Scarecrow and Mrs. King

A US TV program in the manner of Dempsey and Makepeace, Superman and to a lesser extent, the X-Files in that it features a strong-jawed male who is dedicated to crime-fighting, constantly embroiled in secret missions and in a perpetual state of being about to have it off with his female sidekick............but never quite does, for that would the destroy the sexual tension.*

It was this sexual tension which drew me, as a young teenager to the eponymous "Scarecrow" {played by Bruce Boxleitner} causing me to rush home from school to see whether, in today's episode, the unlikely set of circumstances resulting in he and Mrs King becoming involved in a promising clinch would lead at last to their union reaching fruition.

As far as I know it never did.

*See fig. 1 - Superman, it is widely acknowledged that post Lois Lane consummation it was a spent vehicle.

Scarecrow and Mrs. King was an hour long US TV drama which ran for four seasons on CBS, from 1983 to 1987. It was a formulaic, family friendly show where all was right with the world by the closing credits, so it was not the most realistic of spy dramas. The “high concept” was the contrast between the two leading players. Lee Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner), code name “Scarecrow”, was a professional agent for the “Agency”, a fictional US spy outfit, handsome and well dressed, a James Bond type tame enough for the suburbs. Amanda King (Kate Jackson) was a divorced mother of two boys whose fashion choices were from the paneled station wagon set. She was thrown into the spy business accidentally when a desperate Scarecrow handed off a package to her in a train station during the pilot episode, instructing her to give it to the man with the red hat. But the train car was apparently hosting a Kiwanis meeting because all the passengers were wearing red hats. Such comedic misadventures were typical for this spy novice who kept her secret passwords on the back of her checkbook.

Naturally, the sexual tension, or what passed for sexual tension in a 1980s family drama, was a big factor in the show, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King were married by the end of the fourth season.

The PAX network is currently airing episodes of the show.