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Created by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Lemming, the tongue-in-cheek espionage series Scarecrow and Mrs, King chronicled the exploits of Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson, a dashing special operative for an organization known only as The Agency, and Amanda King (Kate Jackson), a suburban divorcee and mother of two rambunctious young sons, Philip (Paul Stout) and Jamie (Greg Morton). Brought together by accident, "Scarecrow" and Mrs. King proved to be such an effective team of spies that they continued working together on subsequent hush-hush assignments, much to the bewilderment of Lee Stetson's ulcerated boss, Billy Melrose (Mel Stewart), Although Amanda had never previously worked as a secret agent, she proved so adept at her new "hobby", and so enjoyed her exciting new lifestyle, that she agreed to continue collaborating with Lee despite the many dangers involved. There was only one condition: Amanda had to keep her espionage activities a secret from her children and her busybody mother Dottie West (Beverly Garland). To avert suspicion, Amanda took a job at the Agency's cover firm, the International Federal Film Company, a position that allowed her to leave home at a moment's notice and travel all over the world (some of the later episodes were filmed in London and Munich). Also in the cast were Martha Smith as sexy female spy Francine Desmond, Stetson's acerbic coworker at The Agency, who'd grown quite fond of Lee and wasn't keen on Amanda's sporadic crossovers into her territory; Raleigh Bond as T.P. Aquinas, "Scarecrow"'s primary source for classified information, and Myron Natwick as Dr. Smyth, seldom-seen top man at The Agency. Beginning in season three, Amanda occasionally came in contact with her ex-husband Joe King, played by Sam Melville, with whom Kate Jackson had previously costarred on The Rookies. As the series progressed, Amanda went from amateur to professional spy, so that she could assume the official position of Lee's partner (which she'd been unofficially all along)! Their working relationship ultimately deepened into romance, and in the series' fourth and final season Amanda and Lee were married--though in interests of national security and their own safety, they had to keep their union a secret from everyone, even the terminally inquisitive Dottie. Debuting October 3, 1983 on ABC, the weekly, hour-long Scarecrow and Mrs. King turned out 88 episodes before its cancellation on September 10, 1987.