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An Overview of the
Charlie's Angels TV Show
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women
who work for a private investigation agency. Charlie's
Angels was one of the first shows to showcase women in roles
traditionally reserved for men. The Charlie's Angels
television series was broadcast on the ABC Television
Network from 1976 to 1981 and was one of the most successful
TV series of the 1970s. Charlie's Angels was created by Ivan
Goff and Ben Roberts and produced by Aaron Spelling and
Leonard Goldberg.
Charlie's Angels Television Series Season Episodes on DVD
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America's
guiltiest pleasure of 1976--the inaugural season of
Charlie's Angels--has returned in all its jiggly,
jolly glory in this tidy boxed set. It's hard to
describe just how captivated the nation's media and
viewing public were with Aaron Spelling's ABC-TV
hit, but for awhile Charlie's Angels was wildly
popular appointment television at its most
self-consciously banal. The first season's three
(and best-remembered) belles--lioness Farrah Fawcett
(then Farrah Fawcett-Majors), pin-up babe Jaclyn
Smith, and Thinking Man's beauty Kate Jackson--were
something like primetime Spice Girls, gracing
countless magazine covers and bestselling posters.
The idea (even if a fan of the show didn't happen to
be a straight male) was that one was compelled to
choose a favorite angel as a kind of ink-blot window
onto one's subconscious life. While the 2000
Angels feature film (starring Cameron Diaz, etc.)
kept faith with the original show's self-mockingly
sloppy storytelling, there's nothing like seeing the
old episodes for a lesson in narrative hubris.
Basically, the three leading characters were bored
policewomen wooed away to a private firm owned and
operated by the unseen sybarite, Charlie
(voiced--over speakerphone--by an uncredited John
Forsythe). After a long set-up each week, the girls'
investigations typically saw them going undercover:
as fashion models--no great stretch--in "Night of
the Strangler"; nurses in "Terror on Ward One";
roller-derby stars in "Angels on Wheels"; and
vulnerable convicts (of course) in "Angels In
Chains." The exploitation factor is not as bad as it
might have been. The cast was so glamorous, their
chemistry so perfect, Charlie's Angels never became
a mere meat market. Despite such nods to modernity
as Fawcett's no-bra look, the episodes were
old-fashioned in their heroine-in-peril appeal, yet
there was a difference: The Angels looked out for
themselves and each other. --Tom Keogh |
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Charlie's Angels: The Complete Second Season has
no shortage of the good-natured cheese and eye candy
that made the primetime television show's debut
season wildly popular in 1976. The Angels had a new
look in their second year: Farrah Fawcett, arguably
the most popular of the show's three actresses,
departed before the sophomore season and was
replaced by another blonde dazzler, Cheryl Ladd.
(Ladd's character, Kris Munroe, was the younger
sister of Fawcett's Jill Munroe, whose exit is
explained in the premiere episode as a liberated
woman's career move: Jill has decided to race cars
in Spain). No sooner does Kris settle in than
a crisis sweeps through off-screen Charlie's private
investigation agency. While cavorting on Oahu in the
two-part "Angels in Paradise," Charlie is kidnapped
by a smuggler (France Nuyen), who demands the Angels
break her husband out of jail in exchange for their
boss's life. Bubbly Kris, brainy Sabrina Duncan
(Kate Jackson), beauteous Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn
Smith), and sidekick Bosley (David Doyle) are
compelled to soak up rays and sip fruity mixed
drinks in Waikiki while fighting crime in various
guises, re-establishing, for another season,
Charlie's Angels' dramatic and aesthetic game plan
for every episode: start slow with lots of idle
chatter, put the girls in a ridiculous undercover
situation, and get them out of their clothes as much
as possible.
The pattern continues in the silly "Angels on Ice,"
starring old hands Phil Silvers and Jim Backus, in
which our heroines join an ice show to find out who
kidnapped a pair of skaters. "Pretty Angels All in a
Row" finds Kelly and Kris reluctant entrants in a
"Miss Chrysanthemum Pageant" (no, you won't find
Kate Jackson in a swimsuit this year, either) rigged
by organized crime. "Circus of Terror," co-starring
James Darren, enlists the Angels in the carney life.
If there is anything to complain about regarding
season 2, it is that the novelty of Charlie's Angels
has worn a little thin, and every episode feels the
same. Still, there are surprises: "The Sammy Davis
Jr. Kidnap Caper" stars the late rat-packer in peril
and much bemused by the presence of three comely
bodyguards. --Tom Keogh |
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They're
back, they're beautiful, and they mean business--but
in a sweet way. Charlie's Angels: The Complete Third
Season finds Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), sister of
departed Angel Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett), well
ensconced in the Charles Townsend Investigation
agency. Jill, however, isn't entirely absent from
the scene: Fawcett turns up in at least three
episodes, not quite ready to shake her old job
despite the lure of car racing and a handsome beau
(Stephen Collins). But enough about her: the current
incarnation of Charlie's team kicks off the season
with a two-part mystery set in Las Vegas. Dean
Martin plays a maverick casino owner who believes
he's being "gaslighted," i.e., made the target of
psychological harassment by an unknown enemy.
Trouble is, some of his employees and friends are
getting hurt and even killed by this same assailant.
The girls, including brainy Sabrina Duncan (Kate
Jackson) and streetwise Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn
Smith), plus mirthful supervisor Bosley (David
Doyle), go undercover to root out a plot to ruin
Martin's character. (Sure, Dino romances one of
them: Sabrina.)
The rest of the season follows the usual Charlie's
Angels formula of relying on the cast's appealing
personalities and substantive, anti-bimbo
characters, while also getting them (well, not
Jackson so much) in various states of undress as
quickly as possible. An accent on stories requiring
the wearing of leotards and showgirl costumes
certainly helps the cause, but there are plenty of
non-exploitation episodes as well. Among the best
programs is "Angel Come Home," in which Jill arrives
at Charlie's by surprise after receiving a phony
emergency cable in Europe from someone claiming to
be Kris. Eager to investigate, Jill soon hooks up
with an old friend (Horst Buchholz) developing a new
car engine targeted by enemies. "Angels in
Springtime" capitalizes on a creepy suggestion of
lesbian incarcerators running an expensive spa for
women. "Haunted Angels" is a spooky tale of a young
man's demanding spirit being channeled, from beyond
the grave, through a terrified woman. It could be
real or it could be a scam; only the Angels can find
out. "Counterfeit Angels" finds a trio of bank
robbers claiming to be Kris, Kelly, and Sabrina; the
girls fight for their innocence. Finally, a great
episode from its era (1979), "Disco Angels," gets
the ladies exactly where they belong: on a dance
floor. --Tom Keogh |
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Another
season of the hit classic series comes to DVD! This
season, the Angels go on the Love Boat to
investigate a major art theft, go back to college to
stop a white slavery ring, and find more than just
fingerprints when Charlie's yacht is stolen. Jill
gets help from the Angels after her date with a
crown prince is interrupted by sniper fire, and
Kelly meets a man who may be her long-lost father.
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