Scarecrow and Mrs. King: Season 1

Unlike a lot of people who reviewed the show here, I didn't watch it during the `80s, but that was only because I was too young at the time to know it existed. I discovered it in reruns years later. Like other reviewers, I enjoy the show because it is much less violent and crude than a lot of newer tv shows, and I think it's a lot more fun, too. Scarecrow and Mrs. King has a little of everything: action, adventure, comedy, and romance. Sometimes, it has a bit of mystery, too.The premise of the show is that "Scarecrow", a secret agent working for an organization in the Washington D.C. area known only as the "Agency", finds himself in a tough spot one day and is forced to ask a civilian, Mrs. King, for help. Although he thought that their association would end after she completed a small task for him, she ends up helping him much more than he expected and joins the Agency herself, offering a unique point-of-view on things because she understands more about ordinary civilian life than the regular agents do. At times, the series might seem a little corny because of the way an elite group of trained secret agents comes to rely on an ordinary suburban housewife, but it's all in fun. Personally, I find the shows hilarious, with the clashes between Mrs. King's naïve yet practical approach to situations and Scarecrow's professional experience, particularly since Mrs. King has to go to great lengths to keep her family from finding out that she has become a spy. At first, Scarecrow and Mrs. King only work together reluctantly, but they eventually become friends and later fall in love.Here is a list of the first season episodes:1. The First Time - Amanda King, divorced mother of two boys, starts off a hectic day by giving her boyfriend a ride to the train station where she is approached by a stranger who tells her that he's a government agent and begs her to deliver a package for him. This simple task proves much more difficult than it sounds, and Amanda finds herself drawn into the world of espionage with the spy, Lee Stetson, whose codename is Scarecrow.2. There Goes the Neighborhood - Amanda is out job hunting when Lee unexpectedly shows up and recruits her to pose as his wife while he investigates sinister happenings in an ordinary suburban neighborhood.3. If Thoughts Could Kill - Lee is injured when another agent suddenly goes crazy and shoots up the Agency's headquarters. He ends up in the hospital where Amanda has been doing volunteer work and becomes a target of the same brainwashing that caused the other agent to go berserk.4. Magic Bus - The latest in weapons technology is an armored, weaponized vehicle that looks like an ordinary RV. Lee is assigned to drive it across the country to the testing ground, but it is stolen by members of a survivalist group.5. The ACM Kid - Lee and Amanda have to protect the son of a pair of Russian immigrants who have been kidnapped, not knowing that the boy is a prodigy who is being forced to break into government computers.6. Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth - The prince and princess of a Middle Eastern country are visiting the U.S., and the princess wants an average American woman to accompany her on her tour of a local school. It seems like a simple assignment for Amanda until the princess becomes the target of an assassination attempt.7. Service Above and Beyond - When Lee invites Amanda to a party as part of his cover, she catches the eye of a wealthy man the Agency is investigating. To get more information about him, they arrange for Amanda to continue to associate with him under another identity, placing her in great personal danger.8. Saved by the Bells - Lee asks Amanda to look after his pet fish while he's on vacation, but that vacation is cancelled suddenly because Amanda is kidnapped by people who assume that she's "Scarecrow" since she was in his apartment.9. Sudden Death - Lee goes undercover at a football training camp with Amanda posing as a sports reporter in order to catch an assassin.10. The Long Christmas Eve - A agent who wants to resign demands that the Agency help him to locate the daughter he hasn't seen in years and threatens to reveal information about Agency personnel if they refuse. Needing to buy time while looking for the real daughter, they convince Amanda to pretend to be his daughter.11. Remembrance of Things Past - Someone is murdering agents of different nationalities in the Washington area, and Lee is the killer's next target. After barely surviving an attack, Lee pretends to be dead and gets Amanda to help him catch the killer.12. Lost and Found - Lee is helping a researcher in ESP who recently escaped from the Russians to establish a new identity. Years ago, the researcher married a woman Lee was in love with. However, Amanda is convinced that the woman is not all that she claims to be.13. I Am Not Now, nor Have I Ever Been... a Spy - Amanda is kidnapped while waiting for Lee at a drop where they are supposed to receive an important message. She escapes but gets in a car accident which causes her to lose her memories of Lee and the Agency. Lee has to help her get her memory back and remember what the message was before it's too late.14. Dead Ringer - Amanda has to play hostess to a rather fussy defector who looks a lot like Francine, another woman who works for the Agency.15. The Mole - Someone inside the Agency has been leaking information, and everyone's a suspect. Lee has been assigned to figure out who it is with Amanda's help.16. Savior - When it looks like Lee has left the Agency to work for some shady arms dealers, Amanda takes it upon herself to convince him to get out the business.17. The Artful Dodger - A suspicious art dealer starts romancing Amanda in order to gain access to government secrets.18. Filming Raul - Unbeknownst to the Agency, their parking lot attendant is an amateur film maker. The attendant doesn't realize that his films contain some dangerous information until he offers his latest one to Amanda to help catch the guy who hit her car in the parking lot.19. Fearless Dotty - Amanda's mother, Dotty, unwittingly becomes the target of enemy agents after buying the wrong book at the bookstore for Amanda's son's birthday. Lee and Amanda struggle to keep her safe while Dotty totally fails to notice that she's in any danger.20. Weekend - Lee gets Amanda to come to a fancy resort with him for a weekend to investigate rumors of a kidnapping attempt. It's only after they get to the resort that he tells her that she's posing as his wife and that they're sharing the same room.21. Waiting for Godorsky - Amanda and her mother respond to a newspaper ad about an estate sale at a mansion and meet a friendly woman who turns out to be a princess fighting against tyranny in her home country and is in danger from assassins.

