''Charlie's Angels'' is an American media franchise created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which began with the original television series of the same name. The franchise follow the adventures of the Angels, a team of women working for the Townsend Agency, a private secret agent agency, under the leadership of Charlie Townsend, their unseen boss. The original television series enjoyed huge popularity with audiences and was a top ten hit in the Nielsen ratings for its first two seasons. Following its cancellation in 1981, the series continues to have a 1970s American

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...

and pop culture following through

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

releases. A numerous variety of merchandise were produced, including dolls, a toy line, board games, beauty products, several sets of trading cards and a comic book series by

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

. A film series was launched in 2000. Taking place after the events of the original series, the films are a continuation of the story with later generations of Angels. The films receive mixed reviews from critics and have grossed a total of $596 million, against a combined budget of $261 million. The franchise was rebooted in 2011 with a television series of the same name, which was canceled after seven episodes. Following the cancellation, a third film was produced which restored the original timeline of the franchise.

Television

''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981)

Sabrina Duncan, Jill Munroe, and Kelly Garrett have graduated from the police academy in Los Angeles, California. Despite proving their capability during training, all three have subsequently been assigned to be a

meter maid A parking enforcement officer (PEO),United S ...

, office worker, and crossing guard, respectively. Dissatisfied with these jobs, they are recruited to work for the Charles Townsend Agency as private investigators. Their boss, Charlie Townsend, who nicknames them "Angels", is never viewed full-face. Charlie gives the Angels and his associate John Bosley their assignments via a

speakerphone A speakerphone is a telephone with a microphone and loudspeaker provided separately from those in the handset. This device allows multiple persons to participate in a conversation. The loudspeaker broadcasts the voice or voices of those on the ot ...

; he never met them face-to-face.

Attempted spin-off

ABC attempted to create a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

of ''Charlie's Angels'' in 1980 called ''Toni's Boys''. The

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

aired near the end of season four, simply titled "Toni's Boys" (season 4, episode 23). The episode starred

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

as Antonia "Toni" Blake, a wealthy widow socialite and friend of Charlie's who ran a detective agency that she inherited from her late husband. The agency was staffed by three handsome male detectives—Cotton Harper ( Stephen Shortridge), Bob Sorensen (

Bob Seagren Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion. A native of Pomona, California, Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU a ...

), and Matt Parrish (Bruce Bauer)—who took direction from Toni, and solved crimes in a manner similar to the Angels. The show was not picked up as a regular series for the following season.

''Charlie's Angels'' (2011)

Kate Prince, a former Miami cop; Eve French, a former street racer; and Abby Simpson, a former thief; are recruited to work for the Townsend Agency in Miami as private investigators. Aided by John Bosley, a former hacker, they fight crime under the leadership of Charlie Townsend, their unseen boss. The series served as a reboot of the franchise and was cancelled after only one season with seven episodes.

Crossover

''Note: The table below only accounts for full crossover events, single guest appearances are not included''.

With other series

Films

Launched in 2000, the ''Charlie's Angels'' film series is a continuation of the original television series story.

''Charlie's Angels'' (2000)

Natalie Cook, Dylan Sanders and Alex Munday are the second generation of "Angels", a crime-fighting trio who are the masters of disguise, espionage and martial arts. Charlie assigns them to find Eric Knox, a software genius who created a revolutionary voice-recognition system and heads his own company, Knox Enterprises. Knox is believed to have been kidnapped by Roger Corwin, who runs a communications-satellite company called Redstar. The "Angels", aided by

Bosley Bosley is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 406.titanium rings stolen from the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

which can display the people listed in the

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

. During this adventure, they will cross paths with former Angel Madison Lee.

''Charlie's Angels'' (2019)

Charlie's Angels cast during interview 02

The Townsend agency has expanded internationally with multiple teams of Angels guided by multiple Bosleys, a rank named after John. The European division of the agency is informed that Elena Houghlin, an engineer, wants to expose her superiors for covering up a discovery about how an energy conservation device that she helped invent, named Calisto, has the potential to trigger fatal seizures when used. A new team of Angels are called into action to protect the world from Calisto.

Future

Following the release of ''Full Throttle'', the franchise was confirmed for a third and fourth film, but in 2004, the idea was cancelled. In 2019, a sequel to the 2019 film was discussed, but due to the film's box office performance, the sequel was scrapped.

Short film

''Ru's Angels'' (2019)

A three minute short action comedy film titled ''Ru's Angels'', follows three drag queens

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantb ...

and

Nina West Nina West is the stage name of Andrew Robert Levitt, an American drag queen, activist, actor, and singer-songwriter based in Columbus, Ohio. She rose to national prominence with her appearance on the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11), eleventh seas ...

from ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', who are about to stop a wig snatcher played by

Katya Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFn ...

