I've been watching a lot of other older television series recently, and added the original Charlie's Angels, season one, to my viewing list.
What I Remembered About the Show: First, everyone my age remembers Farrah Fawcett-Major's swimsuit pin-up. Most teenage boys loved her; I was not a fan. Next came Charlie's Angels, starring Farrah (the most well-known cast member), Kate Jackson (her third series, but not well known), and Jaclyn Smith (a former shampoo model). I didn't see the show often as I was busy with high school activities, but it seemed "OK" – I had a crush on Kate Jackson, though. 
The first season is the only season with the three original Angels, as Farrah left.
So here I am, decades later, and I watched the pilot episode (with David Ogden Stiers – Major Winchester from MAS – as the original "boss" figure; "Bosley" was originally a comic flunkie; and a very young Tommy Lee Jones as guest star. It was surprisingly good, very well written for what it was – a detective show that was light entertainment, with lots of light comedy.
So I watched a few more episodes. I was surprised that the series didn't need time to "grow" – the first regular episode is already the standard Charlie's Angels episode. The girls are usually glamorous, except for Kate Jackson who gets fashions which look seriously dated now. The formula is that the girls get a case from Charlie (whose face is never seen), split up to investigate, then there is a crisis (often, one of the girls is caught) leading up to a finale.
I found that I rather enjoyed the show – both the beautiful women, and the mix of "light drama" and humor.
This series is said to have started both the "glamor" television fad (people in elegant clothing) and "T&A" (tits and ass). The glamor is true. The T&A claim not so much, and is mostly due to Farrah – when bras went out of fashion as "unliberated," her nipples were often in evidence and the TV censors didn't know what to do.
The show was on after the "family viewing" window on network television, which allowed for some "adult" topics – which were, however, handled in a very G-rated manner. One episode features the Angels in a women's prison, with all the cliches of that B-movie genre; another episode has Jill Munroe (Farrah) working in a massage parlor.
To my mind, the shows were very well written, by people with experience of the Pulp and B-movie genres, as well as a good sense of humor. The actresses initially have trouble being funny, but by mid-season they are handling the comedy as well as the action scenes.
The biggest personal surprise was that, in my older age, I reacted differently to the characters. I mentioned that I disliked Farrah when I was young, but now I found her charming and obviously talented as an actress. As for Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), I had never noticed she was so tall, and so unglamorous (in one episode, she tries the glam look and fails), but a good all-around performer. Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) is always elegant, has a beautiful voice, and though she stumbled over her lines early in the season, quickly improved.
It would be fascinating to try to make Charlie's Angels work in a miniatures format. Something like .45 Adventure might handle the material best, with its abstract way of fighting for clues, but the Angels might need more flunkies.
I also question my ability to paint the Angels…
I'll probably go on to watch later seasons, but I'll switch to another TV series first.
