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Welcome to 80s TV Ladies, part of the Weirding Way Media Network.

[00:01:00 - 00:01:32] Susan Lambert Hatem
Welcome to 80s TV Ladies where we explore the fabulous female driven television shows of the 1980s.
[00:01:33 - 00:01:50] Sharon Johnson
Today is all about a book, a book about a television show, an 80s Ladies television show, one that helped us kick this very podcast off. There's a brand new just released quintessential book about Scarecrow and Mrs King. And it is called The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs King. Scarecrow and Mrs King was an action-comedy romance television show that ran from 1983 to 1987. It starred Kate Jackson, Bruce Boxleitner, Beverly Garland, Mel Stewart, and Martha Smith.
Here's how the DVD release explains this show for those new to our podcast and Scarecrow and Mrs King. Goodbye, PTA. Hello, foreign intrigue. Single mom, Amanda King, leads a quiet suburban life in Washington DC. Until the day a dashing stranger shoves a package into her hands with instructions to give it to the man in the red hat. In no time, Amanda is dodging bullets, foiling assassination plots, and finding herself drawn to the dashing stranger, Agent Lee Stetson, aka Scarecrow.
[00:02:46 - 00:03:01] Sharon Johnson
In celebration of the book's release and the 40th Anniversary Event for Scarecrow and Mrs King that's happening this weekend in Los Angeles, we have brought on the authors of the book, David Johnson, Taya Johnston, and Sabine Ludewig .
Welcome to 80s TV Ladies, guys. Thanks for coming on the show.
[00:03:07 - 00:03:07] David Johnson
Thank you.
[00:03:07 - 00:03:09] Taya Johnston
Hello. Thanks for having us.

[00:03:09 - 00:03:13] Sharon Johnson
We're delighted to have you all with us today and excited to talk about the book.

Yes. And I'm excited to kind of meet all of you. So can you introduce yourself and tell us a couple of fun facts about yourself -- like where you're from? What you like to do? And if you've ever written a book before? We'll start with David.
[00:03:29 - 00:04:13] Sharon Johnson
Oh, okay. Well, no, I've never written a book before. I've always always and thought about it, especially, you know, given the Scarecrow and Mrs King subject matter. I've always wanted to do it, but until I had I had found and met Taya and Sabine, I I really didn't think it would even be possible. I mean, I needed I needed quality. I needed people who were really knowledgeable. And, Taya and Sabine, you couldn't you couldn't ask for 2 better fans to work on this project with. But, uh, I'm originally from DC. I've lived all over the country pretty much in in every region, and just moved to Nashville about 2 years ago.
And what do you do? What moves you around the country?
[00:04:17 - 00:04:43] David Johnson
You know, I've had so many different careers and so many different jobs. And, you know, growing up my dad worked for the airlines. So that that was one of the reasons why we moved everywhere, but I don't think that you can learn everything that you need to know about life in one place. It's I, I'm I'm happiest exploring and learning about different areas and different people, different cultures. It's it's fascinating.
Sabine.
[00:04:45 - 00:05:13] Sabine Ludewig
Okay. Hi. I'm Sabine, and I'm zooming in from, Germany, and it's near Cologne. I live near Cologne in a little country, little town, very countryside. I'm an IT administrator and, I've never written a book before and I had never thought about it. And it never crossed my mind until, David asked me to join this project. So that was really cool. I felt so so honored to to be asked for that. Yeah.
That's fantastic. And then, Taya.
[00:05:16 - 00:06:08] Taya Johnston
Yeah. Taya Johnston, Michigan born and raised. And I am head of HR for an IT company, here in Michigan. And, never have written a book. I I my son and I have talked about writing a children's book, but, never in my wildest dreams would I thought, of writing anything like this. This is not, in my wheelhouse for sure. I'm more, short stories and things like that.
So, but David asked and, you know, with David, he's so, enthusiastic and he just gets you really pumped into, to, you know, excited about doing it. Like, you know, the only answer would be yes. So, of course, I'm happy to to work with both Sabine and David on this. It's been very informative. You know, we learned so much doing it, especially the ins and outs of Amazon, But it's been great.
And, you guys are currently #1 in TV guides and reviews on Amazon. Yes. Yeah. That's crazy. It's been a whirlwind weekend, for sure.
[00:06:20 - 00:06:20] Sharon Johnson
Congratulations. I'm very excited for, you know,
Clearly a need.
[00:06:22 - 00:06:23] Sabine Ludewig
We are.
[00:06:25 - 00:06:32] Sharon Johnson
When did you all? Can each of us... talk to us about how you became such a fan of Scarecrow and Mrs King?
[00:06:32 - 00:06:50] Taya Johnston
I think we're we're all, like, the same age within a couple of months of each other. Yeah. And I think we all if I'm not speaking for everybody, but I'm pretty sure we all started watching it from October 3, 1983 and just were... in right from the get go.
[00:06:50 - 00:06:51] Sabine Ludewig
Well, almost.
[00:06:52 - 00:06:54] Taya Johnston
Oh, I thought you were. Oh, right. Right. Right. Right.
[00:06:54 - 00:06:59] Sabine Ludewig
The point the point is... (Right.) The point is, it came to Germany in '86. So Yeah.
[00:06:59 - 00:07:08] Taya Johnston
I I really forget that. I feel so bad for you. You didn't get to experience it earlier. Yeah. That's right. Yeah.

[00:07:08 - 00:07:14] Sharon Johnson
The world has changed a little bit, in that that... they they are now releasing everything simultaneously worldwide. But
[00:07:14 - 00:07:15] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah.
[00:07:15 - 00:07:23] Sharon Johnson
Yeah. It wasn't that long ago when it did take a while for our shows to make it anywhere else in the world. So that's that's certainly understandable.
[00:07:24 - 00:07:42] Taya Johnston
My husband watched it. My husband was in Germany. He was an army brat, and he had lived over there at the same time. And so, he watched it right along, I think, with Sabine at the same time, you know, when it came on. Because they only got one channel from the US, you know, on the base. So he he watched it right along then too.
And so okay. I don't wanna I don't wanna age anybody, but I'd love to know around what age you were when you first discovered the show, when you watched it for the first time. And then did it become a favorite show immediately?
[00:07:54 - 00:08:30] David Johnson
Well, I, I was 9 years old, and I I immediately fell in love with the show, with the characters. I mean, even at that age, I knew there was something very, very special and very unique about the show. It wasn't... it really wasn't like anything else that I had ever seen or experienced before. And I just I I could not wait, you know, for the next week. I mean, our Monday nights were always strictly scheduled so that I would never ever miss an episode. So it worked out well, and I have my my family to thank for that.
So your parents said, yeah. We'll we'll make sure that there's nothing going on Monday nights.
[00:08:35 - 00:08:47] David Johnson
Yeah. And I I don't know. Maybe I'm just just, they got sick of hearing me fussing and moaning, you know, about, any potential interruption, to my viewing schedule.
No. I remember that appointment TV. You had to be there. You wanted to see it so you could talk about it the next day with your friends. Alright. What about you, Taya?
[00:08:56 - 00:10:25] Taya Johnston
Yeah. I had just turned 10. And, unlike some of the fans, I didn't know either one of them, the leads, Kate or Bruce, from, you know, Charlie's Angels. I was 3 when it started. You know, so I I didn't watch that. I knew of it, you know, kind of in the peripheral, but not really didn't pay any attention to it because I was too young, I guess. And then saw a preview for the show and I was just like, what? What? What? This sounds amazing, you know.
And I just was sucked in immediately and then I made sure I was in front of the TV because, and I mentioned this in the book, I grew up, with 6 siblings and we had... my parents had their TV and then we had a big, you know, those big console TVs that had like your remote was whoever was closest, you know, to go up and turn it. And so we had that and you... the rule in the house was whoever's in the room first gets to pick what's on. Well, I have a brother... one of my brothers is 4 years older than me. He was an A-Team watcher, which is the same time and day as Scarecrow. And so I had to park myself there. As soon as I got home from school, got my homework done, I was down there. And I would just sit in that room till the show came on because if I left for a second, even to go to the bathroom, he would take it over and I'd be, you know, missing out. He probably didn't even like the A-Team. It was just more to bug his little sister. You know? But yeah. So it was definitely appointment TV.
[00:10:25 - 00:10:31] Sharon Johnson
We had a similar rule in our house and that there were 4 of us and each of us got to pick a show.
[00:10:31 - 00:10:33] Taya Johnston
Oh, see, that's better.
[00:10:33 - 00:10:47] Sharon Johnson
So I didn't pick any of the shows that were... everybody liked. What's the point in that? So I I would always pick something else. It was just too important. I couldn't miss my shows. There was no time shifting back then, so it was watch it then or miss it. So
[00:10:48 - 00:10:51] Taya Johnston
Yeah. You had to watch it in the summer on, you know, reruns. Right? Yeah.
And, Sabine, I'm very curious about television in Germany at that time. So it's 1986. You saw it 3 years later. Did you
[00:10:59 - 00:10:59] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah.

