Feb 8, 2024
Tread Perilously's 450th podcast continues Ampersand Month with its first ever episode of Cagney & Lacey: "Ahead of the Game."
Cagney & Lacey are called to the scene of a teenage basketball
prodigy who dropped dead during a pick-up game. The cops all assume
drug use, but his father insists he took no illicit substances.
Suspicion moves to the basketball coach when it turns out the teen
had steroids in his system. But all of this takes a back seat when
Cagney's father gets drunk at the Emerald Ball and Lacey's house is
broken into. Can she recover the candlestick her mother gave
her?
Erik and Justin cannot get over a special one-scene appearance by
the great Brock Peters. Dan Lauria also makes drops in as a
Queens-area cop. Stars Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly get high praise
-- even if they take second fiddle in this episode to their loud
and gruff lieutenant. Other notables include the actors who play
the desk sergeant, Lacey's husband, and the suspect gym coach. Erik
posits that the episode is low rated because nothing gets resolved
while Justin praises that element of the script. 1980s scandals
reappear and the pair once again wave the flag for The
Shield as one of the best shows to ever appear on
television.