Charlie's Angels

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.

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.

I loved this show so much as a young girl. The Angels were role models to me. Everyone talks about the show as if it was meaningless and all about jiggling breasts and blowdried hair and perfect teth. Well, to me it represented women who had it all. Perfect looks and brains and courage to fight crime. I'll always love this show.

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.

Unfortunately I have to agree with helpless_dancer, one of the other reviewers here. Yeah, of course this was way back then, but really, it was bad. I mean, this story is slow and ponderous and nothing exciting happens. Really, that it lifted off AT ALL after this... what a bummer of a TV movie. There was only one high point, right at the end, Farrah Fawcett-Majors cooing "be sure to call if you need us, you hear?" or something like that. The episode itself is way, way, way below later standard. And this criticism comes from The Raven, who usually goes all out to bestow compliments on pretty actresses.

This... bland. Argh. One and a half hours, gah!