Tonya Roberts just got there and they were young enough to go several more years! Roberts was also the hottest Angel & we hardly got to see her. Although Jacklyn Smith was pretty close to the top too.

One of the Main Reasons are the show not being scheduled on Wednesday Nights by ABC during the 1980-81 TV season. The Show’s Fifth Season was also only shortest season with 17 Episodes.

Tonya Roberts just got there and they were young enough to go several more years! Roberts was also the hottest Angel & we hardly got to see her. Although Jacklyn Smith was pretty close to the top too.
I don't think the writers were up to the job.

I liked Tanya's character and would like another year of the show also.

I liked Tanya's character and would like another year of the show also.

She was clearly the hottest of all the Angels with Jacklyn Smith No.2. Kate Jackson was simply average & not hot by any means.

I don't think the writers were up to the job.

Yeah, they could've gotten better writers. Shows like CSI & SVU have lasted DECADES so they should've gotten writers like that!

Ratings were dropping more every year. Time slot changes made it worse.

And the most important thing... Kate was no longer there.

She was clearly the hottest of all the Angels with Jacklyn Smith No.2. Kate Jackson was simply average & not hot by any means.


IMO, she was not average. She an a unique appeal that the other girls did not have. Alluring eyes, tall, thin, shapely long legs and a heart shaped bottom.

IMO, she was not average. She an a unique appeal that the other girls did not have. Alluring eyes, tall, thin, shapely long legs and a heart shaped bottom.

But she was more plain looking than the others and not as glamorous.

IMO, she was not average. She an a unique appeal that the other girls did not have. Alluring eyes, tall, thin, shapely long legs and a heart shaped bottom.
This was before she stopped eating, lost her figure and became skin and bone.

This was before she stopped eating, lost her figure and became skin and bone.

I imagine those 16 hour work days hit her harder than Jackie or Cheryl.

Yes she was thinner by the 3rd season, but she was in good shape, great legs, nice abs and arms.

I guess you like em' fat and sloppy, eh? :lol:

But she was more plain looking than the others and not as glamorous.


It's called "natural beauty".

I imagine those 16 hour work days hit her harder than Jackie or Cheryl.

Yes she was thinner by the 3rd season, but she was in good shape, great legs, nice abs and arms.

I guess you like em' fat and sloppy, eh? :lol:
No, just not anorexic. Fortunately she pulled back from the brink.

No, just not anorexic. Fortunately she pulled back from the brink.

:rolleyes:

She wasn't anorexic.

:rolleyes:

She wasn't anorexic.

Frankly ALL of the Angels looked pretty anexoric like they had an aversion to food or something! :lol:

But back then they wanted skinny model types. I prefer curvier, more voluptuous women ANY day! :) :D :wave:

Of course their facial beauty is why they were hired.

I think the novelty of “Charlie’s Angels” wore off. Plus, how could a 1970s show survive into the 1980s?

1 more season doesn't encompass the entire decade.

Other formulaic shows like Barnaby Jones and Murder She Wrote, lasted way longer but those shows had better writing. If the writing had stayed consistent on CA and up to the standard of Season 1, the show may have run longer. But the script quality began to deteriorate badly in Season 3. Season 4 had better writing, but it was still spotty and many times it came at the expense of the team formula. By Season 5, it was like everyone had just given up and more than half that season is so embarrassing in retrospect. It was time to let the show die off. I think the producers made a huge mistake in diverting from their original plan, in which they were going for a "Rockford Files" type show with three female leads. But when the big ratings took off, Aaron Spelling issued a directive to "let's not make it TOO good".

Other formulaic shows like Barnaby Jones and Murder She Wrote, lasted way longer but those shows had better writing. If the writing had stayed consistent on CA and up to the standard of Season 1, the show may have run longer. But the script quality began to deteriorate badly in Season 3. Season 4 had better writing, but it was still spotty and many times it came at the expense of the team formula. By Season 5, it was like everyone had just given up and more than half that season is so embarrassing in retrospect. It was time to let the show die off. I think the producers made a huge mistake in diverting from their original plan, in which they were going for a "Rockford Files" type show with three female leads. But when the big ratings took off, Aaron Spelling issued a directive to "let's not make it TOO good".

I thought that Seasons 2 and 3 writing was just as good as Season 1.

The simple answer is ratings. I remember seeing the ratings in the newspaper every week and by the end of the 5th season the show was regularly in the bottom 5 programs most weeks so cancellation was inevitable.

Tanya Roberts said Jacklyn Smith REFUSED to do any more than 5 seasons so THERE is your answer!

Dumb move by Jacklyn! She could've commanded a HUGE payday & was NEVER in a hit show or movie again!