Did you... had you heard about the show? Or...
[00:11:02 - 00:12:07] Sabine Ludewig
It it was it was completely different here in Germany. I mean, it it wasn't a prime time show. It was... it aired at 6 PM, not not at 8. So I I I used to watch, anything that came up, and it was the like, The Fall Guy and Remington Steele and and Scarecrow and Mrs King and Riptide. And it was, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Each day was a different show, so I would park myself in front of the television at 6 o'clock and watch any would would watch anything that came up. So at that time, Scarecrow and Mrs King was just one of a million kind of thing, but it was special in a way that I thought I would... I'd like the, the the monuments in in Washington. And I fell in love with, with the Corvette, and I had crush on Lee Stetson. And there was something special about this show for me at that time. But it what we there was no talking about it at school or something like that. It wasn't a primetime show, so it was just 1 of a million.
Wow. And so was most of the primetime television German television?
[00:12:12 - 00:12:25] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. It was was German television or I don't remember what what we watched at 8 o'clock. I don't know. I I can't remember. So no. It it was probably not worth remember... remember it.
And and then I'm also curious. So then you were watching, dubbed versions or English language versions?
[00:12:31 - 00:12:34] Sabine Ludewig
No. It were the dubbed dubbed versions.
Okay.
[00:12:34 - 00:13:04] Sabine Ludewig
And the the point about Scarecrow and Mrs King is that, we didn't get to see about, I think, 18 episodes that that weren't on TV in Germany. They weren't dubbed. They weren't shown. They haven't been dubbed yet. There are... even on the d v DVDs, they are only in English. So we didn't get to see, for example, Nightcrawler. So when when they when Lee proposes to Amanda, we didn't get to see that. They were just married at at some time, and you didn't get the story of that.
[00:13:04 - 00:13:05] Sharon Johnson
That's bizarre.
[00:13:06 - 00:13:39] Sabine Ludewig
They didn't keep the order of the episodes. It was just a mix up from any any episode, I mean, any season. It wasn't mixed. Just there was no no storyline in it. But I didn't know about the the whole thing, in deep, until 2013, I guess? So I went to get the DVDs, and I found out about, the forum and the fans. I didn't know there was a fan community about Scarecrow and Mrs King! I didn't even know it was Scarecrow and Mrs King. In Germany, it was a different title.
[00:13:40 - 00:13:42] Sharon Johnson
And what was the title in Germany?
[00:13:42 - 00:14:03] Sabine Ludewig
In Germany, it's called (German Title) ... Agent With Heart. So it's more focused on on the Amanda side. ( Wow. I love that ) So completely different. Yeah. And they they they never called him Scarecrow in in Germany. They always called him Lee or Stetson or something like that, because Scarecrow wouldn't translate very nice.
What does scarecrow translate to in German?
[00:14:06 - 00:14:14] Sabine Ludewig
The German word for scarecrow, that's that's (German) It's it's the same meaning but um, it doesn't make sense and...
[00:14:15 - 00:14:16] Taya Johnston
without the title and...
[00:14:17 - 00:14:24] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. It's it's just different. It doesn't sound that that good. So, yeah, it was quite different here in Germany.
I love that. And and and yet for some reason... like so so you watched a ton of eighties television, American television. (And still do.) You still do. And so what are... do you have other favorite shows?
[00:14:39 - 00:14:42] Sabine Ludewig
Well, one of my favorite always has been Remington Steele.
Ours too.

[00:14:43 - 00:14:51] Sabine Ludewig
And, I I watch The Fall Guy when it's on here. And Riptide has has re-runs currently. That's that's cool.
[00:14:51 - 00:14:51] Taya Johnston
Wow.
[00:14:51 - 00:14:53] Sabine Ludewig
They haven't been on TV for a long time.
My husband is a huge Riptide fan.
[00:14:56 - 00:14:57] Sabine Ludewig
Ah, cool.
Yeah. So we watch a lot of Riptide.
[00:14:59 - 00:15:01] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. It was very short lived.
[00:15:01 - 00:15:09] Sharon Johnson
(Yes). I have not watched Riptide, I don't think, since it since it aired here, but I'll have to talk to Susan later about.... About where I could find it. Because I liked it.
It's it's... Taya Johnston (Who's in that?) It, it's Perry King and
[00:15:17 - 00:15:18] Sharon Johnson
Joe Penny. Right?
Joe Penny. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:19 - 00:15:20] Sabine Ludewig
Joe Penny. Yeah.
[00:15:20 - 00:15:21] Taya Johnston
I don't know who that is.

