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Stephen Shortridge had just come off an equally ineffectual attempt at replacing John Travolta on Welcome Back, Kotter.
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Oh, yes, how could I forget that? Well, truth be told, I've never been a huge WELCOME BACK, KOTTER fan, but I do remember seeing the episodes where Travolta was gone and thinking to myself, "Why in the world didn't they just stop?"
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You know, he kind of was. Cutesy TV types without any on-screen charisma.
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It was definitely the time to end it at that point. Without him there was no point in continuing
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I haven't seen this show in a long time.
I wish one of the ITV channels would repeat it.
Who could forget John Forsythe as the voice of Charlie.
I wish one of the ITV channels would repeat it.
Who could forget John Forsythe as the voice of Charlie.
In his memoirs, John Glen actually had doubts about Tanya's acting before casting her in A View to A Kill and consulted the director of Sheena, in which she starred, to ask about her acting abilities.
Then of course put her to ridicule as a result. The director of marketing at UA didn't think much of Tanya either, as most of the publicity shots of A View to A Kill were of Roger Moore and Grace Jones, although GJ had less airtime.
Even Roger Moore was shocked to realise her mother was younger than him.
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Season 5 was really a mess. They shouldn't have gotten rid of Shelley Hack -- who was actually starting to work out and fit into the ensemble nicely. Like Cheryl Ladd once said, the producers had gotten "overly confident" that the recasts would work out alright. They had generated a lot of buzz when Ladd and Hack were brought on, but it was really too soon for another significant recast. And poor Tanya Roberts was handed the most bland Angel they could think up. Sure, she was attractive, but the character's background and having not attended the police academy weakened the core principles.
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There has been a fandom surrounding Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles that's emerged in the four decades since CHARLIE'S ANGELS was cancelled. Fan sites dedicated specifically to the series have pages dedicated to her and how she was given a raw deal.
When thinking of who was apparently in the running to replace Kate Jackson in 1979 -- women such as Barbara Bach, Connie Sellecca, Shari Belafonte, newcomer Michelle Pfeiffer, and PRICE IS RIGHT model Dian Parkinson -- it was somewhat surprising that little-known model Shelley Hack was the won to win the role. Apparently it was costume designer Nolan Miller that suggested Hack to producer Aaron Spelling. Miller had reportedly "fallen in love" with Hack when she was the spokesmodel for the Charlie perfume ads. Despite her considerable lack of professional acting experience, Hack was thrust towards a mount of publicity in 1979 as Charlie's newest angel.
There were multiple problems that arose once Hack started filming her scenes for the Season 4 opener, a crossover with THE LOVE BOAT. The writers and producers noticed her nervousness in front of the camera, and there were many suggestions given to the script supervisors to have Hack's dialogue considerably trimmed down. One writer for that particular episode once said that he didn't want to say Shelley couldn't act, but yet he was constantly given orders to take lines away from her, especially in the earlier Season 4 episodes. In fact, in the first dozen or so episodes we see from the 1979-80 season, Hack's barely in them and hasn't many lines. Hack later commented "I don't know why that is" when questioned about her limited role in first episodes. The producers apparently offered Hack acting classes, but she rebuffed the idea.
It wasn't until the eleventh episode of Season 4 ("Angels on Campus") that we finally got an episode centered on Shelley Hack and her Tiffany Welles. The story took place at Tiffany's old college sorority, where murders of young college girls are taking place. Three episodes later ("Of Ghosts and Angels"), Hack was again front and center, this time as she is having psychic dreams predicting the downfall of a recently married friend of hers. The latter half of Season 4 does give Hack more substantial stories, although she still doesn't appear to be the "favorite" for the writers to write for.
