On September 22, 1976, “Charlie’s Angels,” starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, premiered on ABC-TV. Although a target of much feminist condemnation, the five-year run of the show was a cultural phenomenon. Viewers watched an all-female cast in a crime drama for the first time in TV history.
When producer Aaron Spelling pitched the show — a one-hour series chronicling “the adventures of three sexy female private eyes” — ABC network executives were not interested. When Spelling managed to convince execs to give “Charlie’s Angels” a chance, their decision paid off for the network. The first two seasons gave ABC the best ratings it had ever seen at the time.
The premise of the show — explained by Charlie Townshend in the opening narrative — was that the three “Angels” had graduated from the police academy, but were handed subpar assignments (meter maid, office worker and crossing guard) even though they had proved themselves in basic training. Charlie plucked the three overqualified women from their lowly jobs and employed them as private detectives. At the start of every episode, an unseen Charlie doled out the Angels’ new crime fighting assignment. Sporting feathered hair and the latest in high, often barely-there fashion, the wardrobe budget was a whopping $20,000 an episode. Cheryl Ladd, Shelly Hack and Tanya Roberts were cast as Angels when Fawcett and Jackson left the show.
Although an early ratings success, “Charlie’s Angels” (or as it was commonly nicknamed “Jiggle TV”) was immediately criticized for perpetuating misogynistic female stereotypes. To second-wave feminists, Charlie represented the ever-looming patriarchy. Even though the three women were cast as tough crime fighters, every episode started with Charlie bragging about how he rescued them while assigning the ladies their next job. Critics were also outraged by the blatant sexism on display as the Angels fought crime parading around in provocative and impractical outfits.
In many ways, the show reflected a culture grappling with how and where femininity fit into the new gains women had earned as a result of the feminist movement. Although sexist in many ways by modern day standards, “Charlie’s Angels” opened up a new realm of crime fighting career opportunities for female TV characters.