Appreciating Charlie's Angels

[ClassyCo]

I am honestly a little stunned that the Season 4 trio of Kelly, Kris, and Tiffany has, of this post, three individual votes. Tiffany routinely placed last in fan site popularity polls, leading a reviewer on DVD Talk (or one of those websites) to say she was "the least popular Angel ever".

I must admit that I originally rode the "Let's Hate Tiffany" bandwagon, but my opinion has improved over time. The fandom overall has changed their attitude towards Shelley Hack and her character Tiffany Welles over the years. In some cases, the support for Tiffany has saw her ranking high in popularity polls, besting Kate Jackson and Tanya Roberts, and sometimes even Farrah.

Either way, I don't despise Tiffany the way some might. Is she the best Angel? Of course she isn't. But she was given a raw deal that did her no favors.

And Season 4 actually has some of my favorite episodes that I remember most often when I want to watch the show.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Funny, I just never thought of CHARLIE'S ANGELS as having characters.

 

[ClassyCo]

Funny, I just never thought of CHARLIE'S ANGELS as having characters.

Well, I suppose saying CHARLIE'S ANGELS had "characters" is something of a stretch, but they did at least give their on-screen personas different names than what they have in reality.

 

[Soaplover]

I think one of the reasons why Cheryl Ladd was a good replacement was because the show wasn't trying to replace Farrah with another Farrah/Jill type. Cheryl had a more townboy/kid sister vibe that worked well with Kelly/Sabrina since they were the older sisters taking the kid sister (Jill's kid sister) under their wing.

It was harder to replace Kate/Sabrina because she was the logical/pragmatic one.. and Kate was able to infuse Sabrina with different layers. So when season 4 rolled around, they tried another Kate like character Tiffany, but she had the logical/pragmatic elements without bringing additional layers to her character so people just viewed her as faux Sabrina/Sabrina lite instead of a character in her own right.

On paper, Julie seemed a good idea. A non cop, a model, and someone that had to fight in order to survive... but Tanya Roberts couldn't play that. She had a natural comic ability (as shown on That 70s Show) that the show could have utilized and made Julie more intentionally funny instead of street wise.

I recall Kelly G was supposed to be the streetwise Angel, and her backstory growing up as an orphan was supposed to support that.. but I agree that Jaclyn S was able to showcase a softness within the cool/hard exterior of the early episodes and the show wisely wrote to that.

 

[ClassyCo]

I think one of the reasons why Cheryl Ladd was a good replacement was because the show wasn't trying to replace Farrah with another Farrah/Jill type. Cheryl had a more townboy/kid sister vibe that worked well with Kelly/Sabrina since they were the older sisters taking the kid sister (Jill's kid sister) under their wing.

Cheryl Ladd has said that she told Aaron Spelling, "I just don't want to be Farrah. Only Farrah is Farrah." She says it was her suggestion that her character be funny, while Spelling made the decision to make her character Farrah's on-screen little sister.

All these ingredients came together and helped Cheryl Ladd and her Kris Munroe make a grand entrance at the start of Season 2. The audience rallied behind the new addition to the cast, and apparently Ladd/Kris was soon the most popular Angel in the trio.

It was harder to replace Kate/Sabrina because she was the logical/pragmatic one.. and Kate was able to infuse Sabrina with different layers. So when season 4 rolled around, they tried another Kate like character Tiffany, but she had the logical/pragmatic elements without bringing additional layers to her character so people just viewed her as faux Sabrina/Sabrina lite instead of a character in her own right.

There were a lot of reasons why Kate Jackson was harder to replace. She was such a strong presence, the obvious leader of the Angels, and her shoes would be tougher to fill.

Shelley Hack, as much as I defend her, just wasn't up to the task. She was so inexperienced as an actress that it would be next-to-impossible for her to fill Jackson's shoes so soon. We must acknowledge, as we've stated numerous times, the producers didn't give Shelley any favors with the scripts.

On paper, Julie seemed a good idea. A non cop, a model, and someone that had to fight in order to survive... but Tanya Roberts couldn't play that. She had a natural comic ability (as shown on That 70s Show) that the show could have utilized and made Julie more intentionally funny instead of street wise.

I'm divided on this. I don't like that they didn't have Tanya graduate from the police academy. That was the basic set-up from the inaugural season. Everything else I could go with, but not that.

 

[Toni]

My opinion is different from yours: I didn´t like Season 1 back at the time but got immediately hooked on it when Cheryl joined the show. I just re-watched that season (it took me forever!) and think it´s only good because it established the personalities of the three angels and, let´s not forget it, Bosley too! Farrah was a little boring to me (me being a gay teenager at the time might be one of the reasons...) but, surprisingly, I really enjoyed her when she did those few episodes contractually forced in latter seasons.

