewart as boss Bill Melrose.

Of course, we can't have a spy show without characters who don't know what Amanda really does. Those characters are her mother Dotty West (Beverly Garland) and kids Phillip and Jamie (Paul Stout and Greg Morton). Honestly, these characters never get too much to do, but they add some humor to the episodes and help round out Amanda's character.

And make no mistake about it, this is a light spy show. Yes, the characters are often in death defying situations, especially Amanda, but you know the good guys will win in the end. Amanda is a very resourceful character, and how she gets out of predicaments is often fun.

Quite often, Amanda needs Lee to rescue her, but almost as often, she does something to stall the villains until help arrives. She's not quite your classic damsel in distress. She'll often come up with a big piece of the puzzle herself. There are even a few times where she saves Lee, although he still has to get in a fist fight to subdue the victims.

While brings us to the 80's cheese of the show. Vehicle in an accident? It will blow up. Bad guys from Eastern Europe? They prefer to speak in accented English instead of their native language. The Washington DC suburbs look an awful lot of Southern California. And, as I said, every episode ends with a fist fight.

Frankly, all that just adds to the fun of the show for me. This is light, escapist fare, but it never pretends to be anything serious. It wants to entertain, and I get caught up in the stories every time. Plus the characters are so much fun, I love spending time with them.

Most of the cast are supporting players. They're lucky if they get one episode in the sun. Not that they don't put everything into their scenes. Honestly, it is amazing just how small their parts are sometimes because they seem like major players. The show belongs to Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner, however, and those two shine. As the season progresses, you can really feel the attraction between the two characters develop, and the two play this perfectly. This is especially true on Bruce Boxleitner's part since his character really goes from still not liking Amanda to respecting her and caring for her this season, even if they aren't admitting it yet.

The biggest thing that set this season apart from the others is the international episodes. While the entire cast only gets to go to Munich, Lee and Amanda hit London and Salzburg as well as Germany a second time. They even get to go on a wedding cruise. Honestly, I prefer the episodes where the entire cast is present, but these episodes are fun for something different and they are all filmed on location, so it adds a very nice international flavor to this season.

Season two consisted of 23 episodes, and they are presented here on 5 discs. The picture and sound are true to their 80's roots, meaning you get full picture and mono sound. This won't rock out your system, but it looks and sounds very good for being almost 30 years old. You'll see some issues with the picture on the stock footage, but those are just a few seconds each. Unfortunately, there are no extras on the set, but we've waited so long for this show to hit DVD, I'll take it in whatever form I can get it.

I'd be hard pressed to call Season 2 of Scarecrow and Mrs. King outstanding TV. But it is absolutely fun, and that's all it was trying to be. If you want a fun escape from reality, you'll enjoy every second of season two of this show.

Season 2 Episodes:

1. To Catch a Mongoose

2. The Times They are a Changin'

3. Double Agent

4. The Legend of Das Geisterschloss

5. Charity Begins at Home

6. Brunettes are in

7. Our Man in Tegernsee

8. Affair at Bromfield Hall

9. A Class Act

10. Playing Possum

11. The Three Faces of Emily