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Charlie's Angels
Created by	Ivan Goff Ben Roberts
Starring	Kate Jackson Farrah Fawcett Jaclyn Smith Cheryl Ladd Shelley Hack Tanya Roberts David Doyle
Theme music composer	Jack Elliott Allyn Ferguson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	115 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Aaron Spelling Leonard Goldberg
Running time	48–50 minutes
Production company(s)	Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Distributor	Columbia Pictures Television (1981-1982) Sony Pictures Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	4:3 SDTV 16:9 HDTV
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 22, 1976 (1976-09-22) – June 24, 1981 (1981-06-24)
Chronology
Related shows	Charlie's Angels (reboot series)

Charlie's Angels is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976 to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 110 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aaron Spelling. It follows the crime-fighting adventures of three women working in a private detective agency in Los Angeles, California, and originally starred Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett (billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors), and Jaclyn Smith in the leading roles and John Forsythe providing the voice of their boss, the unseen Charlie Townsend, who directed the "Angels" crime-fighting operations over a speakerphone.^[1] There were a few casting changes: after the departure of Fawcett and Jackson came the additions of Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts.^[2]

Despite mixed reviews from critics and a reputation for merely being "Jiggle TV" (specifically emphasizing the sex appeal of the female leads), Charlie's Angels enjoyed huge popularity with audiences and was a top ten hit in the Nielsen ratings for its first two seasons. By the third season, however, the show had fallen from the top 10. The fourth season of the show saw a further decline in ratings; the changes could not stop the falling ratings and in 1981, after 110 episodes and five seasons, Charlie's Angels was canceled. The series continues to have a cult and pop culture following through syndication, DVD releases, and subsequent television shows. The show also spawned two feature film adaptations, one in 2000, with a sequel in 2003 and an upcoming reboot film in 2019, as well as a reboot television series in 2011.

Development

Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts came up with the idea for a series about three beautiful female private investigators as a breakthrough but also escapist television series. Producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg first considered actress Kate Jackson during the early pre-production stages of the series. She had proven popular with viewers in another police television drama, The Rookies. Jackson was initially cast as Kelly Garrett, but was more attracted to the role of Sabrina Duncan, and her request to switch roles was granted. Farrah Fawcett was next cast as Jill Munroe, but much like Jackson, did not audition for a role. She was offered a part by Spelling after he had viewed her performance in the 1976 film Logan's Run. Jaclyn Smith was among the hundreds of actresses who auditioned for the role of Kelly Garrett. Despite liking Smith, Spelling and Goldberg were wary about hiring her because their initial concept concerned a brunette, blonde, and red-headed woman. Smith was the only brunette that auditioned for the role and was cast only after producers liked the on-screen chemistry she shared with Jackson and Fawcett.

Producer Leonard Goldberg, had the initial idea three years previously, for a show that would be a cross between The Avengers and Honey West, a short-lived drama from the 1960s about a female private eye.^[3] Goff and Roberts had first titled the series The Alley Cats in which the three females (named Allison, Lee, and Catherine) would reside in alleys and wear whips and chains. Jackson disapproved of the title, and since she was given semi-control over the development of the series, she encouraged producers to find a new title. It was Jackson who decided the three women would be called "Angels" after seeing a picture of three angels hanging in Spelling's office, and the series became known as Harry's Angels. This title was dropped, however, when ABC did not want to run into conflict with the series Harry O, and was thereby changed to Charlie's Angels.^[4]

