Charlie's Angels Fought Crime And Looked Good Doing It

|
Left: the Charlie's Angels cast in season 4 consisted of Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith, and Shelley Hack. Right: Farrah Fawcett in the season 1 episode 'Angels On Wheels.' Sources: Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images; IMDB

When the "angels" of Charlie's Angels -- Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett -- made their TV debut in 1976, it wasn't clear whether these were empowered women or just investigators who were really nice to look at. Really nice. They were out to solve crimes and catch bad guys on their own after having quit their unsatisfying jobs in the police department. Despite the fact that the women were legitimate graduates of the police academy, they were not taken seriously and were assigned the jobs of meter maid, office secretary and crossing guard… not at all what they had anticipated. 

Charlie’s Angels was a crime/drama television series that first aired in September 1976. The show was created by Ivan Goff & Ben Roberts and was produced by the well-known, Aaron Spelling. The Angels worked for a private detective agency owned by millionaire Charlie Townsend in sunny Los Angeles, California.