Charlie's Angels is a television series that was broadcast on the ABC Television Network from 1976 to 1981, about three women who work for a fictional private investigation agency, the Charles Townsend Agency. Their boss, Charlie (voiced by John Forsythe), was rarely seen & is never seen full face — in some episodes he is shown from the rear only (where the viewer only sees the back of his head & his arms) & on the series finale where he appears in surgeon's mask & outfit. He only ever contacted the "angels" by telephone, addressing them via a speakerphone on the office's desk.
The three original "angels" were Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) & Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith). Later, when a character left (because the actress went on to other projects, etc) another "angel" was brought on to keep the number at three. Later angels were Jill's little sister Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), Tiffany Welles (Shelley Hack), & Julie Rogers (Tanya Roberts). Jaclyn Smith was the longest serving TV angel, remaining with the show for its entire five season run. Another major character throughout the series was Charlie's assistant, John Bosley (David Doyle).
A 1974 Ted Mikels movie
called Doll Squad featured three female crime fighters, one even named Sabrina.
Whether the movie influenced Aaron Spelling is disputed.
The show's premise
focused Charlie assigning the 'angels' to a new situation each episode, where
they would go undercover in order to investigate 'from the inside'. Their undercover
characters often had to feign not knowing each other in the situation, until their
cover was inevitably blown. The undercover aspect of the show created much of
the plot interest & tension. Under their assumed identities, the 'angels'
used a combination of sexual wiles & knowledge learned for the situation in
which they were being placed.
"Jiggle TV"
The show became
known as "Jiggle TV" & "T&A TV" (or "Tits &
Ass television"), because the angels would often be seen scantily or provocatively
dressed (generally as part of their undercover character — e.g., rollergirl,
beauty pageant contestant, maid, female prisoner or just bikini-clad), to showcase
the figures & /or sexuality of the actresses. Farrah Fawcett-Majors once attributed
the show's success to this fact, quoted as saying "When the show was number
three, I figured it was our acting. When it got to be number one, I decided it
could only be because none of us wears a bra."
Movies
The television
series inspired two feature films from production company Flower Films: Charlie's
Angels (2000) & Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), both directed by McG
& starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, & Lucy Liu as the three angels,
with John Forsythe returning to voice Charlie. Bosley was played in the first
film by Bill Murray, while the second film cast Bernie Mac as Jimmy Bosley, John's
adoptive-brother.
The second movie had more nods to the TV series than the first movie in the series did, perhaps due to complaints from fans of the TV series. Whereas most movie remakes of 1970s TV shows, like Starsky & Hutch, are actually remakes, the Charlie's Angels films are set in a different time. The mythology goes that whenever an Angel leaves, she is replaced so there are always three (seen in the TV show). Liu, Barrymore & Diaz's characters are not based on the Angels in the show, but are their "successors". To prove this fact, Demi Moore's character, who is a 'fallen' Angel, quotes; "Back in my day — we used guns", which refers to the lack of martial arts in the TV series, while it is the preferred form of combat in the films. In the TV series, the Angels were more police-like, generally using guns. Physical struggles, were, however, common. In fact, the silhouette logo of the TV series does show one angel with her hands in a karate-like pose (and the other two with a gun & a walkie-talkie). The karate pose is often included when the show is being spoofed. The martial arts theme in the movies can be seen, in a way, as based on the original TV logo.
Also, Jaclyn Smith reprised her Kelly Garrett role from the TV series, who Dylan (Barrymore) meets in a Mexican cafe when she decides to leave the Angels. Kelly persuades her to rejoin the Angels with an inspiring speech. This reinforces the fact that there were not just three Angels (in fact in the TV series the viewer sees six different Angels), but there have always been three Angels at any one time.
In 2004, a television movie entitled Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels aired on NBC. It depicted the true story of what happened during the first season of the TV show.
In 2006, all three original Angels appeared together on-stage at the 2006 Emmy Awards, in a retrospective tribute to Aaron Spelling.