ABC also seemed to do everything in their power to sabotage the show (http://charliesangels76-81.com/about-charlies-angels/) by 1980-81 so that they could justify finally cancelling it. That season was delayed (https://charliesangels.com/anniverary/1980.html) until November 1980 due to an actors strike (https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0724/072454.html). When the fifth season finally started, ABC moved it from Wednesdays to Sunday nights against CHIPs on NBC and Archie Bunker's Place on CBS. Let's put it this way, the ratings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels#Nielsen_ratings_/_broadcast_history) that Charlie's Angels had, went from a ranking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels#Episodes) of 20th place to ranking in 59th.

ABC then moved the show to Saturday nights which was even worse, causing the show to be cancelled by February and it's season order shortened from 22 episodes to 15. The last four episodes were burned off during the summer, on Wednesday nights, where it averaged slightly better numbers: averaging 35th place.

Ratings
5 seasons is a very good run especially with the revolving door of angels in the last several seasons. If ratings were strong, ABC would have kept going even if they had to replace someone who did not want to proceed.

IMHO, the last few seasons were majorly declining which is typical of any TV show. Even the greatest TV shows like All In The Family, Little House or Roseanne sort of jumped the shark after season 5

It was an expensive show to produce and once they had 100 episodes in the can (enough for syndication) the network decided to pull the plug. The cast (with the exception of Tanya) and writers were burned out and it showed in the poor quality of scripts and performances that last season.

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Good morning, Angels. Welcome to the Memory Lane agency, where we specialize in unearthing all the juicy facts about our Favorite Classics. Today’s mission covers Charlie’s Angels, the smokin’ squad of bada** babes who solved mysteries and busted the bad guys, but some mysteries were left for behind the scenes, and that’s what we’re gonna uncover today.

I’m your host Nostalgic Nick with all the little-known details behind Charlie’s Angels, from the shocking changes the show underwent before even getting off the ground, to the presidential endorsements the Angels received. If you enjoy our Angelic Deep Dive, please be sure to give this video a thumbs up, and subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already. But let’s go handle some very hazardous duties.

Ratings were dropping more every year. Time slot changes made it worse.

And the most important thing... Kate was no longer there.

I just came here to ask if it's too easy to suggest, that had Kate Jackson stayed around, then maybe the show (https://web.archive.org/web/20140330100109/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3113627-charlies-angels-brought-to-you-by-farrahs-hair/?view=getnewpost) could've gotten a few more seasons instead of leaving Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd (and David Doyle) to carry a show (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125247/http://www.jumptheshark.com/c/charliesangels.htm) that was running on fumes in its final two years?

I just came here to ask if it's too easy to suggest, that had Kate Jackson stayed around, then maybe the show (https://web.archive.org/web/20140330100109/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3113627-charlies-angels-brought-to-you-by-farrahs-hair/?view=getnewpost) could've gotten a few more seasons instead of leaving Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd (and David Doyle) to carry a show (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125247/http://www.jumptheshark.com/c/charliesangels.htm) that was running on fumes in its final two years?

LOL..Kate Jackson was not the reason this show was a hit. It was all Farrah in the beginning with Jaclyn Smith helping. Tanya Roberts was extremely hot & should've been one of the original Angels.

But by Season 5 the writing was on the wall so it was too late for Tanya.

LOL..Kate Jackson was not the reason this show was a hit. It was all Farrah in the beginning with Jaclyn Smith helping. Tanya Roberts was extremely hot & should've been one of the original Angels.

But by Season 5 the writing was on the wall so it was too late for Tanya.

If you ask (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/16113522-if-kate-jackson-had-been-allowed-to-take-kramer-vs.-kramer) anybody though, they'll attest (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4848276&postcount=3) that Kate Jackson was the "glue" (http://greginhollywood.com/wishing-a-happy-72nd-birthday-to-kate-jackson-196192) that held the show (https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/charlies-angels-cast-heres-what-happened-to-each-of-them/) together. And for all intents and purposes, the show "jumped the shark" (https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5IwoFXohu30J:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-nov-21-ca-tvmoments21-story.html+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) when she left (https://drunktv.net/2020/05/01/charlies-angels-season-4-1979-1980-tv-series-review/) after the third season (https://drunktv.net/2020/03/16/charlies-angels-season-3-1978-1979-tv-series-review/). Plus, with all due respect to Farrah Fawcett, the ratings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels#Episodes) for Season 2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels_(season_2)), with Cheryl Ladd (https://drunktv.net/2020/01/08/charlies-angels-season-2-1970s-tv-series-review/) now on board, were actually better than in the first season. It went from being the #5 rated show in 1976-77 to the #4 the following season.

Ratings were dropping more every year. Time slot changes made it worse.

And the most important thing... Kate was no longer there.

The lack of stability from within the cast may have also been a major detrimental factor. Charlie's Angels was always a show that had four main cast-members (five if you count John Forsythe). And of the four, only Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle stayed for all five years that the show was on the air.

