'Charlie's Angels' soars to a golden milestone

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Once upon a time there were three women who starred in an ABC series about private investigators working for a mysterious boss they never saw.His name was Charlie.“Charlie’s Angels” quickly became a sensation after its September 1976 premiere, turning Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith into major stars.

Cheryl Ladd joined the show after Fawcett departed at the end of the first season.Despite the network’s lack of enthusiasm and critics who dismissed it as “jiggle television,” “Charlie’s Angels” scored with viewers, as its depiction of intelligent and strong women overcoming the bad guys evolved into a pop culture phenomena.Lunch boxes and other merchandise with the stars’ images flew off of store shelves.Jackson, Smith and Ladd are now taking a victory lap, reuniting for the show’s 50th anniversary.

They received a rousing reception Monday from hundreds of adoring fans at the Dolby Theatre during the annual PaleyFest sponsored by the Paley Center for Media, and they will also be honored at the center’s black tie gala next month in New York.(PaleyFest runs through Sunday.)“This is emotional,” said Smith before the Paley event.

Jackson added, “We were just actresses doing a job.Who would have thought we would become such a huge part of popular culture?”The drama, which concluded its five-season run in 1981, inspired two reboots: 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” and its 2003 sequel “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” starring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore, who produced the films.

Another film, written and directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Kristen Stewart, was released in 2019.The Dolby audience repeatedly cheered as Jackson, Smith and Ladd shared backstage stories about the series, one of numerous TV hits developed and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.They spoke fondly of Fawcett, who died of canc...