The Season 2 finale was surprising to me in the sense that it was above average of what the series had been giving so far. It was entertaining, with beautiful scenery from Hawaii, scenes for Cheryl to define her character, and even a female villain to be reckoned with! There were a couple of hula-hula filler sequences but I guess that was also in Spelling´s contract with the Hawaiian authorities to film there.

I´m looking forward to re-watching seasons 2 & 3, which are the best to me. The chemistry between the three ladies was pure perfection despite Kate´s reaction to Cheryl in real life. I soon became a number one fan of Jaclyn. Seasons 4 & 5 were shown in Spain in strange time slots, in fact I think the last season only aired in low-budget local stations with a beyond-awful Spanish dubbing.

Regarding Shelley Hack, even loving Kate, I did warm up to her quite quickly. She was like a modern version of Lauren Bacall, or that´s the way she was introduced in the early episodes. I do want to re-watch that season too. However, I never watched one single episode with Tanya (the opening with her is not too promising, to be honest) but I will. I hope the remaining seasons won´t take me as long as the first one!

 

[ClassyCo]

My opinion is different from yours

Opinions are made to be different, and I respect you for holding a different view than mine.

Season 1

The first season was a major hit in the ratings, and the original Angelic trio captured the world.

Farrah was a little boring to me

This is a little head-scratching to me. I've heard people describe her tenure in different ways to evoke their distaste for it, but I love Farrah on the show. To me, Farrah was beautiful in her prime, and the show wasn't the same without her. Yes, I understand the resentment around Farrah's early departure from the show that made her a household name in 1976.

I've done so much bragging on Farrah and her one-season stint as a regular on CHARLIE'S ANGELS, so I'll brag now on her successor: Cheryl Ladd as Kris Munroe, who was the second longest-lasting Angel.

Cheryl Ladd is probably my favorite Angel overall, even moreso than Farrah. Cheryl's Kris comes in as a rookie, a newcomer to the P.I. business, and gets taken under Sabrina and Kelly's wings. I like that Kris had a sense of humor, a girl-next-door-type quality that was occasionally rolled back to reveal a sexiness underneath.

Cheryl Ladd is often disregarded from some fandom surrounding the show because she wasn't in the cast during that first mega-hit season. She wasn't included at the Emmy Awards celebration for Spelling's passing, but she's been included in many biographies on the show itself.

I'd argue that Kris is the most "real" Angel, and that Cheryl Ladd is the best actress on the show. She brings more to Kris than what's on paper.

 

[Toni]

Opinions are made to be different, and I respect you for holding a different view than mine.


The first season was a major hit in the ratings, and the original Angelic trio captured the world.


This is a little head-scratching to me. I've heard people describe her tenure in different ways to evoke their distaste for it, but I love Farrah on the show. To me, Farrah was beautiful in her prime, and the show wasn't the same without her. Yes, I understand the resentment around Farrah's early departure from the show that made her a household name in 1976.

I also respect you and love reading your posts! Actually, I did come to love Farrah in her post-Angels career, especially in her miniseries and her big-screen movies. She looked classy, elegant and no-nonsense. In Charlie´s she seemed to be the most objectified and, though she was funny pretending to be a bimbo in many cases, I always had the doubt if she was actually being taken as such by the producers. Jaclyn and Kate were not like that at all, even with Jaclyn also appearing in bikinis often. At the time I had no idea about what happened behind the scenes so I just enjoyed watching the show at Saturday afternoons (which also used to include Spelling´s "The Love Boat" between seasons of "Charlie´s"). It was a fun time...

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I've done so much bragging on Farrah and her one-season stint as a regular on CHARLIE'S ANGELS, so I'll brag now on her successor: Cheryl Ladd as Kris Munroe, who was the second longest-lasting Angel.

Cheryl Ladd is probably my favorite Angel overall, even moreso than Farrah. Cheryl's Kris comes in as a rookie, a newcomer to the P.I. business, and gets taken under Sabrina and Kelly's wings. I like that Kris had a sense of humor, a girl-next-door-type quality that was occasionally rolled back to reveal a sexiness underneath.

Cheryl Ladd is often disregarded from some fandom surrounding the show because she wasn't in the cast during that first mega-hit season. She wasn't included at the Emmy Awards celebration for Spelling's passing, but she's been included in many biographies on the show itself.

I'd argue that Kris is the most "real" Angel, and that Cheryl Ladd is the best actress on the show. She brings more to Kris than what's on paper.

View attachment 55681

Actually, most hetero guys I knew had Cheryl as their favorite -- perhaps because they found her most accessible.

She was also the best actress of the bunch, so more people liked her than you may think. Remember, the ratings actually bumped up when she got there.