It was one thing for Farrah Fawcett to leave. I think what benefited Cheryl Ladd was that the show was still very young and she still had 2/3rds of the original Angels to play off of. But then you have Kate Jackson, who was arguably the best overall actress on the show and the de facto "leader" leave after Season 3.

To add insult to injury, Kate's replacement (Shelley Hack) was gone after little more than a single season. So in a nutshell, you had three consecutive seasons, where there was a rotating spot as the third Angel alongside Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd.

And Jaclyn and especially Cheryl were for all intents and purposes, carrying the final two seasons with Shelley and Tanya Roberts arguably being glorified sidekicks instead of on equal footing.

Basically, how are viewers supposed to get invested into a show, if they fear or anticipate that there's going to be a major overhaul in the cast come the end of the season?

1 more season doesn't encompass the entire decade.

It seems awfully coincidental that Charlie's Angels (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-lists/president-tv-series-defined-era-994869/jimmy-carter-drama-charlies-angels-abc-1976-81-997422/) went off the air just at the start (https://flashbak.com/the-breast-of-the-best-the-top-5-jiggle-tv-shows-of-the-1970s-21215/) of Ronald Reagan's first term (https://books.google.com/books?id=pc_VfEY-XxkC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=rq1kH8y-Um&sig=ACfU3U20rrzkJODfHZEKv0xAmXs7KoIpdw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false). Basically, it seemed to be a tipping point that "jiggle television" (https://books.google.com/books?id=XELSaXYkpMwC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=-MbpyAOY7G&sig=ACfU3U01Fvf8mNxysw8r6LnjzCvqt7suZg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false) was becoming passé. TV was going forward into the decade, pivoting (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/lb9u9k/what_caused_the_difference_between_70s_sitcoms/) towards a more wholesome and conservative (https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2849&context=etd) direction. And a show (https://books.google.com/books?id=3dAuze5avCIC&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=qslw6O0v76&sig=ACfU3U0plgDtkmGQ9CRo-PHQClfC0YyqpQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false) like Charlie's Angels would've just felt completely out of step or out of touch.

It seems awfully coincidental that Charlie's Angels (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-lists/president-tv-series-defined-era-994869/jimmy-carter-drama-charlies-angels-abc-1976-81-997422/) went off the air just at the start (https://flashbak.com/the-breast-of-the-best-the-top-5-jiggle-tv-shows-of-the-1970s-21215/) of Ronald Reagan's first term (https://books.google.com/books?id=pc_VfEY-XxkC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=rq1kH8y-Um&sig=ACfU3U20rrzkJODfHZEKv0xAmXs7KoIpdw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false). Basically, it seemed to be a tipping point that "jiggle television" (https://books.google.com/books?id=XELSaXYkpMwC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=-MbpyAOY7G&sig=ACfU3U01Fvf8mNxysw8r6LnjzCvqt7suZg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false) was becoming passé. TV was going forward into the decade, pivoting (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/lb9u9k/what_caused_the_difference_between_70s_sitcoms/) towards a more wholesome and conservative (https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2849&context=etd) direction. And a show (https://books.google.com/books?id=3dAuze5avCIC&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=jiggle+television+reagan+charlie%27s+angels&source=bl&ots=qslw6O0v76&sig=ACfU3U0plgDtkmGQ9CRo-PHQClfC0YyqpQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj27fbF2MvyAhWDKM0KHUueDiQ4ChDoAXoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q=jiggle%20television%20reagan%20charlie's%20angels&f=false) like Charlie's Angels would've just felt completely out of step or out of touch.

Or they could've gone for a 6th season as a backlash to the straight laced Reagan era.

The lack of stability from within the cast may have also been a major detrimental factor. Charlie's Angels was always a show that had four main cast-members (five if you count John Forsythe). And of the four, only Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle stayed for all five years that the show was on the air.

It was one thing for Farrah Fawcett to leave. I think what benefited Cheryl Ladd was that the show was still very young and she still had 2/3rds of the original Angels to play off of. But then you have Kate Jackson, who was arguably the best overall actress on the show and the de facto "leader" leave after Season 3.

To add insult to injury, Kate's replacement (Shelley Hack) was gone after little more than a single season. So in a nutshell, you had three consecutive seasons, where there was a rotating spot as the third Angel alongside Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd.

I think another benefit to Cheryl Ladd was that she fit right on in immediately. She had great chemistry with Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle.

I don't think it's about being 2/3rds of the original. It's about the Angels being popular. And Cheryl Ladd/Kris was a popular Angel. It didn't matter about being original. Actually, when Kate Jackson left the show was still high-rated. In fact, from what I understand, TPTB had proclaimed that the show had survived the departure of Kate Jackson. Apparently, it wasn't until Farrah Fawcett 's guest appearances that made the ratings drop. In fact, Farrah Fawcett's last episode in season 4 was the lowest rated of the whole entire 4th season. So obviously it's not about being an original.