Video games
In July 2003, three Charlie's Angels games were
released on three different gaming platforms: Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2,
& the mobile phone. The versions released on both the GameCube & PlayStation
2 were virtually the same, each given the same title: Charlie's Angels. The version
released for the mobile phone was fundamentally toned down to fit the technical
restrictions of the platform, & was titled Charlie's Angels: Road Cyclone.
According to Game Rankings, the GameCube version is the worst reviewed video game of all time (an average of 23%, with Metacritic garnering the same results). Although the PlayStation 2 version didn't garner enough reviews to be officially listed, this version is virtually the same as the GameCube version. The mobile phone version averaged a respectable 79%.
Pop culture impact
The first season of
Charlie's Angels caused an explosion of fan hysteria & press coverage that
was unheard of in the mid-1970s. It was even highlighted as a cover story in Time
magazine which analyzed the impact of the show on popular culture. Also, in the
U.S census, it was found out that the name Charlie was more often used in naming
children.
Other collectible items
The show sold many items during
its run. These included dolls, (two versions), games, trading cards, pipes, notebooks,
& even record albums.
A poster of Farrah Fawcett-Majors was also sold showing Farrah sporting red bathing suit that became one of the biggest selling posters in history.
Two British comic strip versions were produced.
The first appeared in the Polystyle publication Target in April 1978, drawn by
John Canning. Target was a sister title to the long-running TV Comic aimed at
older children & featuring TV action & crime shows of the day. Proving
unpopular, it folded in August & merged back into TV Comic where Canning's
Angels strip continued until October 1979. The second strip was printed in Junior
TV Times Look-In, debuting in November 1979 (as soon as Polystyle's deal expired),
written by Angus P. Allan & drawn by Jim Baikie & Bill Titcombe.
List of known Angels During run of TV series
Sabrina Duncan (1976–1979),
played by Kate Jackson
Kelly Garrett (1976–1981), played by Jaclyn Smith
Jill Munroe (1976–1977, 1978, 1979, 1978), played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors
Kris Munroe (1977–1981), played by Cheryl Ladd
Tiffany Welles (1979–1980),
played by Shelley Hack
Julie Rogers (1980–1981), played by Tanya Roberts
In between TV series & movies
Angels '89
Four women were selected
to be in a show called Angels '88 & later named Angels '89 after production
delays.
Connie Bates (1988–1989), played by Claire Yarlett
Pam
Ryan (1988–1989), played by Sandra Canning
Trisha Lawrence (1988–1989),
played by Karen Kopins
Bernie Colter (1988–1989), played by Téa
Leoni
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle backstory
In the movie Charlie's
Angels: Full Throttle former Angel Madison Lee (1980s or 1990s?), played by Demi
Moore is introduced.
Telemundo version
From 1998–1999, Telemundo
& Sony produced a show called Ángeles.
Adriana Vega (1998–1999),
played by Patricia Manterola
Elena Sanchez (1998–1999), played by Sandra
Vidal
Gina Navarro (1998–1999), played by Magali Caicedo
The weekly
hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers, who are accustom to watch
telenovelas nightly & the series was soon cancelled.
German version
In
2002, a German version of Charlie's Angels, Wilde Engel, was produced by the German
channel RTL. The first season showed the adventures of Franziska, Lena & Raven.
Franziska
(played by Susann Uplegger) was a rich heiress, directicing a bank, & taken
as hostage by Raven's lover, trying to break into her bank, in the first episode
of the show.
Lena (Eva Habermann) was the young rookie cop, trying to save
her career from the false accusations of being corrupted & having a participation
in the robbery.
Raven (Birgit Stauber), a.k.a. Christina Rabe, was the girlfriend
of the robber, trying to save him from the real bad cop.
At the end of the
first episode, seeing the stunts pulled by Lena, Franziska & Raven, Martin
Grossmann (Filip Peeters) hired them to form a team of Angels.
