Thursday, April 3, 2014

C is for : Charlie's Angels!


I'm sure it's no surprise, especially after yesterday's hint, that "C" is for Charlie's Angels. The show that made Farrah Fawcett-Majors a household word as well as launching the career of Jacklyn Smith, Charlie's Angels was a p.i. drama revolving around three gorgeous, recent, graduates of the police academy who were given less than exciting assignments.

They're lifted from the drudgery of police work by Charles Townsend who hires them for his private investigation firm. Townsend is not only rich and well connected, but also the "mysterious" type. The only contact his Angels have with him is via a telephone (back before the days of Skype, of course) speaker box and his liaison, Bosley.


The original Angels were Farrah Fawcett-Majors (then wife to a certain Six Million Dollar Man actor) the 'sporty' of the three, Jill Monroe. Kate Jackson played Sabrina Duncan, the defacto leader of the trio while Jacklyn Smith was Kelly Garret, the tough, but caring, backbone of the group. Later seasons brought new Angels Cheryl Ladd (Kris, sister of Jill, Monroe), Shelley Hack (Tiffany Wells), and Tanya Roberts (Julie Rogers).

I've always loved p.i. shows and Charlie's Angels was no exception. Of course it didn't hurt that these gumshoes were extremely easy on the eyes. While it stuck to the formulaic police drama style of writing, it also had quite a few comedic undertones that kept thing on an upbeat note, regardless of the crime that week.

With this letter, I'm going to start doing "honorable mentions". Because, well, some letters of the alphabet just had so many cool shows attached to them and I couldn't showcase them all.  :)

Honorable Mentions:  Car 54 Where Are You, China Beach, and CHiPS

Tune in tomorrow and find out what happens when a Canadian Mountie and his pet wolf come down to Chicago.....

25 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Oh yeah, I watched it, and I had that iconic poster of Farrah as well.

Robin said...

I loved that show back in the day. I know that the whole world was gaga over Farrah Fawcett, but I always that Jaclyn Smith was the prettiest angel.

Ah... CHiPS... I used to like that one a lot, too. The good ole days...

And I know to what show you are referring for tomorrow, but I didn't watch that one, so the name completely escapes me.

jaybird said...

I loved this show with reckless abandon. Honestly it was the first time I can remember seeing tough, sexy, smart women on the tv in the role of a male-dominated profession. I am and always will be partial to the first trio of angels; I even named my daughter Farrah, after my favorite!

Manzanita said...

I always think of Farrah Fawcett as being so much a part of that show but she was on it for only one year. Maybe the Fawcett haircut helped propel her into stardom as all the young gals copied her.

Brandon Ax said...

Chips, yes I loved watching that show.

Ah Charlie's Angels, to later spawn a moment for Cameron Diaz to dance in her underwear.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I never watched that show but I did watch CHiPs. Lots of those women went on to successful careers.

Rachna Chhabria said...

I have not yet watched the movie, but heard about it.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Shockingly, I never watched Charlie's Angels, but my brother had the iconic Farah Fawcett bathing suit poster. I was more a CHiPs fan.

Mark Means said...

@Alex: Yep, I did too..it was one of my favorites :)

@Robin: While I've always been a "blonde" type of guy, I agree....Smith was (and still remains) the prettiest. You know the show but not the name? I'll give you a hint...it starts with "D" :P

@jaybird: I know what you mean and the only one I can think of that came before it was Angie Dickinson in "Police Woman". I had always wondered about your little girl's name..now I know :)

@Manzanita: Yes, I think the haircut and her marriage to Lee Majors helped her a lot!

@Brandon: CHiPs was a show you could play on your bicycle, so our neighborhood was all about that.The CA movies were o.k, but I still prefer the show. Of course, I didn't mind seeing Cameron Diaz boogieing in her undies, either :)

@Susan: Gasp!! Well, you don't know what you're missing. O.k, I'm not sure how well it holds up, but it was a fun one, back in the day.

@Rachna: I think you'd enjoy it :)

Annalisa Crawford said...

I never really watched Charlie's Angels, but I loved CHiPs!

cleemckenzie said...

Weren't they something? I loved watching them in action, and Charlies was great, too. Kind of a comfy uncle.

Dee said...

I didn't see this show but I am aware of it because of the movie, which I watched.

randi lee said...

A guy at my office actually calls three of us his "Angels."
We're always calling him on speaker to ask him what today's mission is :)

Lisa said...

I used to watch all of these except China Beach. I enjoyed Charlie's Angels alot! Go dude!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Mark - a complete switch off show I used to love it ... and just was very happy watching and doing nothing else .. don't usually watch the tv without something else going on ..

Cheers what a great reminder ... and I think tomorrow's might a goodie too .. Hilary

Anonymous said...

I haven't watched in on TV, but I have followed the movie series religiously and like it too. But I am sure when it's through a show, it's more elaborate and interesting :)

Hopped on through AtoZ...good luck for the remaining letters :)

Cheers!!
Garima

Andrew Leon said...

I suppose I was too young to have been enamored with any of them.

I have no idea what tomorrow is.

Unknown said...

I ummmm no comment *blushing* OH OK I had the Farrah hair! I did and I had a poster too because they were empowering! AWESOME POST! Thanks for visiting.. and yes, the soup is epic!

klahanie said...

Hi human, Mark,

My human would like to have been Bosley. Car 54, Where Are You? Wasn't one of the cops in that show, Herman Munster? Arf! Arf!

The Mounties always get their man. Which is another story....

Penny, the pawsitive host of the Alphabark Challenge, 2014!

Mark Means said...

@Elizabeth: Actually, I am shocked you didn't watch CA. I would have pegged you for having Farrah hair in your youth :)

@Annalisa: I'm seeing a trend here...maybe I should have showcased CHiPs? :)

@Lee: Agreed! I remember when Dynasty first aired and I kept waiting for the Angels to show up at the Carringtons :)

@Dee: The movies were o.k, but the shows were a bit more....fun, is the only way I can describe it.

@Randi: Now that sounds very awesome. Which Angel are you?

@Lisa: I really used to like China Beach and I think it's worth a watch if you ever get the chance :)

@Hilary: Granted, none of the Angels were in Mrs. Peel's class, but they still could kick some butt :)

@Garima: Hey, thanks for stopping by! The movies are a nice testament to the pop culture significance of the show, for sure.

@Andrew: Well, like most shows from the time period, they're sort of "cheesy" by today's standards, no doubt. Tomorrow's is a little bit more recent...

@Kriss: Nothing to be embarrassed about, I'll bet you looked dynamite! Thanks for stopping by :)

@Penny: Yes, Bosley did have a pretty sweet gig, huh? Car 54 did, indeed, star Fred (Herman Munster) Gwynne as well as have Al (Grandpa Munster) in the cast :) Great show!

Lynda Dietz said...

I used to watch Charlie's Angels faithfully, and I remember seeing John Forsythe on some talk show and figuring out who Charlie was. I though I was so clever.

I was too young for the original run of Car 54 but got a kick out of watching reruns of it on Nick at Night, forever ago it seems.

I'll have to backtrack and see what you did with "A" and "B" but I'll certainly be back tomorrow and the rest of the month!

sdk_2010 said...

This was JUST before my time, but I do remember Chips. I also remember the rumour that when Star Trek: Voyager came out, Chakote was one of the Chips, lol. Gre
at post and I really hope there are some shows to come that I remember very fondly =)
Dale - Smurfin' The Web

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Such a popular show. Never watched it but did see the recent Charlie's Angels movies.

Shilpa Garg said...

I have watched Charlie's Angels movies but never the show! :)
Hope you are having a great time writing and connecting with fellow A to Zers, Mark :)
Shilpa Garg
Co-Host AJ's wHooligan for the A to Z Challenge 2014

Melissa said...

Is that anything like Charlie's Scribes? :P

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