Stroll on back with me to 1976, you might need to bring some Final Net to maintain the hair! They have wings but they're not cupid...they are angels...
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
One of the first things I remember about the show was the voice of Charlie and how I knew just who the actor was right away !
"Once upon a time, there were three little girls who went to the police academy. And they were each assigned very hazardous duties but I took them all away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Charlie."
Those famous words were heard every week from 1976 to 1981 during Charlie's Angels 5 year run. This ABC crime series began in September of 1976 introducing three stunning, sexy and young former policewoman, private detectives working for the Charles Townsend Detective Agency. The wealthy Charlie Townsend, voiced by John Forsythe, was their never-seen boss, who relayed assignments via a speaker telephone. The trio of Angels featured Sabrina Duncan; (Kate Jackson) the "cool, smart, multilingual leader," Jill Munroe; (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) the "athletic angel" and finally Kelly Garrett; (Jaclyn Smith) the "street wise angel."
Even though there were some changes later on in casting, Farrah, Kate and Jaclyn will forever be the original and in my mind the only true angels.
The Angels worked with their trusty male counter-part, John Bosley played by (David Doyle). Charlie's Angels was a huge success the moment it hit the airwaves in 1976. The Angels were on gum cards, doll boxes, T-shirts, board games, puzzles and posters. I think every guy I knew had that infamous Farrah poster. The poster was actually before she became an Angel and was what got her the attention of Aaron Spelling.
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-Majors 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 science-fiction film Logan's Run (1976). 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 the initial concept surrounding 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-Majors.
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, (no shock there!) and since she was given semi-control over the development of the series, she encouraged producers to find a new title. However, 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.
Over the course of its five-year-run, Charlie's Angels had a series of highly publicized cast changes.The first of the cast changes took place in the spring of 1977, just after the conclusion of the first season. Pivotal series actress Farrah Fawcett-Majors turned in her resignation just before the season one finale aired on May 4, 1977, commenting she wished to embark on a film career. ABC and show producer Aaron Spelling thought the exit of Fawcett-Majors, the show's most valuable asset, would knock the series off balance.
The show went on a few more years, and there was even a movie and some knock off tv shows but nothing ever came close to the original show or the "real" Angels.
In August 2006, KateJackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith, the three original Angels, appeared together in a surprise appearance at the Emmy Awards in a tribute to the recently deceased Spelling at the Shrine Auditorium.
Sadly it was the last time the three would appear together, Farrah passed away from cancer in 2009. It was on the same day that Michael Jackson died and many felt that she didn't get the tribute she should have.
It was a time when we needed to see some gals fight crime and beat the bad guy while always looking fabulous...
AS CHARLIE WOULD SAY....GOOD WORK GIRLS
See ya next time!!
