Many fans think or believe that the show (https://screenrant.com/charlies-angels-best-worst-episodes/) jumped the shark (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031123920/http://www.jumptheshark.com/c/charliesangels.htm) when Kate Jackson/Sabrina left (https://acidemic-music.blogspot.com/2015/09/charlies-angels-season-3-episode-guide.html) and Shelley Hack (https://drunktv.net/2020/05/01/charlies-angels-season-4-1979-1980-tv-series-review/) and subsequently, Tanya Roberts (https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2020/07/17/tv-charlies-angels/) came in to replace her. Kate simply put, was seen as the "glue" that held the show (https://gizmodo.com/8-of-the-wackiest-charlies-angels-episodes-1839777670) together. Sabrina was not only the de facto leader and alpha female of the crew, but she was arguably the most believable or credible as an ex-cop turned private eye.

I therefore wonder, in an alternative universe, how the series (https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-review-of-the-old-TV-show-Charlies-Angels-1) would've gone had Kate Jackson instead of Jaclyn Smith stayed from beginning to end. Would the series (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/12175-charlies-angels/page/2/) for example, would've been able to sustain Shelley Hack (https://nypost.com/2019/11/14/ranking-all-of-charlies-angels-on-a-scale-from-hack-to-fawcett/) and her in effect, miscasting? Of course, that all depends if the producers would've still hired somebody like Shelley Hack as the third Angel alongside Kate/Jaclyn and Cheryl Ladd.

I think it would've done worse because I bet anything people wanted to see Jaclyn Smith more than "plain" Kate.

They should've brought Tanya Roberts for Season 4 but what they REALLY needed was better writers!

I think it would've done worse because I bet anything people wanted to see Jaclyn Smith more than "plain" Kate.

They should've brought Tanya Roberts for Season 4 but what they REALLY needed was better writers!

I suspect that Jaclyn is most people's "favorite" Angel (https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Kelly_Garrett) because she was the only one who she stayed with the show from start to finish. Thus, Kelly was essentially, the heart and soul of the show. Heck, the series finale was even centered on her character, after she got shot. Plus, Jaclyn always struck me to be the unofficial public "ambassador" (and most "in tune" and accessible to the fans) of the series. In other words, and of course I don't absolutely know for sure, she didn't give off the impression that she thought that the series was out and out "beneath her" or she's embarrassed by her association like maybe Kate Jackson or Farrah Fawcett. And Jaclyn unlike Kate, didn't appear to be resentful or alienating towards Cheryl Ladd, as they are still friends (https://www.instagram.com/p/CSNUumeBBfo/) some 40 years after they stopped making Charlie's Angels.