Season 4 brought a sharp decline in viewership for CHARLIE'S ANGELS. The show had been a solid Top 15 hit for its first three seasons, but with the departure of Jackson and the introduction of Hack, the series fell to #20 by the end of the 1979-80 season (one episode that season, I forget which one, placed as low as #47 for the week). The natural point of blame was Hack ("the new kid on the block" as she called herself) and producers began considering her future with the show. There was also considerable public backlash to Hack's hiring. Johnny Carson made jokes about Hack lacking the "jiggle factor" that CHARLIE'S ANGELS had basically created, saying, "When you put Shelley's 'T' where her 'A' should be, it still doesn't jiggle."
On Valentine's Day 1980, the cast of CHARLIE'S ANGELS (i.e. Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and David Doyle) all received roses welcoming them back for a fifth season. Shelley didn't receive any roses. The decision had been made that she would be recast and not brought back for another season. Later, Hack commented, "I never expected to be there more than a year, and I wasn't." Hack apparently held no strong feelings towards her being fired, but co-stars Smith and Ladd often came to her defense. Ladd, in particular, once commented that there "wasn't enough time spent on her character" and that the issues Season 4 had from many different angles "certainly wasn't Shelley's fault." Smith, meanwhile, was less vocal about on Hack's treatment, but has been known to say complimentary things about working with her.
Despite her rocky and short tenure on the show, Shelley Hack has found a solid fan base among CHARLIE'S ANGELS fans. Her "look" I think is a factor, although I think the majority rally in her corner because she was treated so unfairly by the production staff. People like to root for the underdog, and Shelley was definitely an underdog when it came to ABC and the producers. Overall, I think the producers might've expected too much from Hack, and when she failed to deliver, they were disappointed and found it easier to recast her rather than work out any issues.
What say you? Are you a fan of Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles?
When thinking of who was apparently in the running to replace Kate Jackson in 1979 -- women such as Barbara Bach, Connie Sellecca, Shari Belafonte, newcomer Michelle Pfeiffer, and PRICE IS RIGHT model Dian Parkinson -- it was somewhat surprising that little-known model Shelley Hack was the won to win the role. Apparently it was costume designer Nolan Miller that suggested Hack to producer Aaron Spelling. Miller had reportedly "fallen in love" with Hack when she was the spokesmodel for the Charlie perfume ads. Despite her considerable lack of professional acting experience, Hack was thrust towards a mount of publicity in 1979 as Charlie's newest angel.
There were multiple problems that arose once Hack started filming her scenes for the Season 4 opener, a crossover with THE LOVE BOAT. The writers and producers noticed her nervousness in front of the camera, and there were many suggestions given to the script supervisors to have Hack's dialogue considerably trimmed down. One writer for that particular episode once said that he didn't want to say Shelley couldn't act, but yet he was constantly given orders to take lines away from her, especially in the earlier Season 4 episodes. In fact, in the first dozen or so episodes we see from the 1979-80 season, Hack's barely in them and hasn't many lines. Hack later commented "I don't know why that is" when questioned about her limited role in first episodes. The producers apparently offered Hack acting classes, but she rebuffed the idea.
It wasn't until the eleventh episode of Season 4 ("Angels on Campus") that we finally got an episode centered on Shelley Hack and her Tiffany Welles. The story took place at Tiffany's old college sorority, where murders of young college girls are taking place. Three episodes later ("Of Ghosts and Angels"), Hack was again front and center, this time as she is having psychic dreams predicting the downfall of a recently married friend of hers. The latter half of Season 4 does give Hack more substantial stories, although she still doesn't appear to be the "favorite" for the writers to write for.
Season 4 brought a sharp decline in viewership for CHARLIE'S ANGELS. The show had been a solid Top 15 hit for its first three seasons, but with the departure of Jackson and the introduction of Hack, the series fell to #20 by the end of the 1979-80 season (one episode that season, I forget which one, placed as low as #47 for the week). The natural point of blame was Hack ("the new kid on the block" as she called herself) and producers began considering her future with the show. There was also considerable public backlash to Hack's hiring. Johnny Carson made jokes about Hack lacking the "jiggle factor" that CHARLIE'S ANGELS had basically created, saying, "When you put Shelley's 'T' where her 'A' should be, it still doesn't jiggle."
