Charlie's Angels

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Charlie's Angels

Main title card
Genre Action adventure
Running time 50 minutes
Creator(s) Ivan Goff
Ben Roberts
Starring Kate Jackson
Farrah Fawcett
Jaclyn Smith
Cheryl Ladd
Shelley Hack
Tanya Roberts
David Doyle
John Forsythe
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel ABC
Original run September 22, 1976–June 24, 1981
No. of episodes 115
IMDb profile

Charlie's Angels was a television series that 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).

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 and tension. (The show got permission to use the Alan O'Day hit song at the time, 'Undercover Angel', and he subsequently re-recorded a version just for the show.) Under their assumed identities, the 'angels' used a combination of sexual wiles and knowledge learned for the situation in which they were being placed.

The show became known as "T&A T.V." (or "Tits and Ass television"), because the angels would often be seen scantily or provocatively clad, (generally as part of their undercover character -- e.g., rollergirl, beauty pageant contestant, maid, female prisoner), to showcase the figures and/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.".

The original angels; (left to right) Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson
Enlarge
The original angels; (left to right) Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson

Contents

[edit] Movies

The television series inspired two feature films from production company Flower Films: Charlie's Angels (2000) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), both directed by McG and starred 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.

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.

[edit] 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 Charlie's Angels: Road Cyclone.

Despite the critical success of both the TV show and the movies, the video games, aside from the mobile phone version, were a debacle. 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%.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Other collectible items

The show sold many items during its run. These included dolls, (two versions), games, trading cards, notebooks, and even record albums.

[edit] Comics

A British comic strip version was produced, written by Angus P. Allan and printed in TV comic Look-In.


[edit] List of Known Angels

[edit] During run of TV series

[edit] In between TV series and movies

[edit] Angels's '89

Four women were selected to be in a show called Angel's '88 and later named Angel's '89 after production delays.

  • Connie Bates (1988-1989), played by Claire Yarlett [1]
  • Pam Ryan (1988-1989), played by Sandra Canning [1]
  • Trisha Lawrence (1988-1989), played by Karen Kopins [1]
  • Bernie Colter (1988-1989), played by Téa Leoni [1]

[edit] 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.[2]

[edit] Telemundo Version

From 1998-1999 Telemundo produced a show called "Angeles".

  • Adriana Vega (1998-1999), played by Patricia Manterola [3]
  • Elena Sanchez (1998-1999), played by Sandra Vidal [3]
  • Gina Navarro (1998-1999), played by Magali Caicedo [3]

[edit] During Movies

This platinum blond with pale blue eyes is optimistic, starry-eyed, shy and somewhat goofy. A deceptively-brilliant blusher, Natalie has no idea that she looks like a supermodel, and 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, and 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, and a Lincoln-Mercury spokes-model. Natalie has a passion for anything on wheels. She’s brilliant at road racing, helicopter piloting, and 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 and several other martial arts, as are fellow Angels Dylan Sanders and Alex Munday.

  • DYLAN SANDERS, a.k.a. HELEN ZASS (2000-2003), played by Drew Barrymore

This auburn-haired, green-eyed wild child is fearless and street-smart. Never having known her parents, Dylan was a rambunctious teenage rebel who graduated with lackluster grades. After that, she did a Kerouac and 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, and she’s been through a slew of them. She always finds the good in people, even jerky guys. Dylan is impetuous and 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, and 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 and never a blue-black hair out of place. Her parents were professors of philosophy and 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 and bomb defusing with a Parisian double agent; dancing for a time with the Stuttgart Ballet—the usual classical education. An expert fencer and horsewoman, Alex has been a government aerospace engineer and 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 and 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.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle movie with "retcon" involving her being a former Angel
  3. ^ a b c Angels from the "Angeles" TV show from the 1998-99 Spanish-language version on Telemundo. [2]

[edit] External links

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