Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Created by	Brad Buckner Eugenie Ross-Leming
Starring	Kate Jackson Bruce Boxleitner Beverly Garland Mel Stewart Martha Smith Greg Morton Paul Stout Sam Melville
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	88 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	October 3, 1983 – May 28, 1987

Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner.

Synopsis

Scarecrow and Mrs. King was an espionage television series with an unusual twist. Lee Stetson, codename "Scarecrow" (Boxleitner), is a top-level agent for the fictitious CIA-like "Agency", who inadvertently embroils divorced housewife Amanda King (Jackson) in his mission. Amanda is too inquisitive to leave well enough alone, and with each episode becomes more and more involved with the Agency and with Lee. She starts just "helping", but by the end of the series she is a full agent.

This show relied heavily on a Cold War mentality, and most of the plots involved Soviet spies. Eventually the romantic nature of Lee and Amanda's relationship ceased to be clandestine, and they started talking about marriage. They did marry, but their marriage was never revealed to other characters. Amanda's sons meet Lee as her boyfriend, not her husband.

Characters

Amanda King

Played by Kate Jackson, Amanda King is a divorced housewife who lives with her mother, Dotty, and her two preadolescent sons. One day, Stetson hands her a packet while he is being pursued by bad guys. He later has to track her down and recover it, and Amanda ends up working with the Agency. Her views of the world, so different from her work partners, cause problems sometimes, but other times prove to be refreshing and challenging. Though she has a boyfriend in the start of the series, her feelings for Lee grow until the two start an affair and later get married, but keep it a secret. Amanda introduces Lee to her sons as her boyfriend, not her husband.

Lee Stetson ("Scarecrow")

Played by Bruce Boxleitner, Lee Stetson is a second-generation secret agent whose parents were killed when he was young. He is initially reluctant to work with Amanda, until he gets to know her better. A womanizer with lots of classy lady friends, Lee finds himself falling for the housewife and mother Amanda, the one who he finally marries.

Dotty West

Played by Beverly Garland, Dotty is Amanda's widowed mom, a lively and optimistic woman.

Billy Melrose

Played by Mel Stewart, Billy is Lee and Amanda's boss.

Francine Desmond

Played by Martha Smith, Francine is another of the Agency's top-level agents and she doesn't like Amanda until well into the series, thinking of her as an interloper. She's also jealous of how well Amanda and Lee get along.

Jamie King

Played by Greg Morton, Jamie is Amanda's younger son.

Philip King

Played by Paul Stout, Philip is Amanda's older son.

Episodes

External links

• Scarecrow and Mrs. King at Allmovie
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King at the Internet Movie Database
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King at TV.com