When several friends found out I was a fan of Babylon 5, they made the connection between series star Bruce Boxleitner and his 80's series, Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Curious, I found it in reruns. I was quickly hooked on this light, charming spy show. After years of waiting, Warner has finally released the first season to DVD. And it is as charming as I remembered it being.Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) is one of the top spies for unnamed "Agency" located in Washington DC. One day, when in danger, he gives a package to divorced mother of two Amanda King (Kate Jackson of Charlie's Angels fame). Impressed by her resourcefulness, Lee's boss Billy Melrose (Mel Stewart) hires Amanda to work for The Agency part time.It really is amazing the kinds of dangers you can find in suburbia. Early episodes of the season find Amanda uncovering spies in a cosmetics company and a fast food chain. As the season continues, the two deal with royalty, a mole, and various Russian plots all while flirting shamelessly.I've got to admit that I don't buy the romantic chemistry between the two that much this season. Scarecrow is still too dismissive of Amanda and upset by being saddled with this civilian. By the end, I am seeing a real friendship develop, however. When Amanda is in trouble, Lee will do anything to save her.The show is pure 80's, and I'm not just talking about the costumes (although they are obviously dated as well.) All the villains are communists, usually of the Russian variety. The Cold War permeates every aspect of the story. The villains love to plot in heavily accented English instead of their native language, and cars explode on any impact.The show has its own charm. Yes, it is a spy show, but all the plots take place in Washington, DC. And how Amanda figures things out and how she and Lee get in and out of danger would only happen on TV. The show does deliver some danger every week, but very little in the way of stunts or realistic violence. This is the spy show you can watch with your grandmother.But as I said, the show is charming. And that comes from the characters. You can't help but truly like Amanda and her over eagerness to help. While Lee can be gruff with her, he usually softens by the end of the episode after she's provided some important piece of the puzzle. Both of the leads play their scenes perfectly.And a lot of the fun comes from the supporting cast. Mel Stewart is given the least to do as the serious boss, but he does make Billy memorable. More fun is had by Martha Smith as Francine Desmond, the agent usually left in the office. Francine doesn't get why she, the trained operative, is stuck in the office while the amateur is out in the field. She takes every opportunity she can to get her digs in, and they usually fly right over Amanda's head.Also in supporting roles are Amanda's family. Paul Stout and Greg Morton play Amanda's two boys; they may appear in one or two scenes per episode. Beverly Garland gets more screen time as Amanda's mother, Dotty West, who also lives with them. Since Amanda can't tell her family about her new job, deflecting her mother's suspicions provides plenty of fun moments. All three characters do add to the charm, keeping the feel of the series very light.Despite what I've said about the light feel, the plots do hold together. The first few episodes have some holes or leaps of logic, but once the season gets rolling, these stories make sense. They may not be the complex, realistic stories we'd get today, but for a comedic spy show, they are perfect.The first season consisted of 21 episodes, and we get them on 5 discs. That's it. No bonus features at all. The full screen picture looks good, except for the stock shots of Washington, DC used. The mono sound won't tax your system, but is easy to understand.I remembered all over again why I found this series so fun when I first discovered it. If you have fond memories of the show, start your collection with Scarecrow and Mrs. King Season 1.

