Scarecrow and Mrs. King
"Stemwinder" Part I
TV Flash files “"Stemwinder" Part I” as a desk essential hour — Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987) on CBS, season 4, episode 1, aired 1986-09-19, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E01: listed hour 67 of 88 in the Scarecrow and Mrs. King guide, first listed hour of season 4. It aired 1986-09-19 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “"All the World's a Stage"” (S03E22). Next is “"Stemwinder" Part II” (S04E02).
Essential hour: “"Stemwinder" Part I”. Stemwinder Part I is a late-run two-part code name: the school-lunch spy still packing dead drops, the Agency still a day job.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
In the fourth-season opener, a vindictive KGB agent traps Lee and Amanda in an elaborate sting operation, which leads the Agency to suspect the two may have sold out.
Viewer FAQ
Where does "Stemwinder" Part I sit in the Scarecrow and Mrs. King guide?
S04E01 is listed hour 67 of 88 — first listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 1.
When did Scarecrow and Mrs. King S04E01 air?
"Stemwinder" Part I aired 1986-09-19 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is it a real spy show or a romance?
Both. Light espionage plus will-they chemistry. Enough tradecraft to keep the suburban-mom recruitment from going cute; the dead drops still have to clear carpool.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Kate Jackson's post-Angels reinvention: a divorced suburban mom gets drafted into Agency work and never quite stops packing school lunches between dead drops. Bruce Boxleitner's Scarecrow supplies the trench-coat glower; the chemistry supplies the show. Espionage as domestic farce, with enough real tradecraft to keep the will-they from going cute.
Suburban dead drops as a weekly commute: CBS's Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987) drafted a divorced homemaker into agency work alongside agent Scarecrow and never quite stopped packing school lunches between missions. Kate Jackson's post-Angels reinvention opposite Bruce Boxleitner's trench-coat glower, Beverly Garland in the domestic orbit. Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming blended romance and light espionage into a solid mid-run ratings hit. **Four seasons, 88 hours of will-they charm with enough…
Filed against
- Kate Jackson as Amanda King
Kate Jackson’s Sabrina Duncan is the original Charlie’s Angels trio’s cool register — feathered-hair poster economy around her, a speakerphone boss as alibi, glamour doing franchise work. ABC action as perfume-ad photography. On TV Flash…
- Bruce Boxleitner as Lee Stetson
Bruce Boxleitner’s Lee Stetson gave Scarecrow and Mrs. King a trench-coat glower — 1980s catalog espionage as domestic farce, Kate Jackson packing lunches between dead drops. Babylon 5 later asked the jawline to run a five-year novel. TV…
- Beverly Garland as Dotty West
Beverly Garland’s Dotty West packed school lunches beside dead drops on Scarecrow and Mrs. King — Kate Jackson’s post-Angels suburban mom drafted into Agency work, Bruce Boxleitner’s trench-coat glower, espionage as domestic farce.…