Television pilot costs even if the network chooses to not order the show. Sometimes, a made-for-TV-movie is filmed as the pilot, but because of actors not being available, the series intro is reshot and the first reshot episode is considered the pilot. The original "Cagney & Lacey" movie co-starred Loretta Swit (of "M*A*S*H" fame) as Chris Cagney, but when she could not get out of her contract, they reshot it with Meg Foster, who after the first season was replaced with Sharon Gless; therefore, the original movie is not considered a pilot, and is not included in the series collections on DVD.
Sharon Gless playwright Claudia Allen and directed by Wendy Jo Carlton. In 2017, it was announced that Gless would appear in one episode of the BBC's "Casualty", the world's longest-running medical drama, as surgeon Zsa Zsa Harper-Jenkinson. She appears in the thirteenth episode of the serial's thirty-second series. Gless called Zsa Zsa a "wonderful character". Gless was invited to appear in the show by one of the producers and expressed interest in reprising the role. Gless' appearance marked the first time the show has flown an American to the UK to film a role. She reprised the role on the October 13