So many have written very positive reviews of this TV series from the 1980s that I hesitated to comment feeling my words would be lost among the masses. However, I so enjoy this TV show that I had to relate to at least a few who might read my comment.I didn't see this wonderful, fun series when it originally aired in the 80s so it was all new to me. I wasn't sure after watching the pilot if I would like the series, but by the second episode I was hooked. Really, I got "addicted" to the two lead characters played by Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson and all the supporting characters. They were all so perfectly cast. You know, I could never figure out why the powers-that-be behind the TV series "Charlie's Angels" always costumed Kate Jackson in such frumpy garb while at the same time dressing the other "Angel" actresses in very chic and glamorous fashions. Ms. Jackson is just as pretty as the other "Angels", Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd and later Shelley Hack and Tanya Roberts. It is so nice to see Ms. Jackson getting to wear some chic and clamorous outfits in "Scarecrow". Kate Jackson looks absolutely beautiful in several dress up scenes. The chemistry between Jackson and Boxleitner is perfect; he is wonderful. My favorite scenes are the ones with Jackson or "Amanda" and her mother played by Beverly Garland. I am sorry this series lasted only four years

Love this show. Need to get season 3 & 4

I remember watching the pilot of this show when it was first shown on UK tv in the fairly early 80s. I was in the kitchen, cooking, and I thought it was some mindless fluff that would provide a passing distraction for me in between peeling, slicing, sautéing and steaming.An inexperienced cook at the time, I found Scarecrow and Mrs King - Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson - to be sufficiently distracting, absorbing and just plain funny - to cause me to slice into a finger and to burn the onions and garlic.So, having messed up supper, I sent my dearly beloved OH out for a takeaway while I sat down, staunched the blood, and watched the rest of the episode. The premise was daft, of course, but so many shows are absurd if you really analyse them - Alias, 24, Spooks... Still, if the storylines are good, the characters charismatic and the acting convincing then the shows work. Scarecrow and Mrs King works on all counts. The main actors spark off each other well, especially as they developed through the later series; the supporting casts' characters were well written and very well acted and, for the time (late-cold war pre-Bin Laden) there were some good plot ideas.I only saw the show occasionally thereafter - we didn't have a video recorder - and although I will be the first to admit it wasn't ground-breaking tv, as a generally feel-good, smile- (if not laugh) out-loud show with, occasionally, quite dark episodes, Scarecrow and Mrs King did it's entertainment job well. And from the episodes I've seen since, still does. Of course, it didn't hurt that Bruce Boxleitner was so eyeable. And still is. :-)I want to buy this as Region 2 ideally but I suppose if it doesn't get released over here, I may have to bite the bullet and buy the Region 1 sets - they're good value. But one way or another, I will be buying. I'm only surprised it took so long to be released. However, this time around I won't be watching it when I'm handling sharp implements.

The disc’s where badly damaged, could only watch 2 episodes per disc.

I vaguely remembered this show from when I was younger, and it was my mam who asked me to order it. Having ordered Hardcastle and McCormack and enjoyed it, I thought why not.I'm really pleased I did. This is a great little show which mixes spy action and every day life with a hint of romance and humour dropped in for good measure. It takes a couple of episodes to hit its stride, but when it does it fly's. Bruce Boxleitner is perfect as the cocky Scarecrow, all smart suits and no-nosense attitude to his job. Kate Jackson is ideal as Amanda King, the homely mother who uses the knowledge gained in her domestic life to great effect in other roles. I'm a big fan of Chuck, which mixes together all of the above elements in a more up to date fashion, and in many ways Scarecrow and Mrs King laid the foundations for that show today.A forgotten gem, I urge anyone who wants 42 - 45 minutes of tv to put a smile on their face to order this show, you'll not regret it.

Bruce boxleitner and kate jackson are fabulous together loved 1st series and looking forward to owning 2 3 and 4 series.