Yeah. Again, I it's not my favorite of the Stephen Cannell shows, but there's something very odd about the concept of 3 guys and a robot living on a boat. (Laughs) Fighting crime.
[00:15:35 - 00:15:43] Taya Johnston
Are you serious? That's what it's about? It was... I never watched, I honestly did not know what it was even about. That's funny.
They all lived together on a boat.
[00:15:45 - 00:15:47] Sharon Johnson
Yeah. It was a time we just went with it.
You just went with it.
[00:15:50 - 00:15:51] Taya Johnston
Hey. At least it was original.
They and and they're so they're basically, Vietnam Vets who are fighting crime, who have come back together to kind of fight crime... as you do.
[00:16:01 - 00:16:10] Sabine Ludewig
Basically, it's about 3 guys, who are detectives and who are always looking after the girls. That's that's the basic concept of the show.
It is a very 80s show. It's a very Cannell show. I make fun of it a lot because my husband's so into it. But my husband's a television writer now, and it was one...he wrote a 'spec' (script) for a lot of Cannell shows. So he's got a spec A_Team episode and a spec, Riptide, I think, and a Rockford Files.
[00:16:30 - 00:16:41] Taya Johnston
My Husband's into season 3 right now of the A-Team. And every time I come in, he's like, I looked at this up. This guy was in Scarecrow. I'm like, oh, yeah. That's so and so from this episode.
[00:16:41 - 00:16:49] Sharon Johnson
Well there was a lot of cross pollination, if you will. ( Yeah. Definitely. TJ ) amongst TV, actors and actresses back then. A lot more than there is now.
[00:16:49 - 00:16:50] Taya Johnston
Usually, they play the bad guys.
[00:16:50 - 00:16:51] Sabine Ludewig
Bad guys. Yeah.
[00:16:52 - 00:16:52] Taya Johnston
Yeah. Usually.
Alright. So, David, I'm gonna go back to you, David. When we talked, you talked about that this book has been in the works for 40 years. So I want you to talk about that.
[00:17:03 - 00:18:54] David Johnson
Oh, boy. Well, where does one begin? I mean, I I, I guess you could say it it kind of started the the 40 years of of research started, I mean, literally by, like, the and or third episode. You know, I was recognizing or maybe finding, for example, say, something that Amanda had in her kitchen. And, you know, when we were out at a out at a store, and I would remember what it was. And I had literally probably a and pieces of paper that I had handwritten on over the years. I was just always excited to find what something was, what something real was in the show. So you could you could say it started from that point or when we would go on vacation. You know, we did go to Washington DC. We did go to Los Angeles. And I, by accident, had recognized some places that I had seen in the show. And of course, I'm feverishly taking notes. So it started there, and it just snowballed. With each passing year, you know, it got the notes and the information I had acquired had gotten bigger and bigger.
And then with the advent of the Internet, it exploded. If it wasn't for the Internet, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are right now.That helped so much. I mean, we've located over a thousand filming locations that were used, because each episode technically has, on average, about 12 to 15. Now some of those are real locations. Some of those are are stock footage, you know, but it was it was amazing. We're almost done with with the locations. Right, Sabine? Don't we only have maybe maybe 30 or 40 more to find?
[00:18:54 - 00:18:56] Sabine Ludewig
Of the major ones. Yeah.
[00:18:56 - 00:19:11] David Johnson
Right. So we're it's it's it's an exhaustive list, but it's just you know. Anytime I would see somebody on TV or or I would be exposed to something that related to Scarecrow and Mrs King, I literally took notes.
And why is that? Were you doing other shows too? What was it about the show?
[00:19:16 - 00:20:07] David Johnson
You know, I I can't. I've thought about that for years. I mean, I I think, obviously, for something to have played such a massive part in my life literally every day for 40 years, Life was conspiring that. I'd I'd there obviously were lessons I needed to learn, life lessons, and I I may not ever know what all of those were. But it was just it was so unique. It was so different. It was so riveting. It was so powerful. It was so creative. It was beautifully done. And as unbelievable as the concept should have been, it was completely believable. And, it just it roped you in. You know? It I I I don't know that I could truly put into words exactly why I was sucked into that world.
And were there other shows that you were watching?
[00:20:10 - 00:20:36] David Johnson
One other one that I absolutely adored... It is a very close second. It starred Loni Anderson and Lynda Carter. It ran for 13 episodes, filmed entirely in San Francisco. It was called Partners in Crime. And, I could write a book on that show too because I even moved to San Francisco, and studied that show almost as much as I've studied, Scarecrow and Mrs King, but that's that's my other huge favorite.
[00:20:37 - 00:20:54] Sharon Johnson
We just learned about that show recently, and I've watched I found a couple episodes on YouTube and have watched them. I don't remember at the time having that, you know, get through to my cons... my TV consciousness, but it it it's it's fun. It's a fun show.
[00:20:54 - 00:20:58] David Johnson
It was a terrible time slot. I mean, it was like 9 o'clock on Saturday nights.
Mhmm.
[00:20:58 - 00:21:39] David Johnson
And they aired, they didn't air the pilot first to take advantage of the Vanessa Williams scandal at the time. The first episode ever aired was the 4th that was filmed, and that was actually probably the weakest episode of the series. All of a sudden, they're already running the detective agency. It made no sense. So when the pilot did finally air several episodes later, it was a revelation. People finally understood, but they they really should never have done that. They should have aired the pilot because the pilot by far was the strongest, most incredibly done episode of that entire series.
[00:21:40 - 00:21:46] Sharon Johnson
And also just to get people into the world so that they have an understanding of what's why things are the way they are. And...You know, there are other shows where they've done that, and and it, it just boggles the mind.
[00:21:52 - 00:21:53] Taya Johnston
Well, they tried to do it on Scarecrow.
[00:21:54 - 00:21:54] Sharon Johnson
Yep.
[00:21:54 - 00:22:00] Taya Johnston
Brad Brad Buckner told us that. I mean, that they tried to do it that way, and they're like, no. No. No. You have to do it this way.
[00:22:00 - 00:22:09] David Johnson
You have to do the pilot first, and thank goodness. I don't think ... Yeah it would have killed it ... It was such a unique... (TJ) It would've been killed if if they didn't air the Scarecrow pilot first.
[00:22:09 - 00:22:19] Sharon Johnson
Yeah. The pilot explains everything about how this ordinary woman ends up working at this spy agency. That needs explaining in my mind
That's so fascinating. Did he say why?
[00:22:23 - 00:22:25] Taya Johnston
It was what they did at the time, he said. That was something that ...
[00:22:26 - 00:22:27] David Johnson
In the eighties, that was...
[00:22:27 - 00:22:28] Taya Johnston
Yeah.
[00:22:28 - 00:22:31] David Johnson
That was the, that was the trend that they were doing.
[00:22:31 - 00:22:31] Taya Johnston
The trope.

[00:22:32 - 00:22:32] David Johnson
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, it was interesting because I think, it it comes up with Remington too. Right? Because when they sold the show, the networks at the time needed to know the show could run constantly. Right? A pilot, great. Yeah. You can tell us a first time story, But can you tell us the 40th story? Right?
[00:22:53 - 00:22:54] David Johnson
Right. Right.
And for Remington Steele, the show they created, the show that the network asked for is, like, now episode, 3 of the Show. And because it was in the middle. They were already working together.
[00:23:07 - 00:23:07] David Johnson
Right.
And then once they picked up the show, they went, yeah. Actually, now we need the 'meet' version. And they hadn't created it. They just created this other part that sort of... they jumped they literally, like, kind of wrote, directed, and created the 3rd episode of the show. And then went back and created a new pilot for that show.
[00:23:28 - 00:23:44] Sabine Ludewig
And it was on on Simon and Simon did the same. They they showed the the pilot what would have been the pilot show... they showed it as a kind of a flashback in the middle of season 1 or 2. I don't remember exactly. They did that. Yeah. It's awkward.
[00:23:45 - 00:23:51] David Johnson
And maybe for some shows that might work, but for something like Scarecrow in particular, I think just don't think it would have worked.
[00:23:51 - 00:23:55] Taya Johnston
The specialness and the magic is that initial meeting.
[00:23:56 - 00:23:56] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. absolutely.
[00:23:56 - 00:23:57] DavidJohnson
Yes yes.
[00:23:57 - 00:24:03] Taya Johnston
I don't think that would have worked at all. I'm glad.. I'm glad they didn't... they, listened to to Brad and Eugenie and did it right.
Ok! So that brings us around to... Who did you talk to for the book?
[00:24:10 - 00:24:54] David Johnson
Well, there were there were 28 people that we got for the interview. (TJ) We tried for way more. We tried for more than double that. And, unfortunately, 40 years later, you know, about 40, 50 percent of a lot of people that worked on the show or appeared in the show are deceased. So that certainly didn't make it didn't make it easy, but we got all the key players that are still alive with the exception of one. We purposely held the book a little bit longer, hoping we would be able to get his interview, but it just it it I guess, it wasn't meant to be. Hopefully, if there's a second edition of this book, hopefully, we'll be able to include his interview.
And who is that?
[00:24:56 - 00:25:08] David Johnson
Paul Stout. Wonderful guy. Absolutely fascinating and just friendly and so talented. He's just incredible. But we have, you know, people in front of the camera and behind the camera.
That is great. So you interviewed Eugenie Ras King and Brad Buckner who created the show.
[00:25:13 - 00:25:14] David Johnson
Yes.
Who we love.
[00:25:15 - 00:25:16] David Johnson
Yeah. Love
[00:25:16 - 00:25:16] Sabine Ludewig
Yes.
[00:25:16 - 00:25:53] David Johnson
Fascinating. Beautiful. (Forever indebted.) TJ. Yes. Big time. Big time. No. They were...
Eugenie's, for example, is one of my favorite interviews. I mean, certainly, some of the interviews are relatively short because the people were a guest star, appeared in one episode and couldn't remember that much. But we were still honored to have them. And still, they still added at least a nugget or 2 of information that we had never heard before. Everybody was done separately, and it was either done over the phone, in person, or via email back and forth.
And so, I'd love to hear each of your, you know, favorite stories or an interesting story from the book.
[00:26:00 - 00:26:01] David Johnson
Oh, boy. (I know there is a lot.) SLH
[00:26:01 - 00:26:03] Taya Johnston
I have 2. I have 2 but...
Okay. You go.
[00:26:05 - 00:27:17] Taya Johnston
One of my favorites was, and I I honestly, I can't remember. It was a crew member. When they were filming, it wasn't a specific episode. It was... they were filming and the neighbors were so loud next door, they had to keep shutting down Production. And Kate had had enough, you know, because she had a show to do, you know, and she went over there and, she as... the person explained it... she threw money at them and was like, shut up, you ___. Let us do our job, you know. And then they were quiet. But then that's when they had to build the replica of the house on the ranch, so that they didn't have to deal with, you know, actual people living next door while they're trying to film. So that one was a really funny one. And then, also one that, I interviewed Dennis. And Dennis had it's a really funny one of Kate just being a little silly, which I'll leave it at that. It was it was really funny, and and, I I enjoyed that one especially too. Got to see a funny side to her. Yeah.
Sabine?
[00:27:19 - 00:28:07] Sabine Ludewig
Well, interview wise, I love the most the stuntman's because I I learned quite a lot about it. We got some information from, what how much money they made on on which scene they filmed, and and stuff like that. And accidents that happened and things that are difficult, or stunts... how stunts were created and such. That was very fascinating. Some very unique interviews, from people we thought we would never get. And I I also like the the lots of tidbits we got, like, the the script differences Taya did. They were they are just fascinating. What what was in the script and what was really filmed eventually. And there are a lot of the pages, are are just just amazing information.
Did you, by any chance, talk to, the stunt person that was involved in the helicopter, the big helicopter dragging through the trees?
[00:28:16 - 00:28:18] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. Davis did that.
[00:28:18 - 00:28:19] Taya Johnston
Yeah. Gary Davis.
[00:28:19 - 00:28:41] David Johnson
Yep. Gary Davis. Yeah. We got some unbelievable content from him. I mean, his interview also is one of the best. And thank you, Gary Davis. We love you forever. He and Dennis Scott, they supplied us with probably the most some of the most breathtaking, interesting behind the scenes photos that have never been seen before.
That is so exciting. I can't wait to see them. Did he do that stunt? ( Yes. DJ ) That stunt's insane.
[00:28:50 - 00:28:55] David Johnson
Yeah. He talks about it in the, in the interview, so I don't wanna I don't want to give to much of it away.
You don't have to give it away.
But we can talk. Everybody's seen the show. They they've listened to the show. They know the the the stunt that we're talking about, which I think won a stunt award.
[00:29:04 - 00:29:05] David Johnson
A stunt man's award. Yep.
Yeah. a stunt man's award. It did not seem safe.
[00:29:08 - 00:29:08] Sharon Johnson
Yeah.
[00:29:09 - 00:29:16] Taya Johnston
Gary also has a another, link into the into the Scarecrow, realm too, but we'll leave that for the book.
[00:29:16 - 00:29:17] David Johnson
So Yep. That's one of the surprises.
[00:29:18 - 00:29:21] Taya Johnston
It's definitely interesting definitely interesting insights.
[00:29:21 - 00:29:22] Sabine Ludewig
Yep.
I love it. Now how did you all meet? And it sounds like David reached out, but how did that come about?
[00:29:30 - 00:29:30] Sabine Ludewig
Oh, that's
[00:29:30 - 00:29:34] Taya Johnston
Oh. Oh. David and I met a long time ago online.
[00:29:35 - 00:31:00] David Johnson
Yeah. We had chatted online back and forth. And, I mean, like, it's it's pretty easy to explain how I I met Sabine. You know, she, for years, has been very, very interested the filming locations, which that was also a massive, huge part of my research. So Sabine and I, you know, Had been in contact for years and comparing notes and trying to find all the filming locations. And then Taya, I knew of and and her wonderful websites and in the forums. But I I I hadn't met Taya until, I think it was what was it? 2017. I had arranged for the, Scarecrow Mrs King cast reunion at the Hollywood show, which they had never done before. And I was in frequent communication with Bruce, and Martha wanted me to assist her at her table, so I did that. And so I had to find somebody for Bruce, you know, to sit with him and and help him. And I I went through, you know, my list of friends and contacts, and I was just so impressed with what I had seen, what Taya had done. I reached out to Taya and asked her if she had ever met the cast before, and she said no. And I said, okay. How would you like to work with Bruce Boxleitner?
And you were like, no. No. That wouldn't be any fun.

