as sh Back in 1976, television audiences tuned into ABC to see three women change the face of television. The show was Charlie’s Angels, and the women were Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. Over the next five seasons, we saw three cast changes, and the creation of “Jiggle TV.” Recently, ABC announced a reboot of the series, in the wake of the successful reboots of FOX’s Beverly Hills 90210, and CBS’ Hawaii Five-O. Is this really the best idea?
In order to explain why this may take the series into the ground, we need to review the original series. It started with Jill Munroe (Fawcett), Sabrina Duncan (Jackson) and Kelly Garrett (Smith), with a little help from their older, bumbling sidekick John Bosley (David Doyle), and their never seen-only heard boss Charlie (John Forsythe). The series blew up, making all three women superstars, shall we not forget the swimsuit poster of Farrah? The show centered around these three women as former cops in Los Angeles, who leave the force and become private investigators. They work for another ex law enforcement officer, Charles Townsend, who remains anonymous, giving the Angels their instructions through a speaker phone.
For the first season, we saw the women run through fields, connected by chains, Jill chasing a suspect down the street on a skateboard, and a crazed convict, who try to kill each Angel to draw out his true target, Charlie. Drama hit the series when Fawcett left the series after season one, believing there was more out there for her than the show would allow. The media fed off of the court case that followed, of Fawcett trying to break her contract.
After creator Aaron Spelling let Fawcett go, with the condition that she make a certain amount of guest spots over the next three seasons, Spelling began the task of finding her replacement. He knew who he wanted, actress Cheryl Ladd. After turning the role down numerous times, Spelling finally convinced her to take the role of Kris Munroe, Jill’s little sister. The transition was seemless, and over the next two years, Ladd, Smith and Jackson ruled the airwaves.
After season three, Kate Jackson left the show. Spelling found model Shelley Hack, and created the role of Tiffany Welles, a former cop from Boston. This transition became part of television history when, in Hack’s first episode, there was a crossover between Charlie’s Angels and The Love Boat. However, ratings began to drop that season due to some weird storylines and viewers not relating to Hack. Hack has said, in TVLand Confidential that this was a hard job for her, never having acted before. She knew she was done when the show was renewed for season five, and Ladd, Smith and Doyle received flowers and congratulations, and Hack heard or got nothing.
Season five did see the removal of Tiffany Welles, and the final Angel, former model Julie Rogers, played by Tanya Roberts. Rogers joined the Angels when she helped solve her housemates murder in the modeling world. Season five was the last for the show, as ratings shot down and storylines tended to boarderline on ridiculous, there was an episode where Julie was hynotized with subliminal messages. The show even began to copy itself. In the final episode, we see Kelly shot in the head, as we had in a season one episode. That final episdoe was an ode to the only Angel to last the whole series run, Kelly Garrett. As stated, Kelly was shot in the head, as she lay in surgery, Kris shared memories of Kelly as an Angel with new Angel Julie. In the end, she survives. Even Charlie, hidden by a surigical mask lays at her beside.
Now, ABC is choosing to bring it back. Now, this could be an amazing remake, but how many remakes are actually that good? Three new Angels, and a Bosley that is a Ladies Man, rather than being the lovable goofball he was originally. This show will have a lot to live up to.
