Once upon a time, there were three little girls who came to Hollywood — two from Texas, the other from Alabama — to become famous. And they were each, at first, assigned very captivating roles, including a nonspeaking ghost in a vampire soap opera and a pitchwoman in shaving cream and shampoo commercials. But then along came a producer who took them away from all of that, and they went to work for him.
His name was Aaron.
From its debut on Sept. 22, 1976, Charlie’s Angels was a phenomenon, drawing at its peak as many as 40 million viewers an episode — a massive crowd even back then, even for an Aaron Spelling show. The general opinion was that men tuned in for the bikinis and short shorts — especially when breakout star Farrah Fawcett was wearing them — while women watched for the other clothes. A few might have even turned it on just to follow the Angels’ wacky undercover assignments. Like the time they infiltrated a Roller Derby. Or the time they infiltrated a pro football cheerleading squad. Or a beauty pageant. Or a woman’s prison.
Critics hated it. “When the publicity started, there was all of this criticism leveled about the show, that it was ‘jiggle TV,’ ” recalls Spelling’s widow, Candy. “Aaron didn’t take it personally, he really didn’t. He said, ‘Oh, good — more publicity.’ “
