Not all of the remakes have been able to go the distance
Since Charlie’s Angels first premiered, the world has remained fascinated by the secret agent trio. This is why many attempts have been made to recreate the original magic. The first attempt was made in 1988, with Angels ’88, but it never took flight the way the original did.
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The show was rebooted in 2011, but it lasted only four episodes before it was taken off the air. Perhaps the most successful remake was the 2000 movie, Charlie’s Angels, and its remake Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu.
Cheryl Ladd struggled to fill Farrah Fawcett’s shoes
When Cheryl Ladd was chosen to fill Farrah Fawcett’s platforms, as she found herself drowning in the pressure. Hilariously, on her first day, Ladd wore a “Farrah Fawcett Minor” t-shirt to the Charlie’s Angels set. Before joining the cast, Ladd said, “Nobody cared what I ate, how I exercised, what clothes I wore.”
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After joining the cast, Ladd admitted, “Everything I said was interesting.” Ladd took advantage of her new popularity to help further her music career. She guest-starred in multiple musical variety series, performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XIV in 1980, and released three albums.
They played the pilot twice
Pilot episodes are a great way for television networks to gauge the success of a show with audiences. The pilot for Charlie’s Angels first aired in 1976. Ratings were so high, ABC producers believed it was a fluke. Still skeptical, the network decided to play the pilot again the following week, only to get the same numbers.
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The pilot was a little different from the series that followed. It aired as a 2-hour film and featured M*A*S*H actor David Ogden Stiers as Scott Woodville, a friend of Charlie’s. The character was dropped, as it didn’t seem necessary for Charlie to have two male sidekicks. Bosley was kept on to add humor to the show.
The Prince of Wales was a big fan
When Prince Charles visited Hollywood in 1977, it was a pretty big deal. Leonard Goldberg told the Archive of American Television that, during dinner with the Prince of Wales, an aide walked over and said, “His Highness would like to visit the Angels.” Then, “He stands up, and of course, everyone stands up, and even though he hasn’t eaten, he walked out.”
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The aide continued, “And everybody’s staring, so Aaron and I, we walk him over to the set, followed by about 75 photographers, the international press. He goes inside and spends a few minutes talking to the girls, and then he came out, he put his arms around the girls and said to the press, ‘Now you know why they call them Charlie’s Angels.'”
The network had no choice but to cancel
When Season 2 rolled out, Charlie’s Angels moved up an hour to the Wednesday time slot at 9:00 pm, where it remained for three years. While the series dropped in ratings, during the second and third seasons after losing Fawcett, it still remained in the top five from 1977-78.
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When Kate Jackson left the show, the fourth season again saw a major decline in ratings, and it sank to the 17th spot for the 1979-80 season. After five seasons and 110 episodes, ABC had no choice but to cancel the show.
Kate Jackson experienced some trouble after ‘Charlie’s Angels’
After Charlie’s Angels, Jackson went on to star alongside Harry Hamlin in the 1982 film Making Love, but it did poorly at the box office. Jackson then starred in the show, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, where she became interested in directing. During the fourth season, she checked into a hospital due to a tumor found in her breast, which led to a partial mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
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Following the operation, Jackson continued to star in several TV movies while advocating for breast cancer awareness. In 2003, Jackson was awarded the Power of Love award by the American Heart Association for her philanthropy. In 2010, it was reported that Jackson was in the midst of a legal battle with her financial advisor, Richard B. Francis, whom she claims bankrupted her.
Jaclyn Smith after ‘Angels’
As mentioned, Jaclyn Smith, who played Kelly Garrett, was the only actress to remain on the show for the entirety of its run. Smith had quite a successful acting career after Charlie’s Angels.
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She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Film for her role in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and she continued to star in TV films and miniseries over the next two decades. She reprised the role of Kelly Garrett in the 2003 film, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, as the only Angel from the original series to appear in the movie.
Farrah Fawcett after ‘Angels’
Farrah Fawcett left the show after just one season, but she remains the most famous Angel to date. Fawcett’s first post-Angels project was the film, Somebody Killed Her Husband, which didn’t exactly receive rave reviews. She continued to work in television, appearing in multiple TV movies, which received positive reviews, and appeared on popular shows Ally McBeal, Spin City, and The Guardian.
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In 1979, she began dating Ryan O’Neal, and the pair had a son named Redmond James Fawcett O’Neal. The pair’s relationship was said to be toxic and destructive, which led to their separation in 1997. In 2006, Fawcett was diagnosed with cancer and, after countless treatments, she succumbed to the disease in 2009.
Shelley Hack after ‘Angels’
Shelley Hack made her film debut in 1977 in Woody Allen’s film, Annie Hall. Shortly after, she replaced Kate Jackson on Charlie’s Angels, playing the former sorority girl turned Angel, Tiffany Welles, beating out Michelle Pfeiffer and Barbara Bach for the role.
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In an interview with People magazine, Welles said:
“They can say I didn’t work out, but it isn’t true. What happened was a network war. A business decision was made. Change the time slot or bring on some new publicity. How to get publicity? A new Angel hunt. Who is the obvious person to replace? I am – the new kid on the block. I never expected to be there more than a year and I wasn’t. I did my year and I moved on.”
John Forsythe after ‘Angels’
John Forsythe is an actor who already had an illustrious career before playing the voice of Charlie Townsend. He got his start with Warner Bros. at 25, starring in films like The Captive City, It Happens Every Thursday, and The Trouble with Harry.
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Forsythe reprised his role as the voice of Charlie Townsend for the film version of Charlie’s Angels starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz, along with the sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. In 2002, Forsythe married Nicole Carter, and the pair remained together up until his death in 2010.