CHARLIE'S ANGELS

''This article is about the television series. For the 2000 movie see Charlie's Angels (film).''
'''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 and 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 and his arms) and on the series finale where he appears in surgeon's mask and 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) and 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), and 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.

Contents
Premise
As "Jiggle TV"
Episodes
Nielsen Ratings/ABC Broadcast History
Chronology of known Angels
Pop culture impact
TV series
Films
Telefilm
Video games
Collectible items
Comics
DVD releases
Angel appearances
Notes and references
External links

Premise


Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson in ''Charlie's Angels''. Photo: Howard Frank Archives

The show's premise focused on 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 and tension. In the early seasons of the show, the Angels, under their assumed identities, used a combination of sexual wiles and knowledge learned for the situation in which they were being placed. By the third and fourth seasons, the writing had a tendency to stray from the show's initial sex appeal (see "As 'Jiggle TV'") and focus more on the case at hand.

As "Jiggle TV"


The show became known as "Jiggle TV" and "T&A TV" (or "Tits and Ass television") by critics who believed that the show had no intelligence or substance and that the scantily or provocatively dressed Angels (generally as part of their undercover character — e.g., roller derby girl, beauty pageant contestant, maid, female prisoner or just bikini-clad) did so to showcase the figures and/or sexuality of the actresses as a sole means of attracting viewers. Farrah Fawcett-Majors once attributed the 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."''

Episodes


Main articles: List of Charlie's Angels episodes

Nielsen Ratings/ABC Broadcast History


Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ''Charlie's Angels'' on ABC.
''Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. ''All times listed are North American Eastern Standard Time.''
Season Timeslot Première Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(millions)
'1' Wednesday 10:00 P.M. September 22, 1976 May 4, 1977 1976-1977 '#5' 'TBA'
'2' Wednesday 9:00 P.M. September 14, 1977 May 10, 1978 1977-1978 '#4' 'TBA'
'3' September 13, 1978 May 16, 1979 1978-1979 'TBA' 'TBA'
'4' September 12, 1979 May 7, 1980 1979-1980 'TBA' 'TBA'
'5' Sunday 8:00 P.M. (November 30, 1980 - January 11, 1981)
Saturday 8:00 P.M. (January 24, 1981 - February 28, 1981)
Wednesday 9:00 P.M. (June 3, 1981 - June 24, 1981)
November 30, 1980 June 24, 1981 1980-1981 'TBA' 'TBA'

Chronology of known Angels



Sabrina Duncan (1976–1979), played by Kate Jackson, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

Jill Munroe (1976–1977, 1978, 1979, 1980), played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

Kelly Garrett (1976–1981), played by Jaclyn Smith, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

Kris Munroe (1977–1981), played by Cheryl Ladd, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

Tiffany Welles (1979–1980), played by Shelley Hack, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

Julie Rogers (1980–1981), played by Tanya Roberts, ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

John Bosley (1976–1981), played by David Doyle (Bosley was Charlie's assistant) ''Charlie's Angels'' original TV series

★ Connie Bates (1988–1989), played by Claire Yarlett[1], ''Angels '89''

★ Pam Ryan (1988–1989), played by Sandra Canning1, ''Angels '89''

★ Trisha Lawrence (1988–1989), played by Karen Kopins1, ''Angels '89''

★ Bernie Colter (1988–1989), played by Téa Leoni1, ''Angels '89''

Madison Lee (1980s or 1990s?), played by Demi Moore [2], ''Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''

★ Adriana Vega (1998–1999), played by Patricia Manterola[3][4], ''Ãngeles''

★ Elena Sanchez (1998–1999), played by Sandra Vidal3, ''Ãngeles''

★ Gina Navarro (1998–1999), played by Magali Caicedo3, ''Ãngeles''

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''

★ Franziska (2002), played by Susann Uplegger[5]''Wilde Engel''

★ Lena (2002), played by Eva Habermann),''Wilde Engel''

★ Raven (2002), played by Birgit Stauber),''Wilde Engel''

★ Rebecca (2003), played by Vanessa Petruo), ''Wilde Engel''

★ Ida (2003), played by Tanja Wenzel), ''Wilde Engel''

★ Aiko (2003), played by Zora Holt), ''Wilde Engel''

★ Richard Voss (2003), played by (Udo Kier), ''Wilde Engel''

Pop culture impact


The first season of ''Charlie's Angels'' caused an explosion of fan hysteria and 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.
The show has inspired many remakes and reinterpretations throughout the years and in different countries.
TV series


★ Four women 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 show ultimately never aired.