The show was produced by Hermann Joha, Angela Strunck, & Melanie Mohr, but the cast was entirely changed around the second season, introducing new Angels:
Rebecca
(Vanessa Petruo)
Ida (Tanja Wenzel)
Aiko (Zora Holt) & a new Bosley,
Richard Voss (Udo Kier).
In the French speaking countries it was known as Anges de choc, & as Three Wild Angels in the English ones.
The first season made a good audience, but the second one was going down, & its high production cost made it hard to go on. The show was stopped during 2005.
During
movies
NATALIE COOK (2000–2003), played by Cameron Diaz
This platinum
blond with pale blue eyes is optimistic, starry-eyed, shy & somewhat goofy.
A deceptively-brilliant blusher, Natalie has no idea that she looks like a supermodel,
& no idea that she has enough charisma for three. Her mom was a large-animal
veterinarian; her dad was the author/editor of The Cook Anthology of Science Fiction.
Natalie was the class nerd: complete with a Princess Leia honeybun hairdo, glasses,
& a mouthful of braces. She got her Ph.D. from MIT — by correspondence.
She’s worked as a research scientist at the Swedish National Academy, a U.S.
Navy test pilot, & a Lincoln-Mercury spokes-model. Natalie has a passion for
anything on wheels. She’s brilliant at road racing, helicopter piloting,
& motocross. Her favorite song is “Soul Man.” Natalie resides in
a little white bungalow on a canal in Venice, California. She drives a red Ferrari
Modena, license plate number 924-WNP. Natalie can’t dance to save her life,
but she’s extremely proficient in kung fu & several other martial arts,
as are fellow Angels Dylan Sanders & Alex Munday.
DYLAN SANDERS, a.k.a.
HELEN ZASS (2000–2003), played by Drew Barrymore
This auburn-haired,
green-eyed wild child is fearless & street-smart. Never having known her parents,
Dylan was a rambunctious teenage rebel who graduated with lackluster grades. After
that, she did a Kerouac & learned life’s lessons on the road. She had
a very brief stint at her local Police Academy, due to assault charges filed for
punching out a discipline-happy police sergeant. Since then, Dylan has whiled
away her days at odd jobs: bartender, yoga instructor, field guide, rodeo entertainer…you
name it, she’s done it. Dylan has a knack for choosing jerks for boyfriends,
& she’s been through several. She always finds the good in people, even
jerky guys. Dylan is impetuous & has a bad temper, leaping before she looks,
but her determination is superhuman. So is her brawling prowess; she’s been
known to take out a whole roomful of goons with her hands literally tied behind
her back. Her bohemian L.A. pad is complete with lava lamps, incense burners,
& a less-than-tidy walk-in closet on Melrose Avenue. She drives an orange-and-white
1969 Camaro convertible, license plate number 716-EKL. WORDS TO LIVE BY: “Don’t
let your past hold you back.”
ALEX MUNDAY (2000–2003), played
by Lucy Liu
Alex is a sophisticated class act, with dark brown eyes &
never a blue-black hair out of place. Her parents were professors of philosophy
& economics at Harvard. By the time she was 13, Alex had academically eclipsed
her parents. She spent the rest of her teenage years abroad, learning levitation
with a Tibetan guru; safecracking & bomb defusing with a Parisian double agent;
dancing for a time with the Stuttgart Ballet — the usual classical education.
An expert fencer & horsewoman, Alex has been a government aerospace engineer
& on-call consultant for NASA. She was also an early pioneer in the creation
of the laptop computer. Alex is so on top of everything, it’s easy to bore
her & hard to keep her amused. No known drawbacks. Smitten with actor Jason
Gibbons, she resides in an impeccable loft in downtown Los Angeles. Alex drives
a vintage silver Mercedes convertible, license plate number 340-JAN. She worships
Martha Stewart, despite the fact that she is cursed in the kitchen.
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