Biographic - Sunday November 6, 2011 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Originally envisioned as "The Alley Cats" a show about three female graduates of the Los Angeles Police Academy who become private investigators for a detective agency owned by the mysterious Charles Townsend "Charlie's Angels" was intended to serve as a starring vehicle for Kate Jackson, who had proven popular with viewers in the police drama, "The Rookies" it was Jackson who suggested the show change its name to "Charlie's Angels" she opted to play Sabrina Duncan, model Jaclyn Smith was cast as Kelly Garrett, and Farrah Fawcett- Majors, wife of "The Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors, took the role of Jill Munroe. "Charlies Angels" debuted in 1976 and was an immediate ratings smash! Its impact on the public was so great that the three angels were soon gracing the cover of Time Magazine! The show sparked a merchandising bonanza, and Farrah became a worldwide phenomenon. Legions of women copied her hairstyle, and she earned a small fortune in royalties from an iconic poster that sold in the millions. She left the series after just one season and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd. Kate Jackson left after three seasons, to be replaced by Shelly Hack and, subsequently Tanya Roberts, Jaclyn Smith stayed with the show throughout its entire five-season run. A spin-off called "Toni's Boys" starring Barbara Stanwyck and a trio of male detectives didn't progress beyond the pilot stage, and a project called "Angels '88" didn't leave the launchpad. But the 2000 movie "Charlie's Angels" starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu, was a box-office smash- as was the 2003 sequel "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" in both movies, "Dynasty" star John Forsythe reprised his original tv role as the voice of the unseen millionaire, Charlie. "Angeles" revived the concept for the Latino tv audience in the late 1990s, and the European market was served by Germany's Wilde Engel," more recently, "Charlie's Angels" has been rebooted for network tv, with Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly and Rachel Taylor as the 2011 incarnations of "Charlie's Angels"

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