Appreciating Charlie's Angels

[Toni]

True enough. But I liked it, too. There are a bunch of episodes on YouTube but no DVD release (except for the pilot telefilm).

Me too! With such an opening and theme, you knew what it would ensue, and it was quite enjoyable to me, at least when I was a (little) child.

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PS: Miss Piggy asked me to mention that Teresa was her first power idol. Can you see her influence from this pic on her (our) current avatar...

 

[Toni]

Frustration over. The full PaleyFest Q&A has landed:

Seeing it in context, it's clear that the "girl power" element was in the editing. The full interview is very balanced and easy to watch and quite fun (Jaclyn on the original plan to have a blonde, brunette and redhead: "And they thought that was inclusive").

Police Woman and Get Christie Love get mentions. As does Satan's School For Girls. And I don't think I knew that Cheryl turned down The Burning Bed before it was offered to Farrah.

Did anyone notice how Kate Jackson passed on the host´s question about a role she might have played on "Dallas"? Who do you think she cold have played: Sue Ellen, Pam, or Miss Ellie (lol)?
Also, a big surprise about the "9 and a half weeks" that could have been with Jaclyn and John Travolta, which would probably disney-fied by both leads...

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I thought that the character of Julie Rogers had a lot of potential, especially if introduced earlier in the series.
To some degree, Demi Moore as Madison seemed to be a similar character, enhanced by different motivations.
It would have been a different show, though. People wanted to see the three angels as friends
However, by season 5, CA had run its course, and nothing was going to help that

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Did anyone notice how Kate Jackson passed on the host´s question about a role she might have played on "Dallas"? Who do you think she cold have played: Sue Ellen, Pam, or Miss Ellie (lol)?

Oh, Pam. The bitchy beauty of her Aquarius Rising (which Victoria has as well). In fact, in KILLER BEES (1974) with Gloria Swanson as queen of her hive, Edward Albert (a Sun in Pisces/Gemini Rising -- like Patrick Duffy (with different Moon signs) -- brings his new lady, Kate Jackson (with her beautiful-but-bitchy Aquarius Rising -- like Victoria) home to join his unwelcoming family dynasty whose fortunes were made in wine.

An almost decent (but not really) print of KILLER BEES:

More horoscopy: the Sun in Scorpio/Moon in Libra maiden (Kate) ultimately winds up taking over the vineyard from the Scorpio Rising/Moon in Libra dowager empress (Gloria).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Also, a big surprise about the "9 and a half weeks" that could have been with Jaclyn and John Travolta, which would probably disney-fied by both leads...

Even though I've yet to watch the film, I know it by reputation and I get that it would have lost its edge with Jac and John leading.

his new lady, Kate Jackson (with her beautiful-but-bitchy Aquarius Rising -- like Victoria)

And she's even named Victoria.

Out of interest, is Kate's horoscopy anything like Teri Hatcher's? There seems similarity not just in their features but in how they (and VP) are sometimes perceived by colleagues.


I've always got Killer Bees mixed up with (the Academy Award nominated!) The Swarm. One or the other always seemed to show up on TV late at night in the Eighties, but I never ended up watching either in full.

 

[Chris2]

Kate didn’t leave CA until 1979 when Dallas had already been up and running for a year. How would she have been up for one of the original roles?

I think they changed the format of the show in season 4 (one angel often taking the lead rather than a team approach) to give Jaclyn and Cheryl more time off (and presumably Kate had she stayed). And that hurt the show more than Shelley, though I think she was a weak addition regardless with her cool, standoffish persona. I also disliked the Julie/model angle.

Surely there were some other actresses out there who would have made a decent replacement for Kate as the third angel. Maybe they should have brought in Kate Mulgrew to boss everyone around. But I guess she was busy on Mrs. Columbo lol.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And she's even named Victoria.

Out of interest, is Kate's horoscopy anything like Teri Hatcher's? There seems similarity not just in their features but in how they (and VP) are sometimes perceived by colleagues.

No, not really Hatcher. But there is at least one interview (from the late-'80s, early-'90s??) with Kate Jackson in a shortish hair-bob, and people are mentioning in the YT comments that she keeps making them think of Victoria Principal.

Laymen see it.

Aquarius Risings, though, make great slappers. (PSM, too). The only two times I was ever slapped as an adult were by Aquarius Risings -- they're so good at it! And so willing!!

PS: Not only does Kate play "Victoria" in KILLER BEES, she's Victoria Welles! So maybe Tiffany is her sister -- her boring sister!!

I've always got Killer Bees mixed up with (the Academy Award nominated!) The Swarm. One or the other always seemed to show up on TV late at night in the Eighties, but I never ended up watching either in full.

THE SWARM was nominated??

Kate didn’t leave CA until 1979 when Dallas had already been up and running for a year. How would she have been up for one of the original roles?

I think they changed the format of the show in season 4 (one angel often taking the lead rather than a team approach) to give Jaclyn and Cheryl more time off (and presumably Kate had she stayed). And that hurt the show more than Shelley, though I think she was a weak addition regardless with her cool, standoffish persona. I also disliked the Julie/model angle.

Surely there were some other actresses out there who would have made a decent replacement for Kate as the third angel. Maybe they should have brought in Kate Mulgrew to boss everyone around. But I guess she was busy on Mrs. Columbo lol.

I still say a spectacular charismatic black actress should have been hired once Kate took off.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

No, not really Hatcher.

Ah well. So much for my horoscopic skills.

But there is at least one interview (from the late-'80s, early-'90s??) with Kate Jackson in a shortish hair-bob, and people are mentioning in the YT comments that she keeps making them think of Victoria Principal.

I can completely see it in the Killer Bees pictures.

Aquarius Risings, though, make great slappers.

Oh, this took me another sentence or two to crystallise. I'm guessing the cruder definition of "slapper" might be a British thing (though it might apply in this case as well).

THE SWARM was nominated??

Yep. For Best Costume Design. It lost to Death On The Nile.

It made me chortle that a film with that reputation is being touted on Prime as an "Oscar Nominee", complete with laurel wreath symbol.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Ah well. So much for my horoscopic skills.

Don't feel bad. There are overlaps.

Oh, this took me another sentence or two to crystallise. I'm guessing the cruder definition of "slapper" might be a British thing (though it might apply in this case as well).

Should I google??

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Don't feel bad. There are overlaps.

Whew.

Should I google??

It's rarely a compliment, but neither is it particularly bad. You'll be safe with its dictionary definition.

 

[Soaplover]

Piggy-backing off of my reply from yesterday....

While Season 4 does have some decent-to-good shows (some might even be very good), I'd argue that there are two primary issues with the season as a whole. First, the mistake of sidelining Shelley Hack so early into the season, a pivotal time when they should've been trying to get her comfortable inside the angelic trio and developing her personality. Second, there are multiple episodes throughout the season that focus heavily on just one angel while the other two are off somewhere else and not directly involved in the primary story. That lessens the group effort of the core trio and eliminates their on-screen chemistry and friendship.

Cheryl Ladd has said, on numerous occasions, that "it certainly wasn't all Shelley's fault" when questioned about Shelley Hack's arrival, treatment during her tenure, and eventual dismissal. Ladd has also commented that the producers and writers didn't seem terribly concerned on how Tiffany was supposed to "fit in" with Kelly and Kris and the Townsend Agency in general. Hack, as it seems, wasn't concerned at all that the producers dismissed her after one season, saying, "I never expected to be there for more than a year, and I wasn't." The on-screen chemistry just never "clicks" during Season 4, with one reviewer saying, "You didn't get the feeling these girls hung out together outside of the office." That says a lot when you look at the two previous trios.

Even so, I've always defended Shelley Hack and her run as Tiffany. Once they finally decided to start writing for her, I thought she was a serviceable and even good addition and successor to Kate Jackson, even if their were kinks that never quite got ironed out like they needed to be. I also don't believe it was a good idea for the producers to can Hack after just one season, but they took the opportunity to blame everything on Shelley, fire her, and crank up the publicity machine for a brand new angel hunt for what would be the fifth and final season. As it were, Tanya Roberts remains my least favorite of the angels, with her modeling career standing in for police academy training throwing even the opening narration off balance.

It didn't help that two of the three Farrah episodes happened shortly after Tiffany joined the show.. and it became either a Jill/Kris duo episode or more of a Kelly/Kris/Jill focus.

Tiffany was an East Coast born and raised individual.. and having her vibe explored and developed as a contrast to the west coast Kris and Kelly would be interesting.. and explained why there was a disconnect with the three as a trio.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

THE fictionalized CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY:

 

[Toni]

THE fictionalized CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY:

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[Snarky Oracle!]

View attachment 58871​

Poor Shelley and Tanya don't even get a mention.

The movie is both horrible and brilliant. And the actors are darned near perfect!

Seriously.

Much less stupid than that DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE telepicture.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

SALEM/SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS:

 

[ClassyCo]

Poor Shelley and Tanya don't even get a mention.

The movie is both horrible and brilliant. And the actors are darned near perfect!

Seriously.

Much less stupid than that DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE telepicture.

I used to have the DVD, but I think I tossed it long ago. The casting for the original trio of Kate, Farrah, and Jaclyn is honestly quite good. The presentation of events, as I remember it, was fairly accurate from what I've read, but I just don't like that the stopped the story right after Cheryl Ladd was cast and introduced with her "Farrah Fawcett Minor" T-shirt.

There are similar made-for-TV movies for THREE'S COMPANY, MORK & MINDY, and DIFF'RENT STROKES.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

THE fictionalized CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY:

I could remember watching it - and posting about it - but was starting to think I'd imagined it when I could find no mention in this thread. Then I did a search and realised there was an earlier CA thread.

I've now merged them together so the earlier discussion isn't lost to time.

The DVD has sat on the shelf since I watched it but, a decade on from watching the film, about the only thing I remember is Farrah purring at Lee Majors that she'd made him "dirty mashed potatoes". It was the first time I'd heard the term used for skin-on mash. The rest of it has more or less faded from memory.

I do recall I watched it round about the same time as that Dynasty thing, (The Making Of A Guilty Pleasure or whatever it was called) and found the CA film vastly more watchable.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I do recall I watched it round about the same time as that Dynasty thing, (The Making Of A Guilty Pleasure or whatever it was called) and found the CA film vastly more watchable.

Yes, THE CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY has some pretty good -- if slightly schlocky -- impersonations, so you can almost believe while you're watching it that it's almost them. And the narrative doesn't wander too far from what is "known" about the stars and the things that happened.

But the DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE overtly had nothing to do with the actors who were being portrayed. John Forsythe was presented as a bombastic fool with whom even Blake Carrington couldn't compete (the way Joan likes to falsely portray him), Linda Evans is presented as a slightly-rednecky cookie-baking ditz, while Joan Collins herself is played as a higher-class breed of actress than she actually is.

Only the portrait of Esther Shapiro as a grasping, hustling operator quite works (the Shapiros' rustic cottage is the secret star of the show, much as is Harry Hamlin's house in MAKING LOVE). And Aaron Spelling's fey Hollywood player is similar in both movies albeit a bit inferior in THE GUILTY PLEASURE program.

What was weird(est) about the DYNASTY one was that it aired on the same network, ABC, which broadcast the actual show in the '80s -- something not considered industry protocol at the time in 2005. The lead cast publicly came out against the film, with Joan calling the ABC brass "lowlifes."

 

[ClassyCo]

Yes, THE CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY has some pretty good -- if slightly schlocky -- impersonations, so you can almost believe while you're watching it that it's almost them. And the narrative doesn't wander too far from what is "known" about the stars and the things that happened.

But the DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE overtly had nothing to do with the actors who were being portrayed. John Forsythe was presented as a bombastic fool with whom even Blake Carrington couldn't compete (the way Joan likes to falsely portray him), Linda Evans is presented as a slightly-rednecky cookie-baking ditz, while Joan Collins herself is played as a higher-class breed of actress than she actually is.

Only the portrait of Esther Shapiro as a grasping, hustling operator quite works (the Shapiros' rustic cottage is the secret star of the show, much as is Harry Hamlin's house in MAKING LOVE). And Aaron Spelling's fey Hollywood player is similar in both movies albeit a bit inferior in THE GUILTY PLEASURE program.

What was weird(est) about the DYNASTY one was that it aired on the same network, ABC, which broadcast the actual show in the '80s -- something not considered industry protocol at the time in 2005. The lead cast publicly came out against the film, with Joan calling the ABC brass "lowlifes."

The cast for MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE is bad, even if I do like Melora Hardin ("Linda Evans") when she plays Jan on THE OFFICE and Pamela Reed ("Esther Shapiro") when she showed up as Leslie Knope's mom on PARKS & REC.