Charlie's Angels: The Complete First Season

Designed to cash in on the theatrical release of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, the 24 episodes collected in the first season boxed set of this quintessential '70s TV series aren't likely to captivate a teenage audience: the car-chasing, gun-toting action seems much slower today, and the productions are cheesy compared to today's broadcast fare. But there's a lot of camp appeal for thirtysomethings who recall the Aaron Spelling jigglefest as more about female empowerment than cheesecake. Sabrina (Kate Jackson), the brainy one; Kelly (Jaclyn Smith), the streetwise one; and Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), the braless one, go undercover as missing heiresses, stockcar racers, journalists, centerfold models, hookers, rich widows, Vegas showgirls, and disco dance instructors in the seedy worlds of women's prison farms, roller derbies, massage parlors, and the porno film industry. The show was loaded with laughable sexual innuendo--particularly in the verbal byplay with their mysterious boss Charlie, no more than a horndog voice on the speakerphone, back in the day when speakerphones were sexy and cool. But if it was titillating at the time, now it's just innocently, discreetly sleazy, though nowhere near as exciting as the bland featurette--in which nameless fans gush while we're serenaded with clips--would have you believe. Although the image is a tad soft and washed-out looking (not surprisingly given the vintage and the fact that it's TV), the surprise appearances by will-be stars like Tom Selleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Julie from The Love Boat (Lauren Tewes) coupled with lots of polyester, flare pant legs, flip hairdos, and collars wide enough to put someone's eye out, sure do make it a hoot to revisit the adventures of these chicks with guns. A strong optional purchase. [Note: Also available, the single disc five-episode compilation The Best of Charlie's Angels, priced at $24.95.] (M. Johanson)