On Valentine's Day 1980, the cast of CHARLIE'S ANGELS (i.e. Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and David Doyle) all received roses welcoming them back for a fifth season. Shelley didn't receive any roses. The decision had been made that she would be recast and not brought back for another season. Later, Hack commented, "I never expected to be there more than a year, and I wasn't." Hack apparently held no strong feelings towards her being fired, but co-stars Smith and Ladd often came to her defense. Ladd, in particular, once commented that there "wasn't enough time spent on her character" and that the issues Season 4 had from many different angles "certainly wasn't Shelley's fault." Smith, meanwhile, was less vocal about on Hack's treatment, but has been known to say complimentary things about working with her.
Despite her rocky and short tenure on the show, Shelley Hack has found a solid fan base among CHARLIE'S ANGELS fans. Her "look" I think is a factor, although I think the majority rally in her corner because she was treated so unfairly by the production staff. People like to root for the underdog, and Shelley was definitely an underdog when it came to ABC and the producers. Overall, I think the producers might've expected too much from Hack, and when she failed to deliver, they were disappointed and found it easier to recast her rather than work out any issues.
What say you? Are you a fan of Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles?
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Piggy-backing off yesterday's post about Shelley Hack and the fandom that's arose around her, I figured today we could discuss Tanya Roberts.
After Season 4 of CHARLIE'S ANGELS dipped in the Nielsen ratings, it was decided that Shelley Hack, the newcomer that season, was going to get booted out. Hack later stated that she was the "obvious choice" to be replaced because she was "the new kid on the block." She doesn't seem to hold any animosity towards for being released (she later hosted a documentary dedicated to the show on the A&E channel), and insists that she hadn't planned on being with the show for more than a season anyway.
With Hack out of the picture, however, the producers of CHARLIE'S ANGELS went back to their casting pool and hyped up a publicity search for yet another new Angel. As usual, there were apparently some 2,500 young women considered (from what I gather, the producers toyed with the idea of Hack's replacement being a complete "unknown" to audiences and show business in general), although names like Shari Belafonte (who had been considered in 1979 as Jackson's successor) were also tossed around once more. Eventually, the role of Julie Rogers, a model-turned-P.I. went to Tanya Roberts, a little known actress who had starred in a string of unsuccessful TV pilots and made-for-TV projects.
What would be different about Roberts' character, however, was she wouldn't be a graduate of the police academy like the other Angels. Julie Rogers -- as the new Season 5 opening credits stated -- was a graduate from a "top school for models" before being recruited by Charlie. Having the newest Angel working towards her detective license was interesting, but after her presence was established, it was kindly disregarded and never referred to again. In hindsight, having Julie not be a graduate of the police academy just throws off the fundamentals of the show. It also takes away from the familiarity of the opening intro about "three little who went to the police academy".
Season 5 of CHARLIE'S ANGELS suffered from a series of behind-the-scenes issues. There was a writer's strike that prevented the start of the season, therefore pushing back the fifth season premiere until November 1980. Worse, ABC decided to juggle the show's schedule for Season 5, moving it from its comfortable Wednesday evening slot to various different ones. As a result, the ratings drastically dropped, and the show was placed on hiatus at least two different times (if I remember correctly) during the 1980-81 season. The ever-changing time slots mirrored the show's ever-declining quality in terms of scripts. Both Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd had openly expressed that they wouldn't renew their contracts after 1981, while Roberts and co-star David Doyle voiced their desire to continue if ABC were to renew CHARLIE'S ANGELS for a sixth season.
Smith and Ladd later spoke positively about Roberts. Ladd called her a "wild card" because of her salacious sense of humor, and also stated that she was pleased with her casting because she took all the bikini scenes so she didn't have to do them as much anymore. At the same time, Ladd also felt that the producers had gotten "overtly confident" that another recast would work out ago, while Smith said "at that point, they thought it was a plus for the show."
