Charlie's Angels

I was only 10 yrs old when this came on and I was mesmerized, lol. I grew up wayyyy in the country down a dirt road with only 2 neighbors in about 7 miles. I solved a lot of crime in those woods!! I was 30 when I became a rookie cop. Now mind you there was only 1 other female in the history of our sheriffs office and she was not on the road. After 2 yrs I made Detective, which I did for 8 yrs before going back to the road. I was the only female allowed on the road for over 16 yrs. I was a LT for the last 13 yrs. I had an uphill battle in my career a lot of times. I say all this to say this, these were women a little 10 yr old girl could look up to. So it will always have a special place in my heart. I just retired a couple of years ago after 25 yrs because of medical issues and that was the hard. I know my family say I overshare, lol.

Ah...if only shows were more like this show. Granted...the plots were not always the best but at least they were entertaining instead of depressing or just plain boring. These angels brought a lot of us growing up in the seventies a lot of joy and that is why it was a huge sensation. Now if they would only release all the rest of the seasons...this angel lover would definitely buy them. In a day when all the TV shows is just about sex, sex, sex...it is refreshing to see a show where they are never in bed. They did wear some bathing suits but so what...now they are getting to where they wear nothing. Perhaps that is what they need to draw viewers these days instead of their talent. Charlie's Angels will forever be around because they were and still are loved by millions.

You must wonder about the intelligence of TV viewers during the seventies when this gibberish was on top. I saw my first episode last week and was totally amazed at the amateur hour presented therein. A sixth grade dialogue, extremely emaciated plot, downright silly action scenes as the "girls" took on ruthless drug lords with their pipsqueak snubbies, absolutely pathetic performances, and the list goes on and on. But who could give a good performance when asked to do mindless garbage like this? No wonder I prefer books to television.

Hard to believe now that this middling TV Movie/Pilot, with a needlessly convoluted plot, would spark a phenomenon. Caught this on Starz Mystery Channel on satellite.

Seeing it for the first time in nearly 30 years, a few retrospective thoughts:

1. Interesting that Jaclyn Smith was front and center for the first act since she had the least amount of acting experience going in. Apparently, Kate Jackson (who was promised the lead) switched roles with her. Farrah is the 3rd banana here - history changed that.

2. It isn't surprising that the David Ogden Stiers character was dropped after the pilot. Originally added so that there would be a man who could "bail out" the Angels, he was really too stuffy for the show's fluff. David Doyle hit the notes perfectly.

3. I liked the jazzier sounding "main theme" as played in the movie. The rest of the score is typical 70's TV waka waka electronics.

4. Aside from a brief shot of Jacklyn Smith in a bikini and the requisite "Charlie Girl" snippets, there was little of the cheesy T&A exploitation that the show became known for (particularly in its first season).

And to think that this was hot stuff at the time. sigh.

This is an enjoyable pilot TV-movie for the famous series. The plot is fairly elaborate, and in fact, it works much like a Mission Impossible episode, but with a totally different emphasis.

At the time this series aired, and for years afterwards, there was a huge amount of blather and tsk-tsking disapproval expressed in the media about this series, because the premise was three beautiful young women as detectives. There were plenty of tougher. Much grittier series around the same time, such as Police Woman with Angie Dickinson, or Hawaii 5-0; lots of shows. Charlie's Angels took a different approach: it didn't try to make the women seem like tough gun-wielding types. They were all attractive; but frankly, so were nearly all the women portrayed in TV series at the time!

Looking at the show now, in 2023, 47 years after this pilot was made, it strikes me as perfectly pleasant, light entertainment. And to me it stands the test of time: I watched it tonight, and it held my interest.

The guest cast are good. One of the actors is a very young Tommy Lee Jones! I thought it looked like him, but I didn't believe it until I saw the credits. That's part of the fun of these old TV series, the surprises you get as you watch them. I look forward to watching all the rest of the episodes on dvd.