New posts

A little forum update...We're planning an upgrade.

Find out more about what's planned and how you can help support the forum
Click here for the details

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 366230" data-attributes="member: 7">Kate Jackson had been instrumental in the development of CHARLIE’S ANGELS. She was the first actress hired, and she was the one that gave Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg the idea of having three women working for a man they never see but communicate with via a speakerphone. Jackson spent a lot of time on the show fussing over the quality of the scripts and refusing to wear skimpy outfits.The final nail in her decision to leave CHARLIE’S ANGELS came when she was offered a starring role in the movie KRAMER VS. KRAMER with Dustin Hoffman. The producers of the show would not (or could not) reorganize her shooting schedule and informed her she was not going to be able to accept the movie role. This infuriated Jackson, who knew the film role was something she wanted to do. That part eventually went to Meryl Streep, who ended up winning an Oscar.Producers have sent it “was not a pleasant time” on the set during these days, with Jackson infuriated with her bosses and determined to leave CHARLIE’S ANGELS. She made the decision official soon enough and left the show after three seasons in 1979.The producers were worried about losing another of the original Angels (have lost breakout star Farrah Fawcett after the premiere season in 1977), but they quickly threw themselves into the gimmicky shenanigans of finding a new actress to incorporate into their hit show. They went to the drawing board and invented a new character, Tiffany Welles, a WASPy New Englander with a flair for fashion that would bring an element of East Coast class to the show. Let’s talk about the actresses, models, and other would-be hopefuls that were considered potential Tiffanys:One of the directors of CHARLIE’S ANGELS, Allan Baron, really liked newcomer Michelle Pfeiffer. I’m not sure how much, or even if he did, campaign for her, but a casting call sheet from 1979 shows Pfeiffer’s name highlighted among several other actresses. She received her big break in SCARFACE in just a few years.Catherine Bach was considered, but passed over, and ended up playing Daisy Duke on THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. This made her a poster pin-up cutie throughout the 1980s as DUKES ranked just behind DALLAS in the ratings for a couple of seasons.Connie Sellecca was familiar with Aaron Spelling, or so I think, and she was brought in to read for Tiffany. They ultimately decided she was not the right fit, but Sellecca did end up on another Spelling-produced series, HOTEL.Former Bond girl, Barbara Bach, who starred in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME in 1977, became a Tiffany dark horse quickly. There was a misbelief that Bach was English, however, and producers moved away from her. It was wrongly reported by the Daily News that she had been selected for the part. In an interview with Johnny Carson, Bach said the producers thought she was “too sophisticated in attitude and look” for the show.Future television personality Kathie Lee Gifford was also interviewed. She spoke of her experience in jokingly unflattering terms in 2001. Apparently, the lady doing the casting calls told Gifford right from the start that she was “not right” for CHARLIE’S ANGELS and that they were “looking for a pretty girl,” which, I guess, indicates said lady did not find Gifford pretty.Daytime soap opera actress Judith Chapman auditioned to play Tiffany as a gateway into primetime television. She was not a serious candidate.Future DALLAS cast member Deborah Shelton read but was passed over.Susanne Reed and Debra Feuer, two working television actresses, were also considered. Dian Parkinson (one of the models on THE PRICE IS RIGHT) was considered but not cast.Model and former PLAYBOY playmate Claudia Jennings read for the part just shortly before her untimely death in a car accident in 1979.For those of you that have followed my posts over the past years, you will know that I take an interest in those things that happen behind-the-scenes of television shows. I have, for a while, dug into the production of the fourth season of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and just how strenuous the producers were in finding their successor to Kate Jackson. The names that I have finally been able to assemble apparently do not even scratch the surface of the ladies that were considered for this job.Shelley Hack came into the running because of the Charlie perfume ads. Apparently, Spelling asked, “How could we hire anyone else but the Charlie girl?” Costume designer Nolan Miller also advocated for Hack to Spelling, commenting on her sense of style and training as a model that would make it easy for the wardrobe department to dress her. There were some concerns by ABC about Hack’s lack of formal acting experience, but the network stepped back and gave Spelling his way, believing he knew best.Of course, we all know the tenure of Shelley Hack was misguided and brief. She refused acting lessons, brushed off questions from reporters about her inexperience, and eventually became fussy about her wardrobe, which annoyed Nolan Miller. “That magical click,” said Leonard Golberg, “just seemed to be missing” from the fourth season. Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith (the two Angels that stayed on from the third season) also felt there was “something missing” from season four. Eventually, the powers-that-be decided it was Shelley Hack that threw the season off, and she was fired in early 1980. The whole situation was handled shabbily. Shelley just simply was not invited back for another season.“I never expected to be there for more than a year, and I wasn’t,” said Shelley Hack in a 2001 interview, “I did my year and moved on.” Smith and especially Ladd have come to Shelley’s defense in interviews, with the latter commenting, “It certainly wasn’t all Shelley’s fault.” Smith’s responses are vaguer, but she also seems to believe Shelley got a raw deal. Producers, directors, script people, and wardrobe designers have all given their anecdotes as to why Shelley Hack did not work out. I have literally heard it all—she was too inexperienced, she was not curvy enough, she demanded too much of the wardrobe department, she never had fun with her role, she denied help from network drama coaches, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Even so, Shelley has never appeared disheartened by being booted out of CHARLIE’S ANGELS. She went on to have a successful career in film and television, both before and behind the camera.[ATTACH=full]46506[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?