[00:31:03 - 00:31:09] Taya Johnston
I mean, you know, he's so unattractive. It's hard to look at him and hear his deep, deep voice.
[00:31:10 - 00:31:14] David Johnson
So, yeah, I I hadn't met Taya face to face until 2017.
[00:31:15 - 00:31:50] Taya Johnston
Yeah. I came in to the fandom, like, in 2001. And so I had seen you know, David and Sabine are the location gurus of all. I I never really gotten I mean, I enjoy seeing the locations, but I was never really into it. I'm in more into the story side of things, the, you know, the characters and the actors and things like that. And kind of the nuances of that. So we all kinda had our different areas of expertise, I think. And then Sabine and I met at the 35th.
[00:31:50 - 00:31:56] Sabine Ludewig
At the 35th. Yeah. Yeah. That's when I met David first. Yeah. First time.
[00:31:56 - 00:31:58] Taya Johnston
Oh, okay. I I didn't know if you had known before that. Okay.
[00:31:59 - 00:31:59] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah. Yeah.
So when did you guys start working? I know you've been working on the book for 40 years, David, because I'm very curious. Do you have any of those pages?
[00:32:09 - 00:32:28] David Johnson
I have many of them. Yes. And thank goodness, you know, my brain remembered. I mean, a lot of the pages had been destroyed, had been lost, but I I honestly remembered, I think, virtually everything that I had written down. It was just it had that kind of effect on me, but I do still have some of them. Yes.
[00:32:29 - 00:32:59] Taya Johnston
I still have online. I I I took notes on every episode. I mean and then I even got to the point where I was typing it up while I was working. I was a receptionist, you know, I would get on their computer and type it up and then it would have the dot matrix. I still have the dot matrix pages. Yeah. So that ages me so much. So there you go. Yeah. Yeah. And for some reason, I typed it all in caps.I don't know why. I guess it was angry or something. I don't know.
[00:32:59 - 00:33:01] Sharon Johnson
Well, in some ways, it was easier.
[00:33:02 - 00:33:03] Taya Johnston
It was very important. Yeah.
I love that. I just have this, I have a very visual image now of the all caps dot matrix breakdown.
[00:33:11 - 00:33:16] Taya Johnston
Oh I totally do. I have a scrapbook from when I was 10, of of Scarecrow.
[00:33:16 - 00:33:17] David Johnson
Yep.
[00:33:17 - 00:33:29] Taya Johnston
Yeah. And all the all the, TV guide ads, the interviews, everything you can think of I had in there. And it even went beyond high school... which is, ah sad.... It did.
So what is it? What is it about this show? Have you guys discussed this between the 3 of you? Do you have shared reasons for it?
[00:33:35 - 00:33:52] Taya Johnston
I don't think we ever came... we've talked about it, but I don't think we've ever, I don't think anybody can pinpoint any because it's it's different for Sabine and it's different for David, and it's different for me. It's just different things. But I think it all you know, it was, a very impressionable time, at least for me.
[00:33:52 - 00:33:53] David Johnson
Yeah.
[00:33:53 - 00:34:55] Taya Johnston
You know, at 10 years old, it was very impressionable and it it... I rediscovered the show in, like 2000. My, oldest, I had my oldest then and and he had, been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and it's a life threatening illness, and very devastating to me. And I needed something of comfort, you know, something to, you know, just put all that, you know, put it away for a little while and just do something for me that I enjoyed. And so I thought, you know, what is that? And I went and found Scarecrow and I thought, I wanna look online, you know, it was just and I found forums and then it just blew up from there. So I think it just...it was a special time, at least for me, watching it as a kid. And then to have those memories, like, and that comfort when I needed it. And I've heard other peep... other fans mention it too, in different aspects of their life where they went and sought it out. So that that was for me. ( I can relate to that. SL ) Yeah. Yeah.
Is that your story too, Sabine?
[00:34:58 - 00:36:09] Sabine Ludewig
Well, it was in 2013, when I rediscovered Scarecrow, because my relationship had broken apart. And, it wasn't in a way that I needed comfort or something, but I had to find out what my life what's was gonna be. And I thought about things I had always wanted to do, like, visit Washington DC and see the monuments and stuff like that. So I I went back in time and so, well, now you it's the opportunity to start sort of a new life or a new section in your life. And, yeah. And then I I I found the DVDs. I found the forum, and I literally binged the whole whole 4 seasons, like, 5 episodes a day. And then there were these, English episodes, and that they weren't dubbed. And, they were all new to me. And, I didn't understand everything, so I started learning English... English at evening school. And so one thing led to another, and, yeah, that's how I got into it again.
[00:36:09 - 00:36:15] Sharon Johnson
So Scarecrow and Mrs King pushed you to learn English or to learn it better than you already were speaking it?
[00:36:15 - 00:36:17] Sabine Ludewig
Yep. It actually did. It did.
[00:36:17 - 00:36:17] Sharon Johnson
Oh, that's great.
[00:36:18 - 00:36:40] Sabine Ludewig
I don't know. I I binged it so much that at one time, I had some some weird dreams about, a story that involved the characters like Dottie and Lee and Amanda and such. And I tried to write a a fan fiction about it. And, looking back, it was so bad. My English was so terrible.
[00:36:42 - 00:36:43] Taya Johnston
Your English is great.
[00:36:43 - 00:37:00] Sabine Ludewig
(Yeah SLH). And once once I I had some some lessons in the evening school, I I re-viewed it. I I I touched it a bit, and it's it came out pretty good, but it's been my one and only so far.
Fan fiction. And then, Taya, you've done some fan fiction.

