Sorry, Charlie... a Belated Charlie's Angels Anniversary Wish

It was yesterday, September 22nd, back in 1976, that Charlie's Angels debuted on network television. I was only twelve at the time - but I was a fan from day one. Something about those swimsuits. And guns.

The originals: Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, and Kate Jackson

The gimmick of the popular show was the never-seen boss Charlie (voiced by famed actor John Forsythe), who only communicated over speaker-phone with his crime-fighting "Angels". The program went on for five seasons, over one hundred episodes, weathering some casting changes along the way. The same way that comedy hit Three's Company suffered a bit through its revolving door of key personnel, Charlie's Angels was never quite the same after the original line-up splintered. 

Like every red-blooded tween-teen boy, I enjoyed the eye-candy onscreen as the detective-action show played out. At that age, what boy can really put into words what was going on with the hormones. There were discussions in the schoolyard concerning our favourite Angel. Opinions flew. Sometimes it got rough.

Jaclyn Smith was my favourite Angel from start to finish... and she was the only actress to hang in there for the show's entire run. Smith seemed to be the most glamorous and yet least flaky of the trio. Correction: on the least flaky front, I guess Kate Jackson wins that contest hands-down, though she was the most prim one of the bunch, always opting for the pantsuits and other less-revealing (dowdy, even) attire, while the other two strutted their stuff. Sex sells... and the Neilsen ratings proved it. 

The big star of the show, at least early on, was pin-up girl Farrah Fawcett-Majors (then wife of Six Million Dollar Man star Lee Majors). Despite huge viewer response to Farrah as an Angel, she left the show after just one season. I'd forgotten that she was gone that early in the series. 

Cheryl Ladd stepped into Farrah's shoes, so to speak... as her character's sister. How convenient. Both blonde bombshells, so why not? Ladd continued in her role until the end of the series. Nice job. 

When Kate Jackson bugged out after three seasons, another smart and attractive blonde, Shelley Hack, was added to the cast. Ambitious to do more film and television work, Hack moved on after just one season, leaving a gap once again. And that's when Tanya Roberts took the spotlight. Just for the one and final season, but still... this was the launchpad to her becoming a Bond girl in A View to a Kill in '85, and much later, a role on That 70's Show. Easy on the eyes, but very vacuous, so not a lot of star power. 

David Doyle was the sort of dorky sidekick who lent a helping hand in the Angels' operations, usually working behind the scenes but occasionally out in the field with the ladies. 

The show helped break down barriers in the TV world. Angie Dickinson on Police Woman got the ball rolling in the 70's, passing the baton to the Angels. A cast starring mostly women as strong characters paved the way for further female cop action shows in a genre... and the TV realm in general... that was male-dominated. Cagney and Lacey were next up in 1981, then as the decades passed, the gates were wide open for such opportunities. A more recent show that is a favourite of mine is (or was... not sure if the show is kaput) The Bridge, the Danish production about the brilliant though socially stunted police detective Saga Noren character. 

Charlie's Angels lives on today through TV syndication, DVD releases, and a modern - though short-lived - film franchise. I wasn't crazy about the first Angels movie so I never bothered with the sequel. Neither did anyone else. Still, we'll always have the old TV show.