Cagney & Lacey off massive protest, and put Rosenzweig into high gear in his dealings with CBS. The cancellation of "House Calls" was announced among insider circles just before upfronts, and Rosenzweig pressured CBS executives to relaunch "Cagney & Lacey" in the fall with Gless replacing Foster. Gless met with "Cagney & Lacey" producers again to consider the role, but while always having taken to the character, had doubts about joining for the fall of 1982 because, after "House Calls", she "didn't want to make a career of replacing actresses." Ratings, however, were still low during the first year Daly and Gless co-starred
Sharon Gless and in 1974 she signed a 10-year contract with Universal Studios. Near the end of her contract, she was identified in the media as the last of the contract players — a salaried, old Hollywood apprentice system which Universal was the last to employ. Actress Elizabeth Baur is Gless's first cousin. At the beginning of her career, Gless appeared in numerous television series and TV movies, such as "Revenge of the Stepford Wives", "Faraday & Company" with Dan Dailey and James Naughton in 1973 and 1974, "Emergency!", and "The Rockford Files". She played small parts in "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969–1976),