[00:37:04 - 00:37:46] Taya Johnston
Yeah. Yeah. I was doing fan fiction in, when I was 10 years old with my Barbies. Like, I my Barbies, I've never so told this, I don't think to another person... but my Barbies were named Lee. She was a girl. She was a Barbie.
Lee, Amanda, Kate, and Bruce. And I'm trying to remember. I I don't think I had any others that were named that, but I would do the stories and I would come up with, like, little soap operas for them of the show with my Barbies. And I did that for for a long time. And then, yeah, I did I've written, like, almost 2 dozen fan fiction stories. Yeah. And videos and things like that.
Now, David, have you written fan fiction?
[00:37:49 - 00:37:54] David Johnson
No. I, I don't think I have the oh, boy. What's what's the word?
Have you ever read one?
[00:37:55 - 00:38:27] David Johnson
Oh, I've read a lot of it. It's, it certainly wouldn't be my area of expertise. You know, I'm And much more, I guess, a mechanical person, nuts and bolts details. I just I don't think I don't know for I I love some of the stories, I think, are absolutely stunning. Breathtaking. But I would be afraid myself to write something like that because I feel like I wouldn't have the ability to do the characters justice.
[00:38:28 - 00:38:41] Sharon Johnson
Sabina and David, when it comes to the locations, is there a location that you were able to locate that perhaps is your favorite? And what are the ones that are on the top of your list?
[00:38:41 - 00:38:43] Taya Johnston
( He gets so excited. TJ ) ( No. No. DJ ) ( That you haven't yet? SJ )
[00:38:43 - 00:38:56] David Johnson
I have to interrupt this. There's one that we can't talk about that is, I think, definitely my favorite. It's one of the, one of the holy grails. I'm not gonna mention it.
You gotta read the book.
[00:38:59 - 00:39:00] Sharon Johnson
Well, it's not even in the book.

[00:39:00 - 00:39:02] Taya Johnston No. It's not in there.
[00:39:02 - 00:39:07] David Johnson
We're not allowed to have it in the book, unfortunately, but, you know, there's so many... (That's how good it is TJ)
So this is just for the 2, 3 of you?
[00:39:10 - 00:39:11] David Johnson
Yeah. Yeah.
Wow.
[00:39:13 - 00:39:27] David Johnson
But no finding ... (It's very secret SL). It's it's a it's a big time secret. But, actually, the last time I saw Sabine or the time before that, we actually went to the interior of IFF together.
[00:39:27 - 00:39:27] Taya Johnston
That would have been cool.
[00:39:27 - 00:39:47] David Johnson
Because we had just discovered that, the interior of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Downtown LA was used as the interior. But, you know, in in pilots, they typically use practical locations because it costs too much if you don't even know it's gonna go to series
Right.
[00:39:47 - 00:39:59] David Johnson
To have to build something new. So, one of the gentlemen that I had interviewed for the book fortunately remembered where the interior of the agency was in the pilot episode. So
[00:39:59 - 00:40:02] Taya Johnston
David's head promptly exploded. (giggles)
[00:40:03 - 00:40:46] David Johnson
yeah . It's it was it was just just mind blowing . I mean, that's that's I think the the neatest thing about this whole thing is when I take fans to various filming locations in and around LA, it's like Twilight Zone . It's like you've walked into the episodes . It is it is truly frightening in a good way . It's you you can't wrap your head around it . It's just wild to be where all of these wonderful, beautiful scenes happened, like the ballroom, in The Triumvirate where the chandelier explodes . That's a hotel in Pasadena, and that ballroom.. . (Beautiful . YJ) .. . is still pretty much identical . We've been there many times . It is just beautiful .
What hotel? I'm in I'm in Pasadena.
[00:40:48 - 00:40:49] Sharon Johnson
Yeah. We're sitting in Pasadena.
[00:40:50 - 00:40:51] David Johnson
It's The Langham, Pasadena.
It's The Langham. Okay.
[00:40:52 - 00:41:13] David Johnson
Yeah. They filmed a couple episodes at that Hotel, but even though they tore it down and rebuilt it, you know, because of earthquake codes. The 2 ballrooms... they tore down the entire hotel, but they were able to preserve the ballrooms themselves. So that's so they did basically build the new hotel kind of around and on top of the ballrooms.
[00:41:13 - 00:41:17] Sharon Johnson
( It's beautiful there. TJ ) Always wonderful to hear that sort of thing.
[00:41:18 - 00:41:36] Taya Johnston
I have to say, David could get us into any building. It doesn't matter if it's Fort Knox, I I have faith that he could get us in there. I have never seen somebody charm his way into anything better than David.
[00:41:36 - 00:42:14] David Johnson
I I will say if I have any talent or any skill in this world... No No. I just, let's put it down... It's been luck. It's been luck. I, I have accidentally gotten myself into a lot of filming locations that are very off limits. You know? Never illegal. ( Not accidental. TJ ) Never never illegal. Well, the, the training camp, station 1, from A Class Act, the very first time I went into that, that was kind of an accident. You know, they didn't discover we were roaming around that property for about 2 hours. But, they were real nice, you know, and took lots of pictures.
[00:42:16 - 00:42:19] Taya Johnston
He he's very good. I have to give him props.

