Angels remembered 45 years after launch of sassy, classy team
Charlie’s Angels launched in March 1976 and introduced viewers to a sassy, classy, crime-fighting trio of trailblazing female private detectives.
On screen they presented a united image of girl-power and were as wholesome and American as apple pie. However, when the cameras stopped, rolling being an ‘Angel’ could at times be anything but heavenly, writes Steve Cain.
Some 45 years ago, it was considered a radical decision to produce a television show in which all three leads would be female. TV executives were sceptical that audiences would want to watch a female-driven show. Then, along came Charlie’s Angels to prove them wrong.
The show, which would run for 115 episodes across five seasons, followed the adventures of three former police academy graduates who were offered the opportunity to leave behind mundane tasks, such as issuing parking tickets, operating switchboards and performing clerical duties. Instead, they’d work undercover to crack complex and intriguing cases for the Townsend Agency, headed by the wealthy and elusive Charlie Townsend.
Kate Jackson starred as strategically-thinking Sabrina Duncan, the unofficial chief Angel, whilst the late Farrah Fawcett played the sun-kissed and sporty Jill Munroe, and Jaclyn Smith completed the line-up as stylish and sophisticated Kelly Garrett. Charlie’s Angels was an instant success and it catapulted the three actors to super-stardom.
However, the filming schedule was gruelling. The stars were picked up from their homes at 5.30am, and would work at least a twelvehour day, often seven days a week. Small wonder, then, that tempers sometimes frayed.
Farrah Fawcett, who was married to fellow actor Lee Majors at the time, worried about the strain the show placed on her marriage and insisted that her working day should end by 7pm so that she could be home in time to cook dinner for her husband. “I love Lee and I love cooking,” she said, simply.
She stunned producers, co-stars and fans alike by quitting her role after only one season and, at the peak of her phenomenal popularity. Her decision prompted a lawsuit by the ABC Network and producer Aaron Spelling and, after a highly-publicised legal battle, it was reluctantly agreed that Fawcett would be released from her fiveyear contract on the condition that she would return to make six guest appearances in the series throughout its run.
She was replaced by Cheryl Ladd, who played Kris Munroe, the younger sister of Fawcett’s character. Knowing she was taking over from the biggest star of the show, Ladd approached the role and her co-stars with humility. However, Kate Jackson was, allegedly, openly hostile to her, blaming Ladd for a slight dip in the ratings, and refusing to speak to her for days at a time.
It seemed that the cast change was not the only thing that frustrated Jackson. She felt that the scripts were diminishing in quality and was quoted as saying: “They’re so light that if you dropped it from the ceiling it would take a week to get to the floor.”
Jackson may have had a point. From the beginning, Charlie’s Angels had been derided by critics who claimed it lacked intelligence and substance and relied upon the physical attributes of the female leads to attract male viewers. This view was rebuked by Cheryl Ladd.
“We were very inspirational to a lot of young women,” she said. “There hadn’t been a show with three powerful women who had the latest hairdos and wore the coolest clothes.”
Yet, Jackson insisted that the series should focus more on ‘classic detective work’ rather than trying to be the ‘cop story of the week.’
Rumours circulated that she became increasingly difficult to deal with on set. Her behaviour worsened significantly when, in 1979, she was offered the role of Joanna Kramer in the movie Kramer vs Kramer opposite Dustin Hoffman, but had to turn it down after the producers of Charlie’s Angels refused to reorganise the filming schedule to allow Jackson the time-off to make the film. She was axed at the end of the third season, admitting that she “did cause a few problems.”
Casting calls went out for Jackson’s replacement and the ABC network considered several up-and-coming actors including Michelle Pfeiffer. Ultimately, they cast model Shelley Hack, known