In the initial concept of the series, the three females' boss would be a millionaire who often aided them in their assignments; however, Jackson and Spelling decided it would be more interesting to have the boss's identity remain a secret. With this, millionaire Charlie Townsend was an unseen character on the series who only spoke to the Angels via a Western Electric speakerphone. John Forsythe , who played the unseen Charlie Townsend, recorded his lines in an audio studio and was never on set. Thus, Forsythe rarely met any of his female co-stars. Some years later, he bumped into Farrah Fawcett at the tennis courts, as he recalled, "I was coming off the court when she came up to me and said, 'Charlie! I finally met Charlie!'" Forsythe was offered the 'Charlie' role in a panicky late-night phone call from Spelling after the original choice, Gig Young, showed up too intoxicated to read his lines. "I didn't even take my pajamas off – I just put on my topcoat and drove over to Fox. When it was finished, Aaron Spelling said, 'That's perfect.' And I went home and went back to bed".^[1]

Spelling and Goldberg decided to add actor David Doyle to the cast as John Bosley, an employee of Charlie, who would frequently aid the Angels in their assignments. Although ABC had approved of a pilot film, they were concerned about how audiences would accept three women fighting crime on their own. ABC executives brought in David Ogden Stiers as Scott Woodville, who would act as the chief backup to the Angels and Bosley's superior; he would also be depicted as the organizer of the plan, in similar fashion to Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible, a series for which Goff and Roberts had written.^[5]

The 74-minute pilot film initially aired on March 21, 1976. The story focuses heavily on Kelly Garrett (a role intended for Jackson before she and Smith swapped) who poses as an heiress who returns home to gain her father's successful winery. In the end of the film the three women are caught in a bind and Scott attempts to save them, but to no avail, leaving them to solve the dilemma on their own (and with the help of allies made during the story). ABC executives were somewhat disappointed in this initial project, fearing there was more emphasis on camp than serious drama. After viewing the pilot, Spelling encouraged executives to delete Scott Woodville from the series; according to The Charlie's Angels Casebook, audiences also reacted negatively to the character. Bosley was kept, made slightly less inept than depicted in the pilot, and was given many of Woodville's attributes and responsibilities. The series formally premiered on Wednesday, September 22, 1976 at 10:00pm.

The 74-minute pilot film that aired on March 21, 1976, received enormous ratings. However, ABC - who thought this was one of the worst ideas for a TV series they had ever heard - didn't believe the figures and showed the pilot again a week later to check. The ratings were just as high, even for a repeat screening.^[3]

Premise

In the initial concept, Sabrina Duncan, Jill Munroe, and Kelly Garrett have graduated from the police academy in Los Angeles, California. Despite proving their capability during training, all three have subsequently been assigned to be a meter maid, office worker, and crossing guard, respectively. Dissatisfied with these jobs, they are recruited to work for the Charles Townsend Agency as private investigators. All of this is explained in the opening credit sequence; neither the pilot film nor subsequent series ever actually depicted an "origin story" as they are seen to have been working as investigators for some time as of the start of the pilot.

Their boss, Charlie Townsend, who nicknames them "Angels", is never seen full-face, but is often seen from the back, mostly in the company of beautiful women. Charlie gives the Angels and his associate John Bosley their assignments via a Western Electric speakerphone; he never meets them face-to-face, which leads to recurring queries from the 'Angels' as to when or if he will ever join them on assignment.

In season two, San Francisco police academy graduate Kris Munroe takes the place of her older sister, Jill, in the trio; in the fourth season, Tiffany Welles, a Boston police academy graduate, takes Sabrina's place; and in the fifth and final season, model-turned-private investigator in training Julie Rogers fills the void left after Tiffany's departure when she is given a temporary private detective license.

Charlie's Angels was generally formatted in the way of a procedural drama much like the vast majority of other crime shows of the era. Many of the episodes follow a regular structure whereby a crime is committed, the 'Angels' are given the case details, and then they go undercover to solve the crime. Inevitably, the final scene takes place back at the Townsend office with Charlie offering his congratulations for a job well done. Most episodes have stand-alone plots and are usually not referenced in future episodes.

Cast and characters

Note: Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle are the only actors to appear in all 110 episodes of the series.
John Forsythe does not take part in the fourth season episode "Avenging Angel".

