Dame Jenni Murray passed away in England this week and, although we were not close, she was someone I liked and admired. I met her about 15 years ago, when Cagney & Lacey superfan Jackie Danson put together a British Film Institute celebration/retrospective of my series.
Dame Jenni was the moderator that evening and did a simply fabulous job. It is on video … somewhere. I know I have a copy in one of the overstocked cabinets in my living room, but I did discover that you can easily see 12 minutes (of a much longer evening) on YouTube using this link: https://youtu.be/_OQz7kHIhlg?si=oc2PS6cgrYRKV1yI
I took a peek at it myself and… even though I was in my Orson Welles phase in terms of body weight (sixty plus pounds more than today), I put my vanity aside, believing this video excerpt is worthy enough to call to your attention.
It was a great evening in London … sold out … with fans lined around the block hoping for the release of some extra seats… somewhere. And, as I recall, those fans stood in that line in the rain. A great night. Thank you, again, Jackie Danson and… thanks and hail and farewell to Dame Jenni.
Did I ever mention that Cagney & Lacey was even more popular in England than it ever was in the U.S.? Not only did it play repeatedly for decades in the UK, but when the BBC held its 50th anniversary celebration at a gala which included members of the Royal Family, there were but two star/celebrities from the USA invited: Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly. I was there, backstage, that night when Paul McCartney asked Ms. Gless for her autograph.
Other than that quick search for a link to Dame Jenni’s hosting of the BFI tribute, I have been consumed… working 10 hour days doing the heavy lifting of proofing and double-checking my memoir (Before and After Cagney & Lacey) before giving approval to my publishers at McFarland & Company for release. It all must be done, according to the good folks at my publishing house, by month’s end; I am pressing on to make that deadline.
There is, as a result, not a lot of time for casual motion picture or television viewing but I did see the Oscars and thought Conan, the host, did a good job, and that the producers of the evening did even better. I was pleased that, as a predictor of what might or might not win, I had a pretty good night but found that I am still in disbelief that, of all the contenders for best screenplay, the winner was Sinners. Whatever arguable pluses the movie had, that screenplay was not one of them.
On the few occasions I plopped in front of my home screen, my first inclination was not to be overly venturesome. I went to Netflix to return to Outlander to finally complete season 7 of that series. There was a little too much of the second-generation acting ensemble for my tastes. This is doubly negative as their presence comes at the expense of screen-time featuring the two exceptionally talented and attractive original leads. That said, the show is so well done, such nice attention to detail, that except for that bit of a slip of lazy casting, the show is close to perfection. Season 8 of Outlander, including the show’s finale, is on Starz to which I do not subscribe; so, as much as I am looking forward to the conclusion of the series, I will wait for those final episodes of Outlander to join its preceding seven seasons on Netflix.
I watched one episode of The Gray House on Amazon Prime. You cannot pay me to watch another. Terrible on-the-nose writing, mediocre cast, and pedestrian direction. Not worthy of my time… or, I would suggest, yours.
The Madison is a new series from a writer I have come to admire, Taylor Sheridan … although I am not at all fond of his The Marshalls. Another matter altogether is The Madison. It has the look that I have come to recognize in all of Sheridan’s shows (Yellowstone and Landman as prime examples) and it has Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, and an interesting, attractive, and talented group of supporting players along with Sheridan’s insightful character development, plotting, and dialogue.
I have seen four of the six episodes which are now streaming on Paramount + and… while conceding it took me more minutes than I like to get with it… get with it, I did. I will return for more episodes as time and Paramount + allows.
As to “time” and “allowance” … McFarland Publishing House reminds that I must get back to finishing Before and After Cagney & Lacey before any more TV or movie excursions … or, for that matter, another flurry of words representing more notes from my warm Island.
Soon, like Cyberdyne Systems 101, “I’ll be back.”
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To purchase “Cagney & Lacey and Me” go to Amazon or Apple Books.
“Before and After Cagney & Lacey”, a second memoir … coming this Spring from McFarland Publishers