Paul Stout Movies
- 1986
In any other circumstances, the biggest news occurring in the fourth and final season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King would be the promotion from recurring to regular player of Raleigh Bond in the role of T.P. Aquinas, the chief source of top-secret information for peripatetic espionage agent Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner). Instead, this tidbit is eclipsed by several far more significant developments, beginning with the two-part season opener, in which Lee tells his fellow spy Amanda King (Kate Jackson) something the audience has known for years--that he is in love with her. Typically, this admission is made at a time when both Lee and Amanda are up to their necks in danger, and the situation hasn't improved much in the subsequent episode "Night Crawler", in which , while trapped by Arab kidnappers, Lee asks Amanda to become his wife. The couple is finally married in the appropriately titled "Do You Take This Spy?", but for reasons of security they have to keep their wedding a secret--even from Amanda's children and her inquisitive mom Dotty (Beverly Garland). Sadly, the marriage of "Scarecrow" and Mrs. King marks the beginning of the end of the series, and not simply because that the air of sexual tension and anticipation has been dissipated. In the middle of the shooting schedule, Kate Jackson had to undergo cancer surgery, and thereafter a slow and tortuous recovery. As a result, Amanda King is virtually written out of the series that bears her name in the title. The scripters contrive to have Amanda shot and wounded while on her honeymoon, obliging Lee to carry out his next few missions in the company of his former partner, Francine Desmond (Martha Smith). Although viewers understood the circumstance that required Kate Jackson to be absent from most of the final episodes, they dolefully concluded that "Scarecrow" without Mrs. King was H2 without the O, and the series was quietly cancelled. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 1985
Suburban divorcee and part-time espionage agent Amanda King (Kate Jackson) is no longer merely a talented amateur as the tongue-in-cheek adventure series Scarecrow and Mrs. King enters its third season. Instead, Amanda has finished her training and is now a full-fledged operative for the top-secret organization "The Agency", making her not only the partner but the equal of seasoned spy Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner). Amanda's promotion enables her boss Billy Melrose (Mel Stewart) to get over feeling guilty about dispatching her on life-threatening missions; it also infuriates sexy female spy Francine Desmond (Martha Smith), who is rather sweet on Stetson. One of the season's best episodes, "We're Off to See the Wizard", not only explains (at long last!) how Lee got his nickname "Scarecrow", but also won an Emmy Award for best musical scoring. Elswhere, Kate Jackson's former costar on The Rookies, Sam Melville, makes the first of a handful of appearances as Amanda's ex-husband Joe King in "The Wrong Way Home", while the guest-star cast of "Dead Men Leave No Tails" includes Nancy Boxleitner, the sister of star Bruce Boxleitner). And in "Reach for the Sky", Myron Natwick is introduced as Dr. Smyth, the shadowy top man at The Agency. When all is said and done, however, the season's most important episode is "All the World's a Stage", in which, after years of exchanging chaste kisses in the line of duty, "Scarecrow" and Mrs. King share their first real kiss--and it's a doozy!!!! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 1984
Season Two of Scarecrow and Mrs. King finds professional spy Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) and his talented-amateur partner Amanda King (Kate Jackson) travelling all over the world on dangerous espionage missions at the behest of "The Agency", with several episodes filmed on location in London and Munich. This season's episodes are executive-produced by Juanita Bartlett of Rockford Files fame, who may or may not have made the decision to depict Amanda as being more scatterbrained than usual. Despite her eccentric behavior, however, Amanda performs admirably when she enters the Agency's training program in hopes of becoming a full-fledged spy. Notably second-season episodes include "The Legend of Das Geisterschloss" which introduces Jean Stapleton in the recurring role of Mrs. Marple-like British secret agent Lady Emily Farnsworth; "Charity Begins at Home" wherein the expensive Porsche upon which "Scarecrow" has lavished so much love and attention in previous episodes is irreparably destroyed; and "Murder Between Friends", featuring Kate Jackson's former costar on The Rookies, Sam Melville, as the villainous Glen Tucker. The following season, Melville would return in the recurring role of Amanda's ex-husband Joe King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 1983
The humdrum life of suburban divorcee and mother Amanda King (Kate Jackson) is radically and permanently altered when secret agent Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner), fleeing from Russian spies, runs into Amanda at a train station, hands her a mysterious package, and disappears into the crowd. Thus begins Season One of the lighthearted adventure series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Despite her complete lack of experience in the realm of espionage, Amanda proves so adept at her new "hobby" that she and Lee will be teamed up again and again and again--much to the confusion of Lee's superior at The Agency, Billy Melrose (Mel Stewart), and to the dismay of Lee's usual partner, sexy female spy Francine Desmond (Martha Smith). Meanwhile, Amanda has a high old time keeping her undercover activities a secret from her mischievous young sons Philip (Paul Stout) and Jamie (Greg Morton), and especially from her nosy mother Dottie (Beverly Garland), who though charmed and impressed by "Scarecrow" is completely at a loss to determine the exact nature of his relationship with her daughter! In subsequent adventures, Lee and Amanda pose as husband and wife, never dreaming that the pose will become reality by the time the series reaches its fourth season; Amanda goes through her paces with a prominent ankle bandage, reflecting a real-life injury suffered by Kate Jackson on the set; Martha Smith shows up in the dual role of Francine and defecting Hungarian official Magda, resulting in twice as much trouble for Amanda; and mom Dottie blithely tools around town carrying an unidentified package, never realizing that a pair of Eastern Bloc spies have targeted her for assassination! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Kate Jackson, (more)