★ From 1998–1999, Telemundo and Sony produced a show called ''Ãngeles''.[4] The weekly hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers, who are accustomed to watching ''telenovelas'' nightly and the series was soon cancelled.

★ In 2002, a German version of ''Charlie's Angels'', ''Wilde Engel'',[5] was produced by the German channel RTL. The show was produced by Hermann Joha, Angela Strunck, and Melanie Mohr, but the cast was entirely changed around the second season. The show was known as ''Anges de choc'' in French-speaking countries, and as ''Three Wild Angels'' in English-speaking ones. The first season had good ratings, but they were slipping by the second season and high production costs made it hard to go on. The show was cancelled during 2005.
Films

The television series inspired two feature films from production company Flower Films: ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000) and '' (2003), both directed by McG and starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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.
Telefilm

In 2004, a television movie entitled '' aired on NBC. It depicted the true story of what happened during the first season of the TV show.
Video games

In July 2003, three ''Charlie's Angels'' games were released on three different gaming platforms: Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and the mobile phone. The versions released on both the GameCube and 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, and was titled ''.
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%.
Collectible items

During the show's run, many collectible items were produced, including (two versions of) dolls, countless games, trading cards, pipes, notebooks, and even record albums. A poster of Farrah Fawcett-Majors was also sold showing Farrah sporting a red bathing suit that became the biggest selling poster in history with 12 million copies sold.
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 P. Allan and drawn by Jim Baikie and Bill Titcombe.
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 and in the final frame of Page 69, 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 the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', in the context of which which the Erfworld story is placed, an archon is a documented character. In Gnosticism, an archon occupies a role similar to the angels of the Old Testament.

DVD releases


Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released Seasons 1-3 of the series on DVD thus far. No release date(s) have been announced for the seasons 4 & 5 DVDs.
Season Episodes^ Discs Release Date Notes
1 23 5 May 27, 2003 This DVD set includes all 22 episodes from the first season in their entirety, in addition to the 90-minute pilot tele-film that preceded the series.
2 24 6 April 6, 2004 This DVD set includes all 24 episodes from the second season, all of which appear in their entirety, with the exception of the two-hour episodes "Angels in Paradise" and "Angels on Ice," both of which appear in their edited, syndicated version as two-part episodes.
3 22 6 July 4, 2006 This DVD set includes all 22 episodes from the third season, all of which appear in their entirety, with the exception of the two-hour episodes "Angels in Vegas" and "Terror on Skis," both of which appear in their edited, syndicated version as two-part episodes.
4 25 TBA TBA
5 16 TBA TBA

'^'''Based on the format in which episodes originally aired. Two-hour episodes are counted as one episode.''

Angel appearances


This is a chronological list of appearances that two or more Angels have made together in support of ''Charlie's Angels''.

★ In 2006, all three original Angels appeared together on-stage at the Emmy Awards, in a retrospective tribute to Aaron Spelling.

Notes and references



1. Angels of the "Angels '88" or "Angels '89" from the much-hyped but never-aired show of the late '80s. [1]
2. A character in the movie with "retcon" involving her being a former Angel
3. Angels from the "Angeles" TV show from the 1998-99 Spanish-language version on Telemundo. [2]
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387796/
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318259/
6. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387796/
7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318259/


External links









Encyclopedia of Television

Charlie's Angels Fan Resource

Full episodes of Charlie's Angels free at AOL Video

Townsend Agency - the best Charlie's Angels message board on the web

Charlie's Angels Forever a character study of television's most beautiful detectives

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