. The short film also stars

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series '' RuPaul's Drag Race ...

as Bos-Slay and the cast of the 2019 ''Charlie's Angels'' film.

Web series

''Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures'' (2003)

''Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures'' is an animated prequel web series consisting of six episodes. The series follows the Angels on a mission to find U.S. Marshal Ray Carter. Carter was kidnapped, and taken to and incarcerated in Mongolia, leading to the events of ''Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''.

Cast and crew

Principal cast

* A indicates the actor or actress lent only their voice for their film character. * A indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character. * A indicates a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
. * A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Additional crew

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Music

Film soundtracks

Singles

Other media and merchandising

Collectible items

During the original series' run,

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

Industries produced an extensive range of ''Charlie's Angels'' merchandise, which was distributed in the US, the UK, and other international markets. A numerous variety of collectible items were produced, including two versions of dolls, boardgames, numerous posters, several sets of trading cards, notebooks, a lunchbox and thermos set, a ''Charlie's Angels'' toy van, children's beauty products and even record albums. Author Sherrie A. Inness, in the text 'Disco Divas: Women and Popular Culture in the 1970s' writes that "Charlie's Angels merchandise was big business, Hasbro Industries spent over $2.5 million to advertise its Charlie's Angels dolls". In the UK, as was common with many popular US programs of the era, a series of tie-in hardcover annuals were published by World International Publishing Ltd, containing stories, comics, photos, puzzles and features on the stars. There are four ''Charlie's Angels'' annuals in total. Although it was not connected to the show, a 1976 poster of Farrah Fawcett sporting a red bathing suit became the biggest selling poster in history with more than 12 million copies sold. This poster also helped the burgeoning popularity of the series. The red swimsuit that helped make Farrah Fawcett a 1970s icon became part of the Smithsonian's collection in 2011. The picture has been immortalized as a Black Label Barbie Collection doll and the legendary red bathing suit has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The designer of that swimsuit is Norma Kamali.

Collectible card game

Video games

In July 2003, three ''Charlie's Angels'' games were released on three different gaming platforms:

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wi ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia o ...

, and the mobile phone. The versions released on the

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wi ...

and PlayStation 2 were virtually the same and were both titled ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...

''. The version released for the mobile phone was modified to fit the technical restrictions of the platform, and was titled ''Charlie's Angels: Road Cyclone''. An online video game named ''Charlie's Angels: Angel X'' was also released in May 2003 by Sony Pictures Digital Networks. The three games are based on the first and second films in the series. In April 2008, Ojom announced a new ''Charlie's Angels'' mobile phone game entitled ''Charlie's Angels: Hellfire''. The game was available on operator portals across Europe. In August 2019, a game named ''Charlie's Angels: The Game'' was released on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android devices by Crazy Labs Games. The game is an

endless runner Endless runner or infinite runner is a subgenre of platform game in which the player character runs for an infinite amount of time while avoiding obstacles. The player's objective is to reach a high score by surviving for as long as possible. Th ...

based on the third film in the series.

Comic books

Two British

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

versions were produced. The first appeared in the Polystyle publication ''Target'' in April 1978, drawn by John Canning. ''Target'' was a sister title to the long-running ''

TV Comic ''TV Comic'' was a British comic book magazine published weekly from 9 November 1951 until 29 June 1984. Featuring stories based on television series running at the time of publication, it was the first British comic to be based around TV pro ...

'' aimed at older children and featuring TV action and crime shows of the day. Proving unpopular, it folded in August and merged back into ''TV Comic'' where Canning's Angels strip continued until October 1979. The second strip was printed in Junior TV Times '' Look-in'', debuting in November 1979 (as soon as Polystyle's deal expired), written by

Angus Allan Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''TV Century 21'' in the 1960s and ''Look-in'' magazine during the 1970s. Most commonly known as Angus Allan and sometimes credit ...

and drawn by Jim Baikie and Bill Titcombe. In June 2018, a six-issue limited comic book series based on the television series was launched by

. A crossover comic book series with ''Charlie's Angels'' and '' The Bionic Woman'' titled ''Charlie's Angels vs. the Bionic Woman'', was released on July 3, 2019.

References

{{Charlie's Angels American film series Action film franchises Television franchises Mass media franchises introduced in 1976 Film series introduced in 2000 Columbia Pictures franchises Female superheroes Sony Pictures franchises