charlie's angels

• fransa'da "drôles de dames" adıyla bilinen kült macera dizisi. kısa bir tarihçesini de ingilizcesinden yakalım:
  
  //1976
  
  it was on september 22, 1976, when abc-tv aired the first episode of charlie's angels. the show was produced by aaron spelling and leonard goldberg, who had already produced two other hit-shows for abc-tv, the rookies and starsky and hutch. back in 1974, goldberg had the initial concept for angels, that was originally titled, the alley cats. the show was about three woman alley, lee and catherine (al-lee-cats) which was to be a cross between the avengers and honey west. this new show was to be the "star vehicle" for the actress, kate jackson. as the series evolved with jackson's input, it developed into a series about three woman working for a faceless man who gives his "angels" work assignments over a speakerphone. then jackson saw a painting of cherubs in spelling's office and suggested calling the series harry's angels, which the title had to be changed due to another show already on the air titled harry o. then entered the writing team of ben roberts and ivan goff who created what we know today as the series charlie's angels.
  
  with jackson set, the producers had to find two more angels. second to be cast was actress farrah fawcett as jill munroe the "athletic angel". fawcett was well known as the "bionic housewife" to husband lee majors (the six million dollar man). the third angel cast was jaclyn smith. smith auditioned for the role of sabrina duncan the "smart angel", but walked away with the role off kelly garrett, the "streetwise angel", after jackson decided to play the role of sabrina.
  
  the pilot was filmed in late 1975 and aired on march 21, 1976. it was one of the highest rated tv movies, receiving a 59% share of the viewing audience. abc thought this was a mistake (and one of the worst ideas for a prospective tv series), so they re-aired the tv movie a week later, and it's ratings were just as high.
  
  charlie's angels was a huge hit of the fall season airing every wednesday night, at 10pm (pst). the actresses soon found themselves on the cover of major magazines time, people, tv guide, and and were inundated by fan mail. but fawcett began to surpass her co-workers in popularity, partially due to a "red swimsuit" poster (which was released prior to the series) and her blonde mass of hair, which became known as the "farrah" 'do.
  
  as fawcett's star started to rise, she began growing tired of the grueling 14-hour days on the set. and by the end of the season, fawcett announced that was leaving the series to pursue a film career. though fawcett didn't have a signed contract, the producers took her to court for a breach of contract.
  
  with one of three angels flying the coop, the series was left in limbo. would fawcett return? would it be cancelled? what fate would be in store for this hit tv series?
  
  1977
  
  as the court battle between the producers and fawcett continued, they decided to look for a new angel since it was likely that she wouldn't be returning. one particular actress came to their mind, cheryl ladd. but when initially offered the role, she declined. after continuing their search, they kept returning back to ladd. spelling finally convinced ladd to come into his office to discuss the role. she said she would do the role if her character could be "the rookie", who could be funny and be able to make mistakes.
  
  on her first day of filming, new angel ladd joined smith and jackson on the set of "circus of terror" as kris munroe, sister of fawcett's jill munroe. as soon it became apparent that fawcett was definitely returning back to the series, the new cast was whisked off to hawaii to begin filming the season premiere "angels in paradise" - introducing kris munroe to the world.
  
  the shows other big change was the time slot. abc decided to move the show from 10pm on wednesday, to 9pm - to give the show a larger audience. it was a success! the audience took to the new angel and the ratings were just as high as they were during the first season.
  
  as for fawcett, eventually the lawsuit was settled. she was released from her "contract" with the series. however, she was ordered to make six guest appearances over the next two years.
  
  1978
  
  season three begin with game of dice! for the season premiere, angels in vegas, the angels took off to las vegas with guest star dean martin. then fawcett returned for three of her six guest appearance in angel come home, mother angel and angel in a box. all four angels together at last!
  
  ladd released her first self-titled lp, cheryl ladd. her single release "think it over" made it into the american top 40 and went to #1 - even beating elton john!!
  
  as rosy as everything appeared on the surface, there were some undermining problems that began to occur. jackson was offered the lead role in film kramer vs. kramer. however, abc was afraid that if she took the role, she wouldn't return back to the series. (that role eventually went to meryl streep.) having to turn it down formed a wedge between jackson and the producers. then with trying dailogue and long hours on the set, she began to wear thin. by the end of the season, she was let out of her contract.
  
  thus, once again, began a race to find charlie's newest angel. but this time around, it would prove to be much more of a difficult task, especially since jackson had been the "anchor" of the series. barbara bach, claudia jennings, michelle pfeiffer, kelly derek (bo's sister), and connie selleca, to name a few, were in the running. only one would win . . . who would it be?
  