He's got a real soft tenacity going on.
[00:42:22 - 00:42:30] Taya Johnston
You're just sitting there. You're just like, oh my god. You're just like, oh my god. What is he telling these people? Then you think it's like he gets us right in and you're like
[00:42:31 - 00:43:24] David Johnson
Well, you know what I think it is though? I I think, again, it does come, I would have to say it's luck. There's some kind of an energy. I truly believe that when you're meant to do something that that the universe conspires to help you, to get you to some place that you never thought possible. And that's certainly true. I adore Linda Carter, obviously. And she told me once, she said, David, when you're doing the right thing, the right things happen. And I swear to God, every single thing about this experience my whole life with Scarecrow and Mrs King has been that way. There's been far too many miracles and coincidences and doors opened to me because of that show than is realistically possible. So that just further, I think, cements my feeling that I was meant to do this project, to be a part of this project.
[00:43:24 - 00:43:27] Taya Johnston
He's also got a lot of determination and charm just to be.
[00:43:28 - 00:43:31] David Johnson
No. I don't know about that. I just I just tried really hard.
[00:43:33 - 00:43:38] Sharon Johnson
Sabine, do you have a a favorite location of the ones that that you've visited thus far?
[00:43:39 - 00:44:08] Sabine Ludewig
Oh, that's so hard to tell. There are.... There are so many that are so amazing and that as a German citizen, you would never even think about getting in because, you're I don't know. You don't know how, to whom to reach out, like, or who to get in contact with also. And, but one of one of my favorite locations that I discovered unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore in the way it did in the eighties that was, the Doolies
[00:44:09 - 00:44:09] Sharon Johnson
Mhmm.
[00:44:09 - 00:44:52] Sabine Ludewig
The Doolies pub, that I personally discovered, and I am very proud of that, I have to say. Because there is, you in the background where where I sit in the park, you can see a mural, a a wall painting. And, we even got in touch with the creator of that, and, he told us a little story about it. And, he's still active creating, art in any kind... any kind. And, that that was really fascinating to find something background. To find background and to get in touch with these people and to to discover something really by myself and not only with the help of David or others. Like, or reaching out to people. So that was quite amazing.
[00:44:52 - 00:44:57] Sharon Johnson
Do you remember which one was the first location you were able to to find and see for yourself in person?
[00:44:59 - 00:46:01] Sabine Ludewig
My my very first Scarecrow locations tour was Washington DC, and I think I I covered every possible point, except for the Washington Monument, which is still on my list because it was closed at that time. I discovered a London location, the casino that we see, which is private, is is a privately owned house today. There was a lot of research and I finally got, to visit the next door house, which is, an art academy something. So I I knew I was at the right, in the in the right building, but not in the right section like that. So that was very tricky. They filmed a lot of it in in Tallinn, Germany, so I did that tour, and discovered 1 or 2 that hadn't been found by then. Yeah. It's quite amazing.
You guys are kind of like detectives or spies.
[00:46:05 - 00:46:07] David Johnson
Yes. Yes. Our agency training.
(laughing) Yeah .
[00:46:09 - 00:46:57] Sabine Ludewig
It's it's it's it's it's a mixture of, finding the right person, meeting the right person at the right time. Googling... Facebook, getting in touch with people. Just don't be afraid to ask. That's the whole story. Yeah. I once met a guy in in Southern Germany on my tour, and I was like, well, I'm looking for a house like that. And he said, well, yeah. That's over there and it's it's private. But, yeah, that's I remember they filmed there and he told a story about it and then he asked me, well, what else are you looking for? And I showed him, a picture of the sawmill, and I had no idea, where that was. And he said, oh, yeah. That's you you drive just that road and down next next town and, there it is. And I was like, okay. Thank you.
[00:46:59 - 00:47:01] Taya Johnston
Oh, awesome.

I love that. And I know exactly the sawmill that you're talking about, where Lee is betrayed.
[00:47:09 - 00:47:10] Taya Johnston
Yeah. "Our Man in Tegernsee".
[00:47:10 - 00:47:12] Sabine Ludewig
It's a a great experience always. Yes.
Oh my gosh. Alright. So, David, you've been writing this book for 40 years, but what was the moment you're like, okay. Now I really have to write this book, and I gotta get... I'd like to know about that moment.
[00:47:23 - 00:49:37] David Johnson
Oh. Oh, boy. You know, I don't I don't know. I think subconsciously, I always knew that it had to be done and that I had to be involved. Again, I I think when I discovered Taya and Sabine, I felt like I had a much sturdier, more realistic foundation, you know, to move... to potentially move the project forward. I but I can't say there was eve,r I ever had really any moments. It was almost like, well, God, I've got all of this content and I absolutely adore the Scarecrow and Mrs. King fans. And I'm like, it's unfair for just a couple people to know, or to have this this information. You know? And every single day, we're losing more information. We're losing more people. We're we're losing that. And it's like, I think that was that was the, one of the major... that was the impetus to really just like, okay, I've got the content. Now it's just a matter of refining, stylizing, combining, and of course, adding. Like the interviews, obviously, all of the interviews were done over the past, I'd say probably 3 years. But everything else, it was just, you know, I mean, fortunately, a lot of things fell into place probably easier than it should have. But it's, it's it's been a journey.
I mean, literally the past 3, 4 years of my life have been an unbelievable blur. You know? Almost every day, I would spend on average probably at least 4 or 5 hours at a minimum doing stuff for the book. So I think the hardest part of the entire process was determining what I had to leave out, and I hated that. I I wished I could have shared every single thing, but I'm I'm happy. I'm very happy with what WE have included and accomplished. I really don't think anybody's gonna feel shortchanged, and I think a lot of people are gonna be completely blown away by what you find out.
[00:49:37 - 00:49:47] Sharon Johnson
Did you have a methodology that you came up with in terms of which of you did which areas, or how did that all work in terms of dividing things up?

[00:49:47 - 00:50:49] David Johnson
You know, I I can tell people having never written a book before, especially one that was gonna be this immersive, this complex, this detailed... the best thing in the world you can do, I found out by accident, is make your table of contents first, and then work on your chapters. ( Oh. SJ ) Because that way you can see from the very beginning, am I covering everything that I wanna cover? And then you can become more detailed as you attack each of the chapters. So, I mean, Taya already had a lot of the content, like the script versus filmed differences. So a lot of that came from her. You know, Sabine and I had a lot of the, you know, obviously, the locations. But, yeah, I mean, Taya also had really good episode descriptions, you know, that she had written. But I I don't know. I I think we all kind of knew without even really discussing what parts of the book we each really would focus on.
[00:50:49 - 00:50:57] Taya Johnston
Yeah. I think we... I mean, in the beginning, I think we said, oh, we want this in there. I'll I'll take that and or we want this, so we'll, you know, I'll I'll work on that.
[00:50:58 - 00:51:01] Sabine Ludewig
The major sections were pretty clear from the beginning, I guess.
Yeah. Taya, I wanna ask you, like, where did you get the scripts?
[00:51:05 - 00:51:48] Taya Johnston
I have a filing cabinet, a drawer for each season. And a lot of it, it's been through 23 years of of gathering it through eBay, through kind of trades with other fans, if they had something. I have probably about 25 or so original ones. One actually has Kate's notes in it, so that one's like my pride and joy. And then signed ones and things like that but, you know, I could have I have a script for every episode but I sometimes have, like, 3 versions of a script, you know, because it it went through so many iterations and such. So just collecting through the years. Yeah.
What are some of your guys' favorite episodes or moments from the show? I know that that's a tough question.
[00:51:55 - 00:52:31] Taya Johnston
Some of my favorite. I I like "Brunettes Are In" and "Burnout". I I I'm more into the angsty. You know, I don't like the, I'm not as much of a post. I like the angst of them. Are they gonna get together? Are they not gonna get together? I don't like the the oh, they're married and all that as much. Those are my least favorites. I like the angst. I I that's how I write the fanfic for those as well. I don't think I'd be hard pressed to remember a story I wrote that was post them, you know, married and, you know, forever after kind of thing.
Yeah. That will they, won't they, is a beautiful dramatic place to be.
[00:52:36 - 00:52:50] Taya Johnston
I just love that dramatic. So "Brunettes Are In" and "Burnout" are are are a couple of my favorites. "The First Time" obviously is like, you know, perfect.
Susan Lambert Hatem: I I just love that one too. Sabine?
[00:52:51 - 00:53:24] Sabine Ludewig
Well, and of my favorites definitely is "Burnout" at "Nightcrawler". Other than that, I can only say that my least favorite is "Remembering of Things Past". I don't know why, but that's not, I don't know. It doesn't appear to mer to me. I like to look at it like seasonal wise because each season has a different spirit kind of thing. So it's it's really hard to to tell a favorite other than the two I mentioned.
David?
[00:53:26 - 00:53:27] David Johnson
Oh. I'm I'm
[00:53:28 - 00:53:31] Taya Johnston
You're asking him to pick his favorite child.
[00:53:32 - 00:54:05] David Johnson
Right . No . I'm I'm similar to Sabine . I, it's it's probably easier for me to pick episodes that I didn't care as much for . Certainly, I can say the season 3 episodes were without a doubt overall my favorite . The middle of season 2 all the way to the end also are some of my favorites . I love the pilot . You know, I love "Ship of Spies" . I loved, the "Triumvirate" . "Pharaoh's Engineer", I thought was you you can't describe the job that Kate did .
[00:54:05 - 00:54:06] Taya Johnston
Agreed.
[00:54:06 - 00:54:55] David Johnson
I mean, I'll never forget watching when "Pharaoh's Engineer" came on. Just all of a sudden, that synthesized music I mean, within 2 minutes as a youngster, I immediately knew there was something drastically different about this episode. And then all of a sudden, it said, oh, directed by Kate Jackson. So that was that was fascinating. "The Eyes Have It". I absolutely loved. God. There's just, there's so many. I love, I thought "Mission of Gold": was shattering, you know, where Amanda gets shot. I mean, I think in terms of an emotional impact, I can say that "Mission of Gold" probably was the hardest punch in the gut for me. So, yeah, from an emotional impact, "Mission of Gold" was the most intense episode.
And can you talk a little bit about maybe if you got all the stars of this show for the book?
[00:55:04 - 00:55:13] David Johnson
Well, we got all of the surviving main cast with the exception, unfortunately, of Paul Stout.
[00:55:13 - 00:55:13] Sabine Ludewig
Yeah.
[00:55:14 - 00:55:16] David Johnson
So we were able to get Kate Jackson.
I'm very excited about that.
[00:55:22 - 00:55:22] Taya Johnston
It's really good.
[00:55:23 - 00:55:42] David Johnson
It's really good. It took it took several years, but her insight I mean, honestly, of all the interviews I've read anywhere that Kate did on Scarecrow and Mrs King, I really think this interview in our book is the most extensive that Kate has ever talked in one place
[00:55:42 - 00:55:43] Taya Johnston
I would agree.
[00:55:43 - 00:55:54] David Johnson
About her work on the show. So we're just thrilled and honored. I mean, what can you say about Kate Jackson? She's enormously talented, a brilliant woman, creative
[00:55:55 - 00:55:55] Taya Johnston
Brilliant.
[00:55:55 - 00:56:05] David Johnson
Immensely capable. Brilliant is not even a strong enough word for what Kate Jackson is and has accomplished. I mean, she's just