Ultimately, the fifth season of CHARLIE'S ANGELS concluded after just 16 episodes. The show had dropped to around #59 in the ratings out of 65 shows, and was abruptly cancelled by ABC. The last season of CHARLIE'S ANGELS is undoubtedly the worst season of the show. The writing had gotten awful, and the "heart" of the show seems vacant. Smith and Ladd seem to be "phoning in" their performances in many episodes, and some of year five's episodes rank among the very worst of the entire series. As a result, Tanya Roberts often emerges as the least popular Angel from the original series, although the blame is not solely at her feet.
Anyone here like Tanya Roberts as Julie Rogers?
After Season 4 of CHARLIE'S ANGELS dipped in the Nielsen ratings, it was decided that Shelley Hack, the newcomer that season, was going to get booted out. Hack later stated that she was the "obvious choice" to be replaced because she was "the new kid on the block." She doesn't seem to hold any animosity towards for being released (she later hosted a documentary dedicated to the show on the A&E channel), and insists that she hadn't planned on being with the show for more than a season anyway.
With Hack out of the picture, however, the producers of CHARLIE'S ANGELS went back to their casting pool and hyped up a publicity search for yet another new Angel. As usual, there were apparently some 2,500 young women considered (from what I gather, the producers toyed with the idea of Hack's replacement being a complete "unknown" to audiences and show business in general), although names like Shari Belafonte (who had been considered in 1979 as Jackson's successor) were also tossed around once more. Eventually, the role of Julie Rogers, a model-turned-P.I. went to Tanya Roberts, a little known actress who had starred in a string of unsuccessful TV pilots and made-for-TV projects.
What would be different about Roberts' character, however, was she wouldn't be a graduate of the police academy like the other Angels. Julie Rogers -- as the new Season 5 opening credits stated -- was a graduate from a "top school for models" before being recruited by Charlie. Having the newest Angel working towards her detective license was interesting, but after her presence was established, it was kindly disregarded and never referred to again. In hindsight, having Julie not be a graduate of the police academy just throws off the fundamentals of the show. It also takes away from the familiarity of the opening intro about "three little who went to the police academy".
Season 5 of CHARLIE'S ANGELS suffered from a series of behind-the-scenes issues. There was a writer's strike that prevented the start of the season, therefore pushing back the fifth season premiere until November 1980. Worse, ABC decided to juggle the show's schedule for Season 5, moving it from its comfortable Wednesday evening slot to various different ones. As a result, the ratings drastically dropped, and the show was placed on hiatus at least two different times (if I remember correctly) during the 1980-81 season. The ever-changing time slots mirrored the show's ever-declining quality in terms of scripts. Both Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd had openly expressed that they wouldn't renew their contracts after 1981, while Roberts and co-star David Doyle voiced their desire to continue if ABC were to renew CHARLIE'S ANGELS for a sixth season.
Smith and Ladd later spoke positively about Roberts. Ladd called her a "wild card" because of her salacious sense of humor, and also stated that she was pleased with her casting because she took all the bikini scenes so she didn't have to do them as much anymore. At the same time, Ladd also felt that the producers had gotten "overtly confident" that another recast would work out ago, while Smith said "at that point, they thought it was a plus for the show."
Ultimately, the fifth season of CHARLIE'S ANGELS concluded after just 16 episodes. The show had dropped to around #59 in the ratings out of 65 shows, and was abruptly cancelled by ABC. The last season of CHARLIE'S ANGELS is undoubtedly the worst season of the show. The writing had gotten awful, and the "heart" of the show seems vacant. Smith and Ladd seem to be "phoning in" their performances in many episodes, and some of year five's episodes rank among the very worst of the entire series. As a result, Tanya Roberts often emerges as the least popular Angel from the original series, although the blame is not solely at her feet.
Anyone here like Tanya Roberts as Julie Rogers?