Cast changes

Season one cast (1976–1977): Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, and Kate Jackson

Over the course of its five-year-run, Charlie's Angels had a series of highly publicized cast changes.^[6] The first of the cast changes took place in the spring of 1977, just after the conclusion of the first season. Fawcett turned in her resignation just before the season one finale aired on May 4, 1977, commenting she wished to embark on a film career. Fawcett deciding not to return for a second season triggered a lawsuit between the actress and ABC and Spelling.^[7]

During the 1977 summer hiatus of the series, ABC and Fawcett entered a legal battle over her contract. At the beginning of the series, all three female leads signed five-year contracts, and the network was insistent that they live up to their commitments. Business partners Leonard Goldberg and Aaron Spelling tried intensively to work out a deal with Fawcett and her agents. Goldberg and Spelling had arranged for her to make one film during her summer hiatuses and her choice over subsequent television shows and miniseries. ABC even agreed to raise her salary from $5,000 to $8,000 a week, but she declined the offers. ABC reluctantly released her from her series contract in the summer of 1977. However, she was assigned to another contract with ABC, stating that since she left her contract four years early that she would return to the series later on in its run for six guest appearances. Fawcett would return as Jill Munroe on Charlie's Angels for three guest appearances in season three. She again returned for three guest spots in season four in what turned out to be her final appearances on the show.

Cheryl Ladd as Kris Munroe

As Fawcett departed the series, ABC began searching for her replacement. Executives eventually noticed singer-turned-actress Cheryl Ladd and offered her a screen test. Initially, Ladd refused the opportunity for a screen test, but after lobbying from studio executives, she relented. Although executives noticed Ladd was inexperienced, they saw promise in her performance and signed her to a four-year contract. In an effort to keep the hype the series had with Fawcett, Ladd was written in the series as her sister, San Francisco police academy graduate Kris Munroe.^[8]

Despite a mixed reception from critics at the beginning of season two in September 1977, Charlie's Angels lost just a small percentage of its season one audience with the introduction of Ladd. But Kate Jackson believed the inclusion of Ladd damaged the series considerably. Jackson and Ladd reportedly never got along with one another.^[9]

Ratings remained steady throughout the third season. Jackson began to complain about the show's diminishing script quality and stated that initially the series focused on "classic detective work", but had become more of a "cop story of the week". During the third season, Jackson was cast as Joanna Kramer in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) with Dustin Hoffman but the producers refused to reorganize the shooting schedule to allow Jackson time off to shoot the film. The part of Joanna ultimately went to Meryl Streep, who won an Academy Award for her performance. Upset by this situation, Jackson decided to leave the series.
Casting calls for Jackson's replacement began during the summer of 1979. Several up-and-coming actresses were considered for the role, including Barbara Bach, Connie Sellecca, Shari Belafonte, and newcomer Michelle Pfeiffer. Although considered for the part, Bo Derek and Melanie Griffith did not audition. Pfeiffer was a personal favorite with most of the producers, however, her screen test showed her inexperienced acting talents and she was passed over for the part. ABC producers noticed Charlie perfume girl Shelley Hack in an ad and cast her as Jackson's replacement. Hack debuted in the fourth-season premiere as Tiffany Welles, an elegant police graduate from Boston. In hiring Hack, Spelling's priority for season four was to "bring back the glamour"^[10] while ABC hoped Hack's sophisticated personality would bring an interesting new mystique and intrigue to the series.^[11] To revitalize decreasing ratings and regain popularity, ABC released Hack from her contract in February 1980. In an interview with People, Hack said, "They can say I didn't work out, but it isn't true. What happened was a network war. A business decision was made. Change the timeslot or bring on some new publicity. How to get publicity? A new Angel hunt. Who is the obvious person to replace? I am—the new kid on the block."^[12]