Cheryl being excluded from the 2006 Aaron Spelling tribute at the Emmy Award has been attributed to Kate Jackson being a c**t and refusing to go on stage if Cheryl was included... All that may be pure legend, hyperbolic nonsense. And Kate might have been framed, lovingly inclusive as she probably was.

 

[Soaplover]

My late mom loved the show and even would poke fun at it in good humor. She loved the show so much that she would auto watch any tv movie/mini series/tv show that the four angels (JS, CL, FF, and KJ) would do. Her favorite was Jaclyn Smith and even bought some of her clothing items when they were in Kmart back in the day.

In regards to Kate's character Sabrina being the leader and hard to replace, I would agree with that. The only thing I think could have been done in season 4 was to make Kelly the new leader of the trio, and found someone completely different to come in after Kate Jackson left. I think the showrunners realized that for season 5 when they bought in Julie, but the show didn't really write anything of substance for Julie and they weren't interested in writing to Tanya's strengths.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

"Kris, have you ever seen a 6'2' brunette woman naked...?"

 

[Chris2]

The challenge with Kelly as the streetwise one is that Jaclyn simply didn’t have the range to pull that off. Kate was originally cast as Kelly, but decided she wanted to play Sabrina instead. That’s why Jaclyn - not Kate - is so heavily featured in the first half of the pilot movie.

I think Sabrina was originally conceived to be glamorous/elegant. And so they wound up changing both Sabrina and Kelly to better suit their portrayers.

 

[Seaviewer]

There were a lot of reasons why Kate Jackson was harder to replace. She was such a strong presence, the obvious leader of the Angels, and her shoes would be tougher to fill.

Probably anyone new coming in as leader would not be accepted.

The only thing I think could have been done in season 4 was to make Kelly the new leader of the trio, and found someone completely different to come in after Kate Jackson left. I

That would be logical on paper, but Kelly's personality didn't really lend itself to that.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Who was the best actress?

Kate Jackson was the most commercially successful one.
Her character on Dark Shadows didn't even speak for months, which probably enhanced her skills.
Never saw her paly a baddie, though.

 

[ClassyCo]

Probably anyone new coming in as leader would not be accepted.

It definitely wasn't an easy spot for any actress to try and fill.

Who was the best actress?

Kate Jackson was the most commercially successful one.
Her character on Dark Shadows didn't even speak for months, which probably enhanced her skills.
Never saw her paly a baddie, though.

I guess this is true. Kate Jackson did have SCARECROW AND MRS. KING later on, too. Jaclyn Smith starred in a host of TV movies and miniseries, and so did Cheryl Ladd.

There's also an argument for Farrah. She never had another successful weekly series, but she had success in the big screen and in many TV movies and miniseries.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The challenge with Kelly as the streetwise one is that Jaclyn simply didn’t have the range to pull that off. Kate was originally cast as Kelly, but decided she wanted to play Sabrina instead. That’s why Jaclyn - not Kate - is so heavily featured in the first half of the pilot movie.

I think Sabrina was originally conceived to be glamorous/elegant. And so they wound up changing both Sabrina and Kelly to better suit their portrayers.

It sounds like Tiffany was cast as the way that Sabrina was intended.
It was wise of the showrunners to adapt to the actresses' personalities, rather than stay with something that was not going to work.
I don't know if it was a question of range with Jaclyn Smith, because she is a good actress. Maybe she didn't think the scripts made the best use of street-wise Kelly

Probably anyone new coming in as leader would not be accepted.

That would be logical on paper, but Kelly's personality didn't really lend itself to that.

It seemed like Kelly was the leader by default.

 

[ClassyCo]

It seemed like Kelly was the leader by default.

That's the way it read in the final two seasons.

 

[Seaviewer]

It seemed like Kelly was the leader by default.

I don't know, it seemed to me like Kris became leader at some point.

 

[rayray]

I don't know, it seemed to me like Kris became leader at some point.

I agree. Jaclyn Smith was starting to phone it in in Season 4, and had checked out by Season 5. Cheryl Ladd kept bringing her A- to B-game in those last two seasons.

 

[ClassyCo]

I don't know, it seemed to me like Kris became leader at some point.

You know, I can see a basis for this argument, too. It's almost like Kelly and Kris rotated the leadership role in the last two seasons.

Jaclyn Smith was starting to phone it in in Season 4, and had checked out by Season 5

Jaclyn was determined to work her five-year contract with the show, but yes, she does seem to tire of it steadily after Kate left. For the fifth season, you can tell she was ready for it to end.

As I hear it, Jaclyn and Cheryl were both going to leave after Season 5 even if ABC wanted a sixth season.