  1979
  
  . . . . . and charlie's newest angel is (drum role please) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shelley hack. well known for being "supermodel" and as revlon's "charlie" girl, what better recognition could there be - a charlie girl who is now a charlie's angel!
  
  yet, the road to stardom was harder than expected. unlike with ladd's character kris munroe, the public didn't take to hack's character tiffany welles. plus it didn't help that hack was given minimal dialogue and used as a decoration piece as the other two angels did "all the work". it wasn't until later on in the season when hack's character actually became involved in the cases - by that time, it was too late. ratings plummeted, and hack's wings were clipped.
  
  during this season, fawcett returned for her three final appearances fallen angel, the prince and the angel and an angel trail.
  
  and once again . . . . . the search for charlie's sixth (and eventually final) angel begins.
  
  1980
  
  suffering from sagging ratings, producers felt new blood could jump-start their one-time hit tv show. auditions were held and tanya roberts emerged as the new angel. roberts was a up-and-coming actress in hollywood. she recently finished a guest spot on the producers series, vegas for a possible spin-off, ladies in blue.
  the fifth season saw many changes. besides having a new angel, the office temporary moved to the hawaiian islands. for the first time on the series, all three angels were solving crimes wearing bikinis. hawaii never had it so good! then came the screen actor guild strike. production of the series was halted and the angels joined the picket line. after the strike ended, the the series moved back to los angeles. once again, they were protecting the "city of angels".
  
  on sunday, november 30, 1980, season five began with a three-hour kick-off "street models to hawaiian angels" (later renamed angel in hiding and to see an angel die in syndication). even with the exotic locations, bikinis and a new sunday night time slot, the show suffered from lackluster ratings. in an effort to improve ratings, the series was moved to saturdays. soon the audience lost track of the angels.
  
  by february 28, 1981, abc put the show on hiatus (translation - cancelled). three months later, the show returned back to it's original wednesday night time-slot, this time at 8pm to show the final four episodes. and on june 24, 1981, after 109 episodes, the charles townsend detective agency closed it doors with the final episode, let our angel live.
  
  after angels
  
  after the series ended, all six angels went on with their careers. even with all their career highlights, they will always be best remembered as jill munroe, sabrina duncan, kelly garrett, kris munroe, tiffany welles and julie roberts - a part of the charlie's crime fighting team.
  
  in the fall of 1981, charlie's angels went into syndication. over the last 20 years, the show has aired in more than 90 counties and was the first american tv show to air in vietnam. and now, it currently airs weekdays on tv land.
  
  in more recent years, the angels have had some notable reunions. . . . .
  
  first was on october 12, 1990, on larry king live. while smith was being interviewed by king, jackson called in and talked to her on the air.
  
  then on march 17, 1992, on the people's choice awards. jackson, smith and ladd along with john forsythe (charlie) gave tribute to aaron spelling.
  
  in 1994, fawcett, smith and jackson posed together for a special photo spread in the 20th anniversary issue of people magazine (march 7 - 14, 1994). four years later, fawcett, smith and jackson got together once again to pay homage to spelling for the all star party for aaron spelling on march 7, 1998. this was the first time in 20 years that the three actresses had appeared together on tv.
  
  followed by ladd and david doyle being interviewed on america after hours on april 9, 1996.
  
  most recently, hack and forsythe hosted a&e's angel biography week on october 30-nov 3, 2000.
  
  and jackson has been crusading for an "internet" event to bring back original angels. there is no word when this event will take place.
  
  the angels have also been "counterfeited" . . . . .
  
  in 1988, aaron spelling began his search to find four new angels for angels '88, a new series for the fox-tv network. even after the actresses had been cast, constant script problems prevented it from ever coming into fruition. these poor angels were never given the chance to fly.
  
  eleven years later, in 1999 the spanish network telemundo re-created the series. angeles used modernized versions of the original storylines used during the first season of charlie's angels. after thirteen episode, and excess hype, the plug was pulled on the series.
  
  then in october 2000, columbia tri-star pictures brought the angels to the mainstream with the theatrical release of charlie's angels. the film starred drew barrymore (dylan), cameron diaz (natalie) and lucy lui (alex). it also had john forsythe reprising his role as the voice of charlie. fawcett, jackson and smith turned down $1 million each for cameo appearances in the film. since it's october release, the film has made over $250,000,000+ and has became one of the top grossing films of 2000.
  
  do you think it's over yet? not by a long shot! columbia tri-star pictures has given the green light for charlie's angels 2, which will be in theaters by the fall of 2003.
  
  and don't forget about angelic heaven, the #1 charlie's angels fan site with over 42,000 daily visitors -- all seeking information on what the actresses are up to today! //
  
  kaynak:
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/ahistory.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/1976.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/1977.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/1978.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/1979.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/1980.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/anniverary/2001.html
  
  www.charliesangels.com/25.html