"Week after week
the Angels could be found scantily clad, trapped on a cruise ship with a homicidal maniac or, scantily clad, cleaning up a
face-lift farm run by the Mafia". This statement was printed in PEOPLE magazine
in 1986 and appeared (or variations of it) in numerous television history books since.
The fact is, the Angels were not nearly as "scantily clad" as this comment would have one believe. The lure of CHARLIE'S ANGELS was definitely its sex appeal, no one could ever argue that, but to say that
sex appeal was all the show had to offer is completely untrue!
How did CHARLIE'S ANGELS get such a reputation?
The answer is quite simple. It was the first show to feature a solid cast
of females and what better way to sell a show about females than to use their sexuality.
It is a sales technique that is used in every industry from fashion, advertising, rock and roll, and, obviously, television. Arnold Hano wrote in his TV Guide expose' on the show that "Because the three women...
are wonderful to look at, some people see the show as sexist. Others see it as
just sexy!" Also, CHARLIE'S ANGELS came a few years after the dawning of
Gloria Steinem's feminist awakening. The introduction of bra-less women was new
to television viewers and it created a sensation. The success of Farrah Fawcett's
mega-popular bathing suit poster is where it’s at. Featuring the star surrounded
by her wild blonde mane and flashing a blinding white smile, the focal point of the poster was her erect nipples. The producers of CHARLIE'S ANGELS didn't waste anytime in showing them off in her second skin outfits. This facet of the show would start a successful trend in other shows, most notably
of them all being Suzanne Sommers in ‘Three's Company’.
After leaving the show, Farrah would return for guest appearances in which the most
flesh she would expose would be her arms. Thus, the torch would be carried over
to Cheryl Ladd. Nobody could fill out a bikini like Cheryl Ladd (35-23-34)! She looked fantastic and seemed incredibly comfortable with her state of undress. For the next two seasons on the show, Cheryl Ladd's cleavage became almost as popular
as Farrah's nipples. Jaclyn Smith would appear in a bathing suit once and awhile,
but it is the image of her used in the original logo for the show where the Angels are simulating prayer that would give her
sex symbol status. Wearing a tiny white bikini, Jaclyn looks extremely radiant
with a heavenly smile on her lips. Sending the Angels off to Hawaii
would be a great excuse to show off Tanya Roberts' voluptuous figure (36-21-34)! Her
first six appearances on the show were extremely reminiscent of the first season when using the term "scantily clad" actually
had some validity. Everyone knows that Kate Jackson never bared more than her
shoulders and Shelly Hack only appeared in a bathing suit once, as well as a towel only once (in "Angels on Campus").
While all the critics were hammering CHARLIE'S ANGELS's sexual overtones and undertones,
viewers were eating the show up. The highest rated episode was "Angels in Chains"
(a 56 share and the rerun a 52 share!). This particular episode featured the
Angels like never before. Each Angel (including Sabrina!) was forced to shower
and open her towel to be sprayed by a fearful lesbian warden and later subjected to the further humiliation of a leering prison
guard. As if that wasn't enough, the Angels are dressed up and almost auctioned
off as prostitutes! That this episode is obviously the most popular says more
about the audiences than the creators of the show.
Television historians, Harry J. Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, wrote it like it
was:
"The sex on CHARLIE'S ANGELS is really just suggestive titillation's -squeaky clean TV sex. Even with their bra-less wardrobe, Sabrina, Kelly, and Jill were, in truth, just like previous television glamour girls such as (Barbara Eden) of 'I Dream of Jeannie', the perfectly
constructed female robot (Julie Newmar) of 'My Living Doll', and the aspiring starlets
of 'Bracken's World'. They never appeared in scenes of torrid physical passion, just in revealing costumes. The active imaginations of the viewers filled in the rest
with whatever fantasy
seemed appropriate".
As the series neared its end, the Angels became more and more fully clothed than
ever before. With the exception of the aforementioned six episodes (five of them
in Hawaii) of the 1980/1981 season, Angel cleavage would
only be shown one more time. In the episode "Stuntwomen Angels", Kris and Julie
are seen wearing low-cut dresses while playing saloon girls in the film Lady West. Other
than that, it was designer sweaters and jumpsuits until the end. Viewers began
to turn their attentions elsewhere toward new shows that incorporated sexual themes in their premises, such as ‘Too
Close for Comfort’ and ‘Bosom Buddies’. Commenting on changes
that began in the second season, Hano wrote, "Jiggle was definitely out, restraint was in.
Taste replaced tease. In the process some insist the show became less
substantial".