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I think the issue in the Hack year was that the personality and acting style balance was thrown off by placing a blander actress in the place of the fiery Kate Jackson. The trio needed someone more comedic and dynamic in that place, so Jaclyn could be the pleasantly lovely angel, and Cheryl the spunky little sister who is also the go-to bikini angel. Cheryl was really a fantastic recast - a fine enough actress for the role, and someone who came in with confidence and va-va-voom appeal. The blander, blonder, New England style Shelly provided a completely different presence than Kate, and left you with a much lower-key onscreen energy when someone with much more screen presence was needed to provide the chemistry balance that existed in the first three seasons. They relied on Cheryl to serve as leader of the trio, and that didn't seem as right as replacing Sabrina with another Sabrina-type.
By the time Tanya Roberts was recast, the writers had clearly jumped ship and you'd have needed a really skilled television actress with both comedy and action drama on her resume to bring gravitas and personality to the terrible lines. Tanya looked great but wasn't up to the role, but of course her character could have had promise as a rookie, tougher New York angel. Season 5 makes Season 3 (which displayed anotable drop in script quality, and this wasn't Shakespeare to begin with) look consistently great in comparison.
By the time Tanya Roberts was recast, the writers had clearly jumped ship and you'd have needed a really skilled television actress with both comedy and action drama on her resume to bring gravitas and personality to the terrible lines. Tanya looked great but wasn't up to the role, but of course her character could have had promise as a rookie, tougher New York angel. Season 5 makes Season 3 (which displayed anotable drop in script quality, and this wasn't Shakespeare to begin with) look consistently great in comparison.
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I'm sure the producers wanted to "go in a new direction" and that's why they went with Shelley. But it did alter the dynamic the trio of Angels have in Season 4. It also didn't help that the writers decided to go with the idea of giving each Angel their own "story of the week" and relegating the other two to the background.
And because she was such a fine recast, the producers felt that they could replace any of the Angels with someone else. After all, Farrah had been the breakout star of the first season, and the success of Cheryl in her place was quite extraordinary. Cheryl was probably the most popular actress on the show post-Farrah.
But lightening doesn't always strike in the same place twice. It didn't when they brought in Shelley and it didn't when they brought in Tanya.
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Why it never occured to the producers to hire me, I cannot guess, because I was ready and able to provide the sass and charm in 1979.
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Yeah, by the time Tanya Roberts came aboard, the writing was on the wall. Another cast change wasn't what the show needed. What it needed was the work with what it had. They should've spent money on getting some stronger writers instead of hiring a new Angel and wasting money on a trip to Hawaii.
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CHARLIE'S ANGELS needed a sexy, effervescent black actress for its last two seasons, not the frozen vacancy of Tiffany nor the street-skank charm of Tonya Roberts.
And not Shari Belafonte.
And not Shari Belafonte.
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Who do you have in mind?
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Somebody better. Cattle-call auditions are just fine.
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As aforementioned, actress Barbara Bach (famous for her role as Anya Amasova in the 1977 James Bond film THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) was among the contenders to replace Kate Jackson in 1979. She was apparently heavily considered -- at least for a short period -- because of her popularity at the time. However, as we know, she would ultimately miss out on the role of Tiffany Welles, which went to newcomer Shelley Hack.
In an interview she gave to Johnny Carson on May 9, 1979, Bach said she felt she lost the CHARLIE'S ANGELS gig because she appeared "too sophisticated" in both appearance and attitude, and that the producers thought of her an un-American, even though she was born and raised in and around Queens, New York.
When I first started watching CHARLIE'S ANGELS a decade or so ago (having been far too young to see these shows during their first-run), I wasn't necessarily a fan of Kate Jackson. I was all about Farrah and, to a lesser extent, Jaclyn. But after revisiting the show different times since, I've noticed that Kate really is the anchor of the show. The show was basically created for her and she fought for the most character development for her character Sabrina (having an ex-husband in her backstory), although the writers still wouldn't budge too much in that area.
I wouldn't've admitted it for a long time, but I really did miss Kate when she was gone -- probably more so than Farrah (despite my admiration for her overall). Cheryl was such a smooth transition that it made it so easy to welcome her into the angelic trio. Kate, as the unofficial leader of the pack, was missed. But I did warm-up to Shelley once they finally started writing for her. She was a little shaky in the beginning, but I thought she actually fit in well with Jaclyn and Cheryl, especially around mid-season when she started getting some episodes centered solely around her.