[00:56:05 - 00:56:21] Taya Johnston
That you'll you'll see that theme throughout the book when interviewees were asked about, you know, what they remember about the show and things. That, I I would say is the the steadiest theme throughout the book is that Kate was was brilliant.
[00:56:21 - 00:56:22] David Johnson
Yes. Yes.
[00:56:23 - 00:56:32] Taya Johnston
Super, you know, talented and which coming from a Kate fan, like, that's my bread and butter, you know, it was it was wonderful to hear that, you know.
That is amazing. I'm really, excited to, read that interview in the book. Who do you wish you had been able to speak to?
[00:56:41 - 00:56:44] David Johnson
That's a huge a huge list. I mean, Beverly Garland.
[00:56:44 - 00:56:46] Taya Johnston
Mel and Beverly for sure.
[00:56:46 - 00:56:58] David Johnson
Uh, Sam Melville, Jean Stapleton. I would have loved to have picked their brains about about their experiences on the show. There's just so many.
[00:56:58 - 00:57:04] Sharon Johnson
Speaking of Jean Stapleton, do you know she ever if she was ever interviewed or spoke about her role on Scarecrow and Mrs King?
[00:57:04 - 00:57:05] David Johnson
I have researched that.
[00:57:05 - 00:57:06] Taya Johnston
There's an interview.
[00:57:06 - 00:57:06] David Johnson
Yeah.
[00:57:06 - 00:57:25] Taya Johnston
Yeah. There's an interview that she did when they were on set for the "The Legend of Das Geisterschloss"
I'm gonna totally butcher my German. Yeah. So there's an interview from that and yeah. Very little.
[00:57:25 - 00:57:39] Sabine Ludewig
Well, I I would have loved to have some German actors or or cast in in the book, but it didn't happen. I tried to get, ( Sky?... but he didn't reply to my email.
[00:57:39 - 00:57:40] Taya Johnston
(A list picker.)
[00:57:41 - 00:57:42] Sabine Ludewig
(A little picker. Right. Right?)
[00:57:42 - 00:58:28] David Johnson
I really don't think we left any stone unturned. We wanted to be as comprehensive, attacking every single angle possible. And, you know, we were certainly lucky, and we're we're honored and thrilled to have what we did get. So I I'm not really as disappointed as as I guess I thought I was gonna be. You know? As you go in and you always have a knot in your stomach. I mean, every interviewee that I've reached out to, I was so afraid they were gonna come back and be mad at me for some reason or say, how dare you, you know, call my home phone number, which, you know, I did have to do that a couple times. But, no, I I'm so excited. I can't wait to see what everybody thinks about all of this new content.
Okay. This is a probably a good time to take a break. We'll be back.
__________________________________Commercial Break_________________________________
And we're back and better than ever! So this is a lot of work. What was the toughest part, and what was sort of the best part?
[00:59:48 - 01:00:18] Taya Johnston
I mean, you know it's gonna be a lot of work. And, every time I start a a project, it just seems like I know it's gonna be a lot of work, you know, like the podcast. I knew it was gonna be a lot of work, but then you get into it and you're like, oh, holy heck. This is way more than I signed up for. So it kind of it, you know, there was moments of, this is awesome. And then there's what was I thinking you know, kind of things too. Where you're like, this is just so much work, so much stress, you know, because it's not like we don't have day jobs, you know...
[01:00:19 - 01:00:19] David Johnson
Right.
[01:00:19 - 01:00:33] Taya Johnston
kind of thing, so. But it's been amazing. And this weekend has just been a, like, a culmination of all that work. It's just come to, you know, come to be. It's just been really nice and couldn't have done it with, better partners.So it's been good.
Susan Lambert Hatem : Sabine?
[01:00:33 - 01:00:52] Sabine Ludewig
The toughest part for me actually was, the proofreading because I'm not a good reader. I'm I'm slow. I I really read each word to understand the context and such. I know David has done much more proofreading than I ever would've done.
[01:00:52 - 01:00:57] Taya Johnston
Well, it's also not your native language either. I couldn't do I couldn't read German...The way you've done this. So you don't give yourself enough props.
[01:01:00 - 01:01:32] Sabine Ludewig
And, yeah, your comma rules, I still don't understand. So. At one point, I felt like we will never get this done, until we set and deadline. So at one point, I said, I want to have this thing out for the for the 40th Reunion. Let's get this done. I think it was a year ago or so. And, let's let's pick up some pace and and get the content together. We had so many pieces lying around, and let's get that that thing together. Yeah.
And you made it.
Sharon Johnson: You did!
[01:01:34 - 01:01:41] Taya Johnston
I think we all just kind of powered through. Yeah. You had to power through on things. ( Alright, David. You're up. SLH )
[01:01:41 - 01:03:09] David Johnson
Well, I mean, honestly, I mean, in terms of of compiling it, putting it all together, there really wasn't anything quick about it. I mean, even writing 2 pages, you know, you go through so many steps, so many phases, and then, you know, emotional things come in, and you're trying to make it the best you can. I mean, for example, I licensed all of the Scarecrow and Mrs King Television Guide ads, all 65 of them. And the company I licensed them through did not have any of the originals, so I literally had to go through my collection, pull out all of my saved TV Guides from 30, 40 years ago, and then also had to buy all the ads I was missing off of eBay. Sometimes I had to order 2 or 3 copies copies because the ones I got, the one page I needed to scan was horrible. You know? But I corrected the major the major rips, tears, and flaws. But I mean, each TV Guide ad, and again, there were 65 of them, took probably 5 or 6 hours to get them each to where I wanted them. And then, you know, there's a lot of other photographs that I contributed to the book and that took forever. So it's, you know, getting it to a final point took far more time than I ever would have expected.
[01:03:09 - 01:03:20] Sabine Ludewig
And and talking about the price, I mean, you had to license all all the pictures from the TV Guide ads and such. It's it's really money that went into the book.
[01:03:20 - 01:03:21] David Johnson
Right.
[01:03:21 - 01:03:25] Taya Johnston
Yeah. If anybody thinks we're making money off this.. we'll dissolve that right now.
[01:03:25 - 01:03:28] David Johnson
No. We will never we will never recoup our cost.
[01:03:28 - 01:03:33] Taya Johnston
Not if we sold them to every fan in the whole wide world.... ( Right. Right. DJ ) Yeah. Not at all.
I'm curious what you found out about Juanita Bartlett.
[01:03:38 - 01:03:49] David Johnson
She is briefly touched upon and mentioned in, I think, at least maybe 2 sections of the book. Not a whole lot. Very, very little.
Yeah. There's just not a lot. I'm really...
[01:03:52 - 01:03:53] David Johnson
No. There's not.
Like, both from Rockford Files and this, you can find out about almost everybody else and and not her.
[01:04:00 - 01:04:00] David Johnson
Right.

[01:04:00 - 01:04:05] Taya Johnston
One interviewee, mentioned how, what a great writer, that she was.
[01:04:05 - 01:04:06] David Johnson
Right. Right.
[01:04:07 - 01:04:11] Taya Johnston
And and that she was a brilliant writer, so. And had some great stories. I do recall that.
Cool. Now will any of you be at the 40th anniversary?
[01:04:16 - 01:04:16] David Johnson
I will be.
[01:04:16 - 01:04:17] Taya Johnston
Yeah. All of us.
[01:04:17 - 01:04:18] Sabine Ludewig
All of us.
( Excellent! SJ ) Okay. Guess who won't be.
[01:04:21 - 01:04:21] Sabine Ludewig
Oooooh.
[01:04:21 - 01:04:23] Sharon Johnson
But you have a very good reason . You have a very good reason .
I will be in Europe. ( Oh. Great SL )
[01:04:26 - 01:04:27] Taya Johnston
Good for you.
[01:04:27 - 01:04:28] Sharon Johnson
On a family trip.
On a family trip with my mom and aunt.
[01:04:30 - 01:04:31] Taya Johnston
Nice. Excellent.
So, unfortunately, I will not be there, but Sharon and our producer, Melissa, will be there. So I'm, I'm excited for them to meet you. I'm not jealous at all.
[01:04:43 - 01:04:45] Taya Johnston
I'm jealous so you get to go to Europe.
I am very I am actually very excited about that trip. But any last, thoughts on the book? Any last thoughts on Scarecrow and Mrs King? And what you hope this book will do for the fans?
[01:04:56 - 01:05:23] David Johnson
I think it'll it'll I certainly hope it will bring a lot of new fans into the fold, you know, younger people, to develop an interest in the show as well as give a a stronger appreciation to the show from people who have studied it for years like we have. I mean, as we certainly it was it was eye opening, the additional information that we learned.
[01:05:23 - 01:05:25] Taya Johnston
Yeah. It was fun. Fun to be in the know.
Do you feel like you guys are the ultimate fan information holders?
[01:05:31 - 01:05:32] David Johnson
Ooh um, well..
[01:05:32 - 01:05:33] Sabine Ludewig
Who's to say...
[01:05:33 - 01:05:47] David Johnson
We hope. We would hope so. I mean, we we titled a book that way, so we have a we have an obligation to, you know, if you're gonna use the word ultimate, that's a lot to live up to. So we just hope that everybody will see it that way as well.
[01:05:47 - 01:05:51] Taya Johnston
Remember the um, I forget. Is it "Wonder Twins"? You know, when they put their powers together?
[01:05:51 - 01:05:52] David Johnson
Yeah.
[01:05:52 - 01:06:11] Taya Johnston
It's kinda like that, except there's triplets. We kinda all put our powers together and it made something, you know, the sum of all parts, you know, kind of thing. It made it, I think, more special. Like David said, it's not, you know, one person has all this information anymore. It's, you know, it's all out. That's why I have my website so that other people can enjoy it as well.
Well, I love your site. It's fantastic.
[01:06:14 - 01:06:15] Taya Johnston
Oh, thank you. Thank you.
[01:06:16 - 01:06:21] David Johnson
Right now, the book is available worldwide on the various Amazon websites.
And it is a paperback?
[01:06:22 - 01:06:23] David Johnson
It's a paperback.
It's a paperback. And there is not a digital version of the book?
[01:06:26 - 01:06:35] David Johnson
Not yet. We hope to offer an electronic version at some point, but we there's it's not gonna happen super soon.
Okay. And then, Taya. The podcast, you guys finished your walk through of Scarecrow and Mrs King. Congratulations.
[01:06:43 - 01:06:57] Taya Johnston
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It's um, mkcpodcast.com is our website, and then it's on anywhere where you stream podcasts. So. And then, CallMeACab.com is my Scarecrow site. So yeah.
What are you guys gonna do now? ( Sleep? TJ )
[01:06:59 - 01:07:00] David Johnson
Sleep.
[01:07:00 - 01:07:00] Sabine Ludewig
More research.
[01:07:04 - 01:07:18] David Johnson
You know, I had to finish this book while moving from and house to another, So that's, still I have to work on. And I'm still working on the last-minute surgical details on my Amanda-King-Mobile station wagon that will be making an appearance, at Amanda's house.
[01:07:19 - 01:07:20] Taya Johnston
That's what you're gonna miss.
[01:07:20 - 01:07:51] David Johnson
I have a station wagon that I have made cosmetically identical to hers'. It's taken many, many years, but I even had it painted the proper 1985 color. And it's a dead ringer. No no pun intended. But, the owners of the exterior of Amanda's house have graciously allowed me to park the car in her driveway, for the group photo, at the reunion. So, I mean, that's that's a chance of a lifetime.
[01:07:52 - 01:07:52] Sharon Johnson
How fantastic.
That is amazing. That'll be on Friday of the reunion.
[01:07:55 - 01:07:56] Sharon Johnson
That will be on Friday. Right.
[01:07:56 - 01:07:58] Taya Johnston
Are you gonna take it to the bus stop, David?
[01:07:59 - 01:08:04] David Johnson
I eventually will take it down to the bus stop as that's close to the hotel, you know, from the eyes have it. And um,
[01:08:05 - 01:08:05] Taya Johnston
Just be careful.
[01:08:05 - 01:08:06] David Johnson
I won't be driving this car up over the curb...
[01:08:06 - 01:08:06] Taya Johnston
Yeah.
[01:08:06 - 01:08:20] David Johnson
Yeah. Like the other cars. Yeah. But, no. She enjoys it. There's even a little blurb about her in, in my bio in the book. So she's a good girl. She's a wonderful, wonderful car.
Now I have a quick question about the car that's just for me. Is it the same car that Laura's sister drives in Remington Steele in the 2 episodes that involve Laura's sister. And I think at one point, they grab the car, they jump in the car, and drive off. And when I saw that, I was like, that looks like Amanda King's car.
[01:08:41 - 01:08:47] Sabine Ludewig
If you know the episodes, I can take screenshots of the DVDs so David can verify that.
Okay. I will I will, do my homework now and, get back to you on that. But thank you so much for coming on and talking with us, and thank you for creating this book. You know, I'm always surprised when there's, like, a beloved show, which I think of this, that doesn't have a book. So you guys, I'm very grateful for you guys creating it.
Taya Johnston: Thank you!
[01:09:09 - 01:09:10] David Johnson
Thank you.
[01:09:10 - 01:09:11] Sabine Ludewig
Thanks for having me.
Take care.
[01:09:11 - 01:09:13] Taya Johnston
Bye, ladies!
[01:09:16 - 01:09:18] Sharon Johnson
Bye!
______________________________ Commercial Break ________________________

In our audio-ography today, of course the book. The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs King by David R Johnson, Taya Johnston, and Sabine Ludewig, is available on amazon. com. The link is in our description.
[01:10:34 - 01:11:02] Sharon Johnson
There's a Scarecrow and Mrs King Facebook Fan Page that you can visit to connect with other fans of the show. Also, you can find the episode walk through podcast, Mrs King Chronicles at mkcpodcast.com, and it's on all the platforms at Mrs King Chronicles. Hey, we wanna hear from you. What's the eighties ladies driven TV show that you remember, or have heard of, and would like for us to cover?
Tell us your thoughts at 80sTVLadies. com.
[01:11:08 - 01:11:15] Sharon Johnson
And please help us make the show by going to patreon.com/80sTVLadies
Please join for our next episode where we will be looking at the 80s aesthetic with TV screenwriter, comic book writer, and filmmaker, Brian Edward Hill. He's amazing. It's gonna be so much fun.
[01:11:29 - 01:11:43] Sharon Johnson
As always, we hope 80s TV Ladies brings you joy and laughter and lots of fabulous old and new shows to watch. All of which will bring us closer toward being amazing ladies of the 21st century. See you next time
‍

Episode 214: The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King

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