Jan Spears

Haha - that's the best answer! Charlie had friends in every profession!!

I rewatched Catch a Falling Angel, Home $weet Homes and Dancin' Angels (Season 4, episodes 16, 17 and 18). How refreshing it is to watch three team-oriented episodes in a row! That being said, my opinions of these episodes haven't changed much. Since I reviewed each episode earlier in this thread, I won't bother reviewing them again. I would rank them as follows, though: 1 Home $weet Homes 2 Dancin' Angels (Guest star Cesar Romero really adds a lot to this episode as a man who has never adjusted to the passage of time, and Shelley and David are very funny together as contestants in a dance contest.) 3 Catch a Falling Angel I noticed a gaffe in Catch a Falling Angel I had never noticed before: The lead villain's henchmen force Kelly and Tiffany over a ravine (in Sabrina's orange Pinto!) The Pinto is more or less totaled. Then, in the next scene, we see the standard shot of the Angels' cars parked in front of the agency. The Pinto is there and it's in pristine shape!

I rewatched episode 938 this weekend. (Original air date: 1/28/70) Episode 938 is essentially a recap/clips show in which Barnabas explains to Julia - at last - everything that's happened because of the Leviathans. (The clips are from the very end of the 1897 storyline and feature - in addition to Jonathan Frid as Barnabas - Roger Davis as Charles Delaware Tate and Kathryn Leigh Scott as Kitty Hampshire.) There are two very compelling visual things about this episode. First, as Barnabas recounts the storyline up to that point to Julia, both Frid and Grayson Hall are filmed in extreme close-up throughout the present day sequences at the Old House. I can't think of another Dark Shadows episode which consisted almost entirely of close-ups. The other striking thing about this episode is the use of color and lighting. I prefer the B&W episodes to the color ones but this episode is an exception. Using candles, the fireplace and studio lights (including "lightning" effects outside the Old House sitting room window), the production staff were able to illuminate the colors of the Old House (and even Hall's orange blouse) to create this unearthly but beautiful glow on the Old House set.

I "rewatched" (more like fast forwarded my way through) Angels Child and One of Our Angels Is Missing (Season 4, Episodes 14 and 15) After three team episodes (of varying quality) in a row, the show takes two steps backwards with these Solo Angels episodes. Angels Child is a Jaclyn showcase which suffers from its downbeat social issue theme and tone, and the glaring absence of the other Angels and Bosley until the very end. One of Our Angels Is Missing is a Cheryl-centered episode which is better in terms of showing the rest of the team. But Kris comes across as being completely irresponsible in this episode - she only survives due to luck. The idea of an Angel acting foolishly would have worked better with Kris in Season 2 or with Tiffany in Season 4, when both characters were new and inexperienced. But, with nearly three years of experience under her belt at this point, it is out-of-character for Kris to behave so foolishly. At the end, when Charlie suggests that he should reprimand Kris, I found myself thinking, "No - you should fire her!!!"

I rewatched Cruising Angels and Of Ghosts and Angels (Season 4, Episodes 12 and 13) Cruising Angels is the standard Bosley-centric episode that was written and filmed every season. Nothing new under the sun here but the Angels have plenty to do even though the spotlight is on Bosley. Everyone actually looks like they're enjoying themselves, especially Cheryl, who was strangely distant through most of the first half of the season. Kris is also better integrated into the action than she had been in most previous Season 4 episodes (with the exceptions of Angels Go Truckin' and Angel Hunt). Of Ghosts and Angels is a split decision for me. To the extent that the Season 4 writers made a concerted effort to respond to Kate Jackson's criticisms regarding formulaic scripts, this episode definitely breaks with the formula. But it goes so far in the other direction that it is way off model for a Charlie's Angels episode. In prior season episodes with a supernatural theme (i.e. Season 3's Haunted Angels), the "haunting" is proven to be a con although psychic abilities are shown to be objectively real. But in Of Ghosts and Angels, the haunting is real. Moreover, Tiffany is shown as being "sensitive" to various paranormal phenomena. This makes for one strange Charlie's Angels episode and not necessarily for the better. (There's also a certain deja vu feeling at work given that the basic set-up for Of Ghosts and Angels bears a strong resemblance to the earlier Season 4 episode, Angels at the Altar).

I rewatched Angel Hunt (Season 4, Episode 11) I don't have much new to add about this episode. After producing and airing a mishmash of 10 mostly Angel-centric and solo episodes, the show came up with this great team episode, which I would rate as the best episode of Season 4 and one of the best episodes of the series. For the first time since episode 2 (Angels Go Truckin'), the old team camaraderie is there. Then there's the added bonus of the Tiffany Welles character getting more character development in these 48 minutes than in the prior 10 episodes combined. Something I never noticed before: There are only 8 speaking characters (the Angels, Bosley, Charlie, the lead villain and his two henchmen) in this entire episode!

I rewatched Angels on Campus (Season 4, Episode 10). This episode was a 'Solo Angels' showcase for Shelley, which followed in the footsteps of the prior 'Solo Angels' episodes ("Avenging Angel" and "Caged Angel"). I'm not as thrilled with this episode as I was when I reviewed it earlier in this thread. On the plus side, it goes a long way toward fleshing out the Tiffany Hill character and actually giving Shelley something to do. Unfortunately, Angels on Campus also exposes the very real limitations of the 'Solo Angels' format. Except for the opening and closing scenes with the entire team gathered together, the Angels and Bosley hardly interact with one another. Shelley has several scenes with David (as does Jaclyn). Shelley and Jaclyn have limited interaction. Cheryl has no scenes with anyone other than a token one where she is talking to Jaclyn and David via car phone. It's as if three separate shows are occurring with David Doyle acting as a very loose binding element. Angels on Campus also highlights once again just how disconnected Cheryl Ladd had become from the rest of the cast in Season Four. Whether it's a 'Solo Angels' episode or a true team episode, Kris remains separate and apart throughout most episodes. I had never noticed this before I started a rewatch of Season 4 but, having noticed it, I'm hard-pressed to unnotice it. The situation with Cheryl/Kris reminds me a lot of the situation with Kate/Sabrina in Season 2. It's tempting to say that odd blood between Cheryl and Shelley resulted in them not being featured together. But then the interactions between Cheryl on the one hand and Jaