Charlie's Angels, the legendary female detective series aired on ABC from 1976-81. The series centers around the adventures of three independent women who work for Charlie. The Angels were employed by Charles Townsend (voice of Dynasty's John Forsythe), a never-seen wealthy and eccentric millionaire and head of the Townsend Detective Agency. John Bosley (played by David Doyle), right hand man to the never seen Charlie, assisted and protected the girls in every episode. Charlie himself only ever communicates through a speakerphone. However, contrary to popular belief, the big man does sometimes appear in person, but with his face cunningly hidden. Beautiful, sassy and spirited, the Angels are masters of disguise and never hesitate to go undercover as nurses, ice-skaters or even clowns to crack their cases (and if they happen to meet some gorgeous men along the way – well, that's just the icing on the cake).

By contrast, the third, less glamorous Angel, Sabrina Duncan (played by Kate Jackson, who also starred in Spelling's The Rookies), became known as "the smart one." Sabrina's impish qualities such as independence, athleticism, adventurism and asexuality, often kept her working behind the scenes with Bosley, helping to rescue other Angels, and consequently often kept her out of the bikinis, braless t-shirts and tight dresses with plunging necklines that her co-workers opted to wear.

Sabrina, Jill and Kelly (a martial arts expert) all participated in the show's choreographed violence, which included karate chops and kicks, car chases and gun shoots. One woman who didn't make the cut despite auditioning was a young Kim Basinger – although she did appear in the episode Angels in Chains, which saw the girls go undercover at a women's prison. Its camp qualities have made it arguably the most famous episode of all, and Aaron Spelling once joked he could re-run it weekly without the ratings ever going down. Farrah, Kate, and Jaclyn immediately rocketed into the American consciousness. "Charlie's Angels," shortly after premiering on Sept. 22, 1976, became the No. 1-rated television show, pulling in 36 million viewers. Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett-Majors became superstars, even appearing on the cover of TIME magazine.  Each weekly episode usually called for one of the three women to appear in a bikini or shorts within the first few minutes of the show to hook the male viewers. After that, most of the stories would be set in exotic locations such as Las Vegas, Palm Springs, or other areas within easy reach of Los Angeles to provide ample opportunities for the "Angels" to strip down to bare essentials.

Yet, ironically, all of the sex was in the dialogue. While viewers reveled in the sight of three gorgeous women in a variety of scanty attire, they never saw them in bed. This might detract from their status as consummate professionals in the detective business. According to the show's publicity, the angels were more than simply pretty faces, sexy tummies, and cascading hair, they were martial arts experts, race car drivers, and shrewd poker players. Of the initial cast, Sabrina (Kate Jackson), was the multilingual, intellectual type; Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett Majors) the physical, action-oriented member, and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith), the former showgirl, was the cool experienced "been around" member of the team who provided calm leadership under pressure.

Kris was the rookie. She was prone to mistakes (at least in the first episodes), funny and outspoken, having a girl-next-door appeal but at the same time she was dropdown sexy. She was often seen wearing very revealing outfits and bikinis. As Cheryl Ladd put it "I knew it wasn't Shakespeare. I knew i had to look good in a bikini". The show continued unimpeded. (As part of her exit agreement, Fawcett was forced to make guest appearances through the show's third and fourth season.

Since Charlie's Angels were among the first strong female role models for girls and young women, there was an enormous market for Angel merchandise, which any number of franchisers were willing to fill. In beauty products alone, there were cosmetics and beauty sets by Fleetwood, Farrah hair products by Faberge, a beauty hair-care set and a cosmetic beauty kit by HG Toys -- in both Jill and Kris versions (now worth about $150 each), dresser sets by Fleetwood, a "Charlie's Angels" hair dryer, and several kinds of mirrors. To capitalize on Farrah's influential hair style, there were also Farrah's Glamour and Styling Centers, with which young fans could practice their styling skills. Dolls, toys and games proliferated as well. There was a Milton Bradley board game, produced in 1977; a Colorforms Adventure set; Paint by Numbers sets; paper dolls in both booklets and boxes; 8-inch Hasbro dolls of Kelly, Sabrina, Jill and Kris; and Hasbro boxed gift sets of three dolls, now valued at around $200;. A Hasbro Hide-a-Way Playset and a Fashion Tote carrying case, plus a 16-inch pink plastic Adventure Van; 11-inch Mego Farrah dolls and 12-inch Farrah and Jaclyn Smith dolls; Mattel-produced 12-inch Cheryl Ladd and Kate Jackson dolls; separate sets of clothes ("Farrah's Fashions") and action gear; and several different jewelry sets. One of the most amusing of these is "The Fawcett," a gold-plated sterling-silver pendant in the form of a faucet with moveable handle, now valued at up to $100.

Shelley Hack was a model who had been prominent in Revlon's "Charlie" Perfume ads and commercials. Shelley entered The Townsend Office as Tiffany Welles, an Ivy League scholar who also was a graduate from the Boston Police Academy. Spelling and Goldberg had the idea that with this new Angel/model at the helm, she could bring an elegant and classy touch to Charlie's trio! The writers treaded lightly as they tried to figure out how to make Tiffany Welles, the new "Sabrina Duncan". The 4th season's problem was the sudden decline in ratings. The series found itself in the top 20's instead of the top 10 were it had been for the last three years. The ratings drop was directed at the new Angel and at the end of the season, Shelley was let go.

By 1980, Charlie's Angels was beginning to feel its age and was declining fast. Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg wanted to go with a fresh new image. After careful consideration, they decided to hire virtually unknown actress, Tanya Roberts. This time around, the character would be a model-turned-detective, street-smart Julie Rogers. The new Angel showed her face in the three-hour 1980-1981 season premiere on November 30, 1980. High hopes were placed on Charlie's newest Angel to pull the series out its failing ratings. To help give it an added boost, the Angels were sent to Hawaii for the first six episodes. Hawaii wasn't only chosen to intrigue the audience but to keep the Angels scantily clad in swimsuits!

Jackson, Smith, and Fawcett had wonderful chemistry, and when their balance was upended, some of the show's charm was lost. Charlie's Angels was not winning any viewers in the summer of '81 with it's remaining episodes. The show that had made women crime fighters popular during the 1970's was cancelled after 115 episodes. but its place in TV history is secure.