The reasons they fired her was because of the backlash, which probably wasn't too severe. A lot of me (even me) mention how Season 4 was the butt of so many jokes by TV comedians and critics because CHARLIE'S ANGELS was supposed to be a "jiggle" show and Shelley wasn't too "with it" in that department. But CHARLIE'S ANGELS had always been the butt of jokes. Critics always dismissed it, and comedians are just doing their job when they poke fun at what's currently popular. That's how they make their living.
The main reason Shelley was axed (in my theory) was because ABC didn't want to admit that they had treated her unfairly. Had they pushed for her stronger earlier in the season, she would've had a stronger chance of "clicking" with the audience sooner and being accepted into the trio. But they didn't do that with her. And instead of "fixing" their mistake, they decided to get rid of Shelley and crank up the publicity machine by searching for yet another replacement.
She really is the least memorable of the bunch. I find her too "made up" to be terribly attractive, and she comes across as a little too sleazy for a show like CHARLIE'S ANGELS that, while always playing up the sexy angle, presented itself as basically a family-friendly TV show.
Perhaps the most memorable thing about Tanya was her flame-red hair, giving the Angels the blonde/brunette/redhead combination that the producers originally wanted when the show was starting in 1976 -- that is until they found Jaclyn Smith, therefore giving them two brunettes starting out.
In an interview she gave to Johnny Carson on May 9, 1979, Bach said she felt she lost the CHARLIE'S ANGELS gig because she appeared "too sophisticated" in both appearance and attitude, and that the producers thought of her an un-American, even though she was born and raised in and around Queens, New York.
When I first started watching CHARLIE'S ANGELS a decade or so ago (having been far too young to see these shows during their first-run), I wasn't necessarily a fan of Kate Jackson. I was all about Farrah and, to a lesser extent, Jaclyn. But after revisiting the show different times since, I've noticed that Kate really is the anchor of the show. The show was basically created for her and she fought for the most character development for her character Sabrina (having an ex-husband in her backstory), although the writers still wouldn't budge too much in that area.
I wouldn't've admitted it for a long time, but I really did miss Kate when she was gone -- probably more so than Farrah (despite my admiration for her overall). Cheryl was such a smooth transition that it made it so easy to welcome her into the angelic trio. Kate, as the unofficial leader of the pack, was missed. But I did warm-up to Shelley once they finally started writing for her. She was a little shaky in the beginning, but I thought she actually fit in well with Jaclyn and Cheryl, especially around mid-season when she started getting some episodes centered solely around her.
The reasons they fired her was because of the backlash, which probably wasn't too severe. A lot of me (even me) mention how Season 4 was the butt of so many jokes by TV comedians and critics because CHARLIE'S ANGELS was supposed to be a "jiggle" show and Shelley wasn't too "with it" in that department. But CHARLIE'S ANGELS had always been the butt of jokes. Critics always dismissed it, and comedians are just doing their job when they poke fun at what's currently popular. That's how they make their living.
The main reason Shelley was axed (in my theory) was because ABC didn't want to admit that they had treated her unfairly. Had they pushed for her stronger earlier in the season, she would've had a stronger chance of "clicking" with the audience sooner and being accepted into the trio. But they didn't do that with her. And instead of "fixing" their mistake, they decided to get rid of Shelley and crank up the publicity machine by searching for yet another replacement.
She really is the least memorable of the bunch. I find her too "made up" to be terribly attractive, and she comes across as a little too sleazy for a show like CHARLIE'S ANGELS that, while always playing up the sexy angle, presented itself as basically a family-friendly TV show.
Perhaps the most memorable thing about Tanya was her flame-red hair, giving the Angels the blonde/brunette/redhead combination that the producers originally wanted when the show was starting in 1976 -- that is until they found Jaclyn Smith, therefore giving them two brunettes starting out.