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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Charlie's Angels - The Complete Collection'
(Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, Tanya Roberts, David Doyle, et al / 20-Disc Blu-ray / NR / 2019 / Mill Creek Entertainment)

Overview: Once upon a time ... there were three girls who went to work for Charles Townsend, a mysterious man they never got to see, at his Beverly Hills detective agency.

And they became the sexiest private eyes to ever grace TV!

Enjoy every episode of high-kicking action, glamour, guns, bikinis, and hair here in the just-released 'Charlie's Angels - The Complete Collection,' where each is packed with dangerous intrigue in the Angels' world of money, mystery, and murder.

Blu-ray Verdict: In truth, I grow up watching the show when it first aired in 1976. I was in the first grade and I LOVED it. I couldn't get enough of it at the time and I had a huge crush on Farrah Fawcett-Majors (maybe because she was a blonde and rather bubbly). Plus the action that took place back in the '70s was always just so wonderfully OTT!

When she left I was terribly upset, but got used to Cheryl Ladd as her replacement. Too bad Kate Jackson didn't take a liking to her, because I thought they had got along off screen (due to Kate knowing Cheryl before Farrah and Jaclyn Smith when they worked on the TV movie 'Satan's School for Girls' (1973).

Here in 'Charlie's Angels,' I love the adventures and the action that centered around them, but I really was not a fan of Sabrina Duncan (or Kate Jackson, sorry), because I always felt she was the less flattering of the trio and therefore the show seemingly strayed and revolved around Sabrina than Jill, Kelly or Kris.

This was way more noticeable after Kate was fired because the show then revolved around Kris, which I myself felt Cheryl was the better actress. Any who, no matter who was in what episode on my screen at any given time, I still loved each and every episode and I also loved watching them in reruns too.

The episodes in the first season were always the best for me, like when they had to go on a cruise to investigate and each of them had a bomb to throw overboard! I mean, when the camera focused in on them at their time of desperation inevitably their hair was NEVER blowing wildly in the wind!

Nope, it never moved a square inch, no matter how much wind, or open sea breezes were coming at them full force! I also liked the comedy Farrah provided for the viewers and the way she delivered her lines.

The second season was good too, but a carbon copy of the first, of course (which, for a dedicated fab, was no big deal). My favorite episode here is 'The Sandcastle Murders,' but it too had its farcical moments ie: when Bosley (David Doyle) shot at the bad guy (Dave Rossiter) and then fell into the ocean, meaning Sabrina had to dive off the pier (fully clothed) to save him and fish him out!

That aside, the third season was grand too and it unveiled a new stance for Kate in that she began to noticeably wear more make-up for some strange reason! Yet more fun and games to be had in this season also, with the best episode in my book being 'Pom Pom Angels.'

Three cheerleaders mysteriously disappear after receiving religious notes from religious fanatics. The Angels go undercover as cheerleaders to find the missing girls who are at a cult where they serve "The Good One" … and end up with their hair cut!

Entering into the fourth season and now Shelley Hack was on board as one of the new Angels (Tiffany Welles). My favorite episode here is, by far, 'Avenging Angel' which was a great showcase for Jaclyn to show her acting skills.

In it, Frank Desmond is released from prison and proceeds to revenge himself on his jailer, Kelly Garrett, by injecting her with heroin. This leads the men he stole the drugs from to think Desmond and Kelly are partners in crime.

Another great one is 'Caged Angel' in which Cheryl is locked up to investigate a case. But even I have to admit that during this fourth season the quality of plots and acting by the new Angel (Tiffany) had noticeably begun to slide.

As it turned out, it was her one and only season as an Angel, but in truth she wasn't all that bad.

The fifth and final season - where I was now a fifth grader - the main thing I can instantly recall is hearing that "Charlie has a new Angel". By then I couldn't keep up with all the changes and I personally thought it was ridiculous that a model left her career behind to now work as a private detective (not to mention any of the other recruits who looked like models than cops!).

But, as it turned out, everything played out just fine. Now with the trio being Kelly, Kris and Julie (Tanya Roberts), my favorite episodes were 'Attack Angels' and the hilarious 'Stuntwomen Angels.'

In the former, when the Angels investigate a couple of suspicious deaths at Western Techtronics, Julie falls under the trance of a hypnotist who specializes in using brainwashed young women as killers.

In the latter, a man dressed as an archer is causing accidents at Mammoth studios. The Angels go undercover as stunt women (after taking a crash course at Big Teddy's stunt school).

But the main target seems to be the stunt coordinator working on 'Lady West' and 'Marian and her Merry Maidens', the latter being a remake of an Errol Flynn classic.

Oh, and I rather enjoyed 'Angels of the Deep' where they had Patti Patti D'Arbanville as a guest. Wow, she had some zest for life, that's for sure in her brilliant acting skills!

But there's more folks, as also included on this magnificent 20-Disc Blu-ray collection of all the original 'Charlie's Angels' TV show episodes (110), is the 8-episode run of the 2011 TV reboot of the same name!

Starring Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly, and Rachael Taylor, the plot was that a cat burglar, a car thief, and a dirty cop get a chance to turn their lives around; fighting crime and working for the mysterious Charlie Townsend.

Sadly though, there's a reason it only lasted 8 episodes, as you can well imagine! This is yet another case of what happens when they take a beautifully scripted series and put in people who are models; but not actors!

Sure they look pretty, but they can't act to save their lives and it shows! Zero emotion and zero attention to the skilled craft of acting. Which brings me to a question: Why do these producers seem to think that you can replace class with youth?!

It's a mistake they keep making over and over again. Other than that though, the show itself wasn't that bad with its set ups and such, but all we see them do over and over (and over) is (and in skirts and high heels, of course) climb walls, chase bad guys, get in shoot-outs and other manner of shouldn't-you-be-in-trainers scenes!

This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

'Charlie's Angels - The Complete Collection' [20-Blu-ray] is out November 19, 2019, via Mill Creek Entertainment.

www.MillCreekEnt.com





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