During casting calls for Hack's replacement, some two thousand candidates were auditioned. After a series of false commitments, ABC selected model and former dance instructor Tanya Roberts. She was pictured on the cover of People magazine and featured in an article surrounding the series. The article, entitled "Is the Jiggle Up?", asked if Roberts could save Charlie's Angels from cancellation. Executive Brett Garwood stated, "We hope to keep the show going for next year, but nothing's certain."^[13]

Roberts debuted in the fifth-season premiere as Julie Rogers, a streetwise fighter and model, but the season premiere episode drew mild ratings. Between November 1980 and June 1981, the series was broadcast in three different timeslots and its ratings further declined, so ABC cancelled the show in the spring of 1981.

Reception

Cast for seasons 2–3 (left to right): Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and Kate Jackson

Critical reception

Charlie's Angels became known as "Jiggle TV" by critics who believed that the TV series had no intelligence or substance. These characterizations stemmed from the fact that the lead actresses frequently dressed scantily or provocatively as part of their undercover characters (including roller derby girl, beauty pageant contestant, maid, female prisoner, or just bikini-clad), and the belief that their clothing was a means of attracting viewers.^[14] "Jiggle TV" is seen as trashy and escapist entertainment.^[15]

Farrah Fawcett once attributed the TV show's success to this fact: "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."^[16]

Reflecting on the 1970s female-driven drama, Jaclyn Smith, who was the only 'Angel' to star on all five seasons, states how Charlie's Angels changed her – and TV audiences across America. Smith said, "It was ground-breaking. It was about three emotionally and financially independent women. We shot at beautiful locations with fancy fast cars, and they cared about each other, so there was a heart to the show. Critics said that as actresses we were sexually exploited, but it was a nursery rhyme. We were in a bathing suit at the beach, and if there was a hint of a love scene, it was so proper. I think the producers were smart. They wanted to bring in that younger audience and did want families to watch together."^[17] Smith adds, "Each of our characters had their own unique personality, yet the show was all very cohesive - it just worked. We really were all good friends and that showed on the screen."^[18]

Cheryl Ladd believes the TV series was "inspirational" to women despite the critics calling it a "jiggle show." She notes, "there hadn't been a show like this on the air [with] three powerful women who had the latest hairdos, wore the coolest clothes and could walk around in a bikini. We were very inspirational to a lot of young women. Young women would write us and say, 'I want to be like you. I want to be a cop when I grow up and taking chances to be something else other than the acceptable school teacher or secretary'."^[19]Charlie's Angels was called "Jiggle TV"; Ladd says, "Which made me laugh, I never went braless, and I was married and the mother of a 2-year-old. The 'Angels' were grown-up Girl Scouts. We never slept with anyone; my most "Aaron Spelling" moment was wrestling an alligator. With the feminist movement, we were kind of half-heroes, half-goats."^[20]

Kate Jackson has stated that the first season of Charlie's Angels was the TV show's high point, and it was the most fun for herself, Smith, and Fawcett. Jackson said, "When you think about Charlie's Angels, you think about three specific people."^[21] Jackson added, "I don't know what the connection that the three of us have is, but it is there, and it is something extremely special. I think that is the reason the show worked."^[22]

Time magazine called Charlie's Angels an "aesthetically ridiculous, commercially brilliant brainstorm surfing blithely atop the Zeitgeist's seventh wave".^[23]

Camille Paglia, an American academic and social critic, said that Charlie's Angels was an "effervescent action-adventure showing smart, bold women working side by side in fruitful collaboration." ^[24]

Public reception

Charlie's Angels proved to be a runaway hit in the 1976–77 season in its first of five time slots, Wednesdays at 10:00pm, where it followed Baretta. Facing little competition from CBS and NBC, Charlie's Angels finished fifth in Nielsen ratings in the spring of 1977 with an average 26.0 rating. The three lead actresses were suddenly propelled to stardom, with Kate Jackson later commenting that the first few months were like being in the eye of a storm. Farrah Fawcett became hugely popular and was branded a phenomenon. However, the situation off screen was not as rewarding. The long working hours on set, combined with numerous calls for photo shoots, wardrobe fittings, and promotional interviews, took their toll on the trio. Jackson was especially unhappy as she felt the quality of scripts was declining and the format was now more "cop story of the week" rather than classy undercover drama, which had been the intention with the pilot film.

