Sharon Gless friends with them. While under contract with Universal, she co-starred in a number of properties, including the 1979 Steven Bochco television sitcom, "Turnabout" (based on the Thorne Smith 1931 novel about a husband and wife who temporarily switch bodies), which failed to be a ratings blockbuster, and, briefly in the sitcom "House Calls" (in which she replaced Lynn Redgrave, who'd left due to a contract dispute). Beginning with the series' seventh episode/first full season, Gless replaced actress Meg Foster in the role of NYPD police detective Christine Cagney on "Cagney & Lacey." (The role had been originated, in the pilot
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),