I loved this show - and the theme music EXCEPT for Harvey.
What a drip - if I watch an episode nowadays I just fast forward
to the end of his "Token" segment.
I thought he was sweet...I loved the wonderful marriage the Laceys had and what good parents they were for all three of their kids.
shareI like Harvey.
John Karlen is a great actor and up until just a few months ago I always thought of him as "Harvey, from Cagney & Lacey" because I had never really seen him in anything else. But about 4 months ago I bought the complete series set of Dark Shadows (1966) and found out that he had a significant part on this old show, too. He was Willie Loomis, the lackey of Barnabas Collins the vampire. He is also the character who released Barnabas from his grave while trying to rob a grave that he thought was filled with jewels.
I've also just recently purchased the complete series of Cagney & Lacey, too. I got the limited edition set that included the pilot with Loretta Swit and the true first season with Meg Foster as Chris Cagney. I already had the DVD of the first season with Sharon Gless, which was marketed as the first season of the show, but was actually season 2.
(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny
Loretta Swit also made a good Chris...I always loved that despite being so blond (that silvery thick hair was nice and straight even though she tried to curl it sometimes), her brows were so thick and moveable and her eyes were so dark and serious.
Both Chris and Mary Beth (darling lady) made me laugh.
Christine + Mary Beth forever
The only episode where I didn't like Harvey is when Mary Beth has just recovered from cancer and is talking about quitting her job and Harvey just says "yeah, whatever you want, we'll make it work." (I'm paraphrasing.) I can understand his wanting to make her happy, but realistically they would be losing not only her income, but also her health insurance. What if the cancer came back? What if the kids got sick? I don't think it was a very practical thing for him to say, and I couldn't believe Harvey just went along with what Mary Beth wanted instead of at least discussing it with her.
shareI think he's very well acted by JK, but I agree that he's a drip. Nice but dim.
share*shrug*
I don't see what was wrong with him. He was a husband. What more did you want?
I couldn't be married to Harvey for five minutes, but I think he was a great character -- partly because I wanted to smack him sometimes. His flashes of insecurity, machismo, and such were annoying, but realistic. And, on the whole, he was supportive. They were a good match for each other.
They had a lot of sex for a long-married couple with two kids and two careers, but that was a refreshing change for TV, even if it got eye-rolling at times.
I thought he was a good character very well played by John Karlen.
His conspiracy theories were legendary. 😀
And for long time, they lived in that little apartment! I always pictured Harvey Jr. having a stash of noise blocking tools to avoid having to hear his parents doing it all time. :)
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He and Tyne Daly were my two favorite parts of the series!! Sharon Gless is a very close second but I loved Mary Beth and Harvey's relationship in the show!!
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