Parents' Guide to

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

His-and-hers spy series is still fun -- but a little sexist.

TV Amazon Prime Video Drama 1983
Scarecrow and Mrs. King Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

QualityWatchers
QualityWatchers Adult
May 13, 2012
age 12+

Good, clean 80's fun...

MacGyver meets Mission Impossible but better and funnier than both. Pretty clean, especially for an 80's series. There some non-graphic fight scenes, explosions/gunfire and a few interrogations by the bad guys not very suitable for younger viewers (mild). Any suggestive themes are very tame and would go right over younger kids' heads. There's a few uses of "D" and "H" but that's about as bad as it gets. Alcholic beverages are sometimes consumed at social events (for cover purposes), some villians smoke and various drugs are used by the bad guys for interrogations or manipulation. For very young audiences I'd advise parental monitoring. Some episodes are cornier than others but all in all it's pretty much light and entertaining.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

When divorced housewife Amanda King (Kate Jackson) bumps into dashing secret agent Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) at a crowded train station, she inadvertently becomes part of his mission and -- eventually -- his professional and romantic partner. But the more complicated the working relationship becomes between SCARECROW AND MRS. KING, the more difficult it is for Amanda to keep her spy life a secret from her mother (Beverly Garland) and two young sons (Paul Stout and Greg Morton).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

Airing for four seasons on CBS, Scarecrow and Mrs. King enjoyed a good run (along with an Emmy Award for its score and several other nominations), but never got real closure thanks to an end-of-season cancelation. Still, most people who saw it at the time remember it fondly as a fun spy series with admittedly improbable plotlines that a family could generally watch with few content concerns.

Upon second look though, it's amusing to see how much the series relied on rather rigid male and female stereotypes of its day, casting Scarecrow as the worldly and unattached ladies' man while Mrs. King remained largely confined to the world of the grocery store checkout line. And while today's working and stay-at-home moms might not all be instant spy material, they're far more capable and useful than the series would have you believe.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about gender stereotypes and the show's tendency to tie Mrs. King to "women's" interests. Would her character and the subplots of the show be significantly different if it were to air today? How might a modern Scarecrow and Mrs. King interact?

  • How do the levels of violence and sexual content compare to spy shows on the air right now?

  • In spite of its dated references and gender roles, is the series still entertaining for today's audiences? Parents: If you remember watching, does the show live up to your sense of nostalgia?

TV Details

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