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.