With season two, the series moved up an hour to the Wednesday 9:00pm time slot, where it stayed for three years. During that time, the series competed with such popular shows as One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, and Diff'rent Strokes. The transition from Fawcett to Cheryl Ladd in the second season proved to be popular with viewers. While viewership dipped marginally in the second season, the series still remained in the top five for the 1977–78 season, placing fourth in the ratings, tying with 60 Minutes and All in the Family. In the third season, viewership stabilized, but the series began losing traction as it ranked twelfth behind newcomers Mork & Mindy, The Ropers, and Taxi for the 1978–79 season. With Jackson's departure and Shelley Hack entering the cast, the show's fourth season saw some ratings erosion as it ranked seventeenth for the 1979–80 season.

The fifth season saw the final cast change with Tanya Roberts. The final season was plagued by the 1980 actors' strike, causing a delayed premier date. In addition, the series was shuffled around with three different time slots: Sundays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 8:00pm, and finally Wednesdays at 8:00pm, where it remained for the remainder of its run. Despite generally receiving mild competition from its rival networks on these time slots, Charlie's Angels placed fifty-ninth out of sixty-five shows for the 1980–81 season. ABC thereby canceled the series after five seasons and 110 episodes.

Nielsen ratings / broadcast history

The Charlie's Angels 74-minute pilot film that aired on March 21, 1976, and received enormous ratings. However, the ABC network — who thought this was one of the worst ideas for a TV series they’d ever heard — did not believe the figures and showed it again a week later to check.^[25] At the time of Spelling pitching the pilot of Charlie's Angels to the network, ABC executive Michael Eisner told Spelling that his pitch had to be "one of the worst ideas I've ever heard," and ABC Executive Barry Diller claimed no one would ever watch it.^[26] Despite the ABC netwoks disbelief in the project, the repeat ratings were just as high, even for asecondary screening, and a TV legend was born.^[3]

Notable guest stars

Charlie's Angels played host to a number of well-known faces during its five seasons. Some of those individuals were long-established stars of film and television; others would find considerable fame and recognition many years after appearing in the program. Notable appearances of celebrities (whether famous then or later) include those of:

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released all five seasons of Charlie's Angels on DVD in region one over the span of ten years, with the fifth and final season released as a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release,^[29] available exclusively through Amazon.com & WBShop.com and only in the U.S. Additionally, seasons 1–3 have been released on DVD in regions 2 and 4.

On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including Charlie's Angels.^[30] They subsequently re-released the first season on DVD on January 21, 2014.^[31]

On September 6, 2016, Mill Creek re-released Charlie's Angels: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.^[32] The 20-disc set contains all 110 episodes of the series.

Note: Episode count is based on the format in which episodes originally aired. Two-hour episodes are counted as one episode.

Episodes

Attempted spin-off

ABC attempted to create a spin-off of Charlie's Angels in 1980 called Toni's Boys. The backdoor pilot aired near the end of season four, simply titled "Toni's Boys" (season 4, episode 23). The concept was essentially a sex reversal of Charlie's Angels, and starred Barbara Stanwyck as Antonia "Toni" Blake, a wealthy widow and friend of Charlie's who ran a detective agency. The agency was staffed by three good looking male detectives—Cotton Harper (Stephen Shortridge), Matt Parrish (Bruce Bauer), and Bob Sorensen (Bob Seagren)—who took direction from Toni, and solved crimes in a manner similar to the Angels. The show was not picked up as a regular series for the following season.^[34]

Crossovers

The character Dan Tanna (played by Robert Urich) from the detective series Vega$ appeared in the episode "Angels in Vegas" a week before the Vega$ season one debut. The crossover was simply used to reintroduce the Dan Tanna character and to promote Vega$ as an ongoing series.^[35]

In the episode "Love Boat Angels", the angels went on The Love Boat and met the crew. Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, and Lauren Tewes guest starred as their characters. The episode aired on September 12, 1979 as the fourth-season premiere, the debut episode of Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles,^[36] and placed number one in the Nielson ratings for the week.^[37]

Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Cheryl Ladd also appeared as themselves in the first episode of the Spelling-produced comedy series, The San Pedro Beach Bums, in the fall of 1977.^[38]

Syndication

The show was first Syndicated on local stations such as KTLA in Los Angeles and WNEW in New York in September 1981,^[39] and later on TNT, TV Land, Cloo and ION. As of September, 2011, all five seasons of the show can be purchased in the USA on iTunes. Following the death of Farrah Fawcett in June 2009, WGN America aired a week of marathons of the show. As of 2009 the series is still available for syndication to local television stations in the United States. It is currently airing on the U.S. digital broadcast television network MeTV.

Other versions

The series has inspired many remakes and reinterpretations throughout the years and in different countries. It has also been featured in various other media.

Feature films

The Charlie's Angels 1976 original television series inspired Flower Films production company's two films, Charlie's Angels (2000) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), with John Forsythe returning as Charlie. Whereas most movie remakes of 1970s TV shows, like Starsky and Hutch, are actually remakes, the Charlie's Angels films are set in a different time and thus closer to a film revival. The mythology goes that whenever an Angel leaves, she is replaced so there are always three. The second film had more nods to the TV series than the first film, with Jaclyn Smith making a brief cameo as Kelly Garrett.

Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film based on the Charlie's Angels 1976 original television series. Unlike the original series, which had dramatic elements, the film featured more comical elements than were seen in the series. The film was directed by McG, adapted by screenwriters Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon, and John August, and starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as three women working in a private detective agency in Los Angeles. John Forsythe reprised his role as the unseen Charlie's voice from the original series. Making cameo appearances are Tom Green (who was dating Barrymore at the time of production) and LL Cool J.

A sequel, entitled Full Throttle, was released in 2003, directed by McG and written by John August, and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. It is the sequel to 2000s Charlie's Angels, itself based on the 1976 television original series Charlie's Angels. In an ensemble cast, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu return as the angels Natalie, Dylan, and Alex, respectively. It also features Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Carrie Fisher, Shia LaBeouf, Robert Patrick, Crispin Glover, Justin Theroux, Matt LeBlanc, Luke Wilson, John Cleese, and Rodrigo Santoro, with Jaclyn Smith reprising her role as Kelly Garrett, and Bernie Mac as Bosley's brother. This was John Forsythe's final film appearance before his retirement and his death in 2010. The film opened in the United States on June 27, 2003, and was Number One at the box office for that weekend, also making a worldwide total of $259.2 million.^[40]

In 2017, a reboot of the 'Charlie's Angels film franchise' is planned with a new 'Charlie's Angels film' - this time Sony Pictures Entertainment has elected to put American actress, director, and producer Elizabeth Banks in the director's chair. As The Hollywood Reporter first broke back in September, Banks will also produce the upcoming film with partner and husband Max Handelman. In April 2016, Banks signed up to direct a revival of the classic Charlie's Angels TV series.^[41][42] Banks commented that, "Charlie’s Angels, for me, is one of the original brands to celebrate the empowered woman since its debut in the 70s,” Banks said. “This film honors the legacy of Charles Townsend and his agency while introducing a new era of modern and global Angels. I couldn’t be more excited to work with Kristen, Naomi and Ella to bring this chapter to fans around the world."^[43]

In July 2018, it was announced that Director Elizabeth Banks has found her Charlie's Angels cast to star in the new reboot 2019 feature film. Variety confirmed that the three new lead 'Angels' are Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. Banks will portray the role of Bosley. Kristen Smith commented about the new reboot projet that, "You take a story that’s usually kind of, for lack of a better word, not silly, but just kind of funny, campy. The movie should still be fun but, like, if you ground it and make it about women that really know how to help each other, it’ll be perfect to release now. Like, we’re all together and strong."^[44] The most recent draft of the script is written by Jay Basu and Banks, based on earlier drafts by Craig Mazin and Semi Chellas.^{[45][better source needed]}

Revival

Four women (including future star Tea Leoni) were selected to be in a show called Angels '88, which was to serve as an updated version of the show. The show was later named Angels '89 after production delays, but the project was abandoned before notice was taken.^[46] From 1998–1999, Telemundo and Sony produced a show called Ángeles.^[47] The weekly hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers, who are accustomed to watching telenovelas nightly, and the series was soon canceled. In 2002, a German version of Charlie's Angels, Wilde Engel (de), was produced by the German channel RTL. The show was known as Anges de choc in French-speaking countries, and as Three Wild Angels in English-speaking ones.

In 2004, a television film entitled Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels aired on NBC. (Based on the book Charlie's Angels Casebook, by Jack Condon and David Hofstede)

In November 2009, ABC announced that it was considering a television revival of Charlie's Angels, with Josh Friedman handling both writing and executive producing duties, and Drew Barrymore and Leonard Goldberg sharing co-production duties.^[48][49] Developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar for ABC, the reboot series premiered by the network on September 22, 2011. On October 14, 2011, ABC canceled the reboot series after one season,^[50] due to low ratings.

Subsequent Angels

• Connie Bonnet (1988–1989), played by Claire Yarlett,^[51][52]Angels '89
  


• Pam Ryan (1988–1989), played by Caren Loping,^[51]Angels '89
  


• Trisha Lawrence (1988–1989), played by Sandra Canning,^[51]Angels '89
  


• Bernie Colter (1988–1989), played by Téa Leoni,^[51]Angels '89
  


• Natalie Cook (2000–2003), played by Cameron Diaz, Charlie's Angels & Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
  


• Dylan Sanders (2000–2003), played by Drew Barrymore, Charlie's Angels & Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
  


• Alex Munday (2000–2003), played by Lucy Liu, Charlie's Angels & Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
  


• Madison Lee (2003), played by Demi Moore,^[53]Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
  

Reboot

• Kate Prince (2011), played by Annie Ilonzeh, Charlie's Angels (2011).^[54]


• Eve French (2011), played by Minka Kelly, Charlie's Angels (2011).^[55]


• Abby Simpson (2011), Played by Rachael Taylor, Charlie's Angels (2011).


• Gloria Martinez (2011), Played by Nadine Velazquez, Charlie's Angels (2011).


• Samantha Masters (2011), Played by Erica Durance, Charlie's Angels (2011).


• Zoe Sinclair / Oswald (2011), Played by Peyton List, Charlie's Angels (2011).

Unofficial Angels

• Adriana Vega (1998–1999), played by Patricia Manterola,^[47][56]Ángeles
  


• Elena Sanchez (1998–1999), played by Sandra Vidal,^[56]Ángeles
  


• Gina Navarro (1998–1999), played by Cole Pitman,^[56]Ángeles
  


• Betty (2001), played by Qu Ying,^[57]Asian Charlie's Angels
  


• Cindy (2001), played by Kelly Lin, Asian Charlie's Angels
  


• Annabelle (2001), played by Annie Wu, Asian Charlie's Angels
  


• Angie (2001), played by Christy Chung, Asian Charlie's Angels
  


• Christina "Chris" Rabe (2003), played by Birgit Stauber,^[58]Wilde Engel
  


• Franziska Borgardt (2003), played by Susann Uplegger,^[58]Wilde Engel
  


• Lena Heitmann (2003), played by Eva Habermann,^[58]Wilde Engel
  

Collectible items

During the TV show's run, Hasbro Industries produced an extensive range of Charlie's Angels merchandise, which was distributed in the US, the UK, and other international markets.^[59] A numerous variety of collectible items were produced, including two versions of dolls, boardgames, numerous posters, several sets of trading cards, notebooks, a lunchbox and thermos set, Charlie's Angels toy van, children's beauty products and even record albums. Author Sherrie A. Inness, in the text 'Disco Divas: Women and Popular Culture in the 1970s' writes that "Charlie's Angels merchandise was big business, Hasbro Industries spent over $2.5 million to advertise its Charlie's Angels dolls".^[60]

In the UK, as was common with many popular US programs of the era, a series of tie-in hardcover annuals were published by World International Publishing Ltd, containing stories, comics, photos, puzzles and features on the stars. There are four Charlie's Angels annuals in total.^[61]

Although it was not connected to the show, a 1976 poster of Farrah Fawcett sporting a red bathing suit became the biggest selling poster in history with 20 million copies sold. This poster also helped the burgeoning popularity of the series. The red swimsuit that helped make Farrah Fawcett a 1970s icon became part of the Smithsonian’s collection in 2011.^[62] The picture has been immortalized as a Black Label Barbie Collection doll and the legendary red bathing suit has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The designer of that swimsuit is Norma Kamali.^[63]

Comics

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 and featuring TV action and crime shows of the day. Proving unpopular, it folded in August and 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 Allan and drawn by Jim Baikie ^[64] and Bill Titcombe.

In the October 1980 issue of Power Man and Iron Fist, Danny Rand is seen fighting three women who are clearly supposed to be the Angels, being drawn to resemble them and with two even referring to each other as "Jill" and "Sabrina."

In the on-line comic Erfworld, one side in The Battle for Gobwin Knob hires three glowing, flying female combatants from an unseen "Charlie". One is blond and two are dark-haired. They first appear in silhouette in page 42 of the comic^[65] and in the final frame of page 69,^[66] after dispensing with some "Dwagons" of the opposing side, once again take up the iconic pose of Charlie's Angels. They are referred to as "Charlie's Archons". In Gnosticism, an archon occupies a role similar to the angels of the Old Testament.

Angel's "Proper" Charlies was a British comic strip published in the weekly Jackpot. It first appeared in 1979, drawn by Trevor Metcalfe. Angel was a beautiful teenage girl who was worshiped by three not-so-very-mature boys called the Charlies. Angel's beauty hid a conniving mind, in that she took advantage of the love-struck trio in order to get her own way, such as slipping into parties and concerts and attracting the attention of more suitable boyfriends, while the Charlies ended up bruised and battered as a result of their efforts to impress her (in vain).^[67]

Brelan de dames (Three Queens of a Kind), a Belgian comic strip by artist Renaud Denauw and writer Jean-Luc Vernal, was also about a trio of action women, though in this case they came from various countries and racial backgrounds and, after a short stint in the secret service, became independent operators. Again, one is blond and the others are dark-haired. Their adventures were published in the 1980s in Tintin magazine.^[68]

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, Issue #152 has a reference to Charlie's Angels called "Sonic's Angels".

In June 2018, a comic book series based of the television series was launched by Dynamite Entertainment.^[69]

See also

• 
  The Doll Squad, a film about another group of shapely female operatives


• Police Woman


• Cagney & Lacey


• 
  Sto Para Pente, a Greek TV series

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charlie's Angels.

Wikinews has related news: Prolific television producer Aaron Spelling dies at 83

• 
  Charlie's Angels on IMDb


• 
  Charlie's Angels at TV.com
  


• 
  Charlie's Angels at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
  


• Full Filming Location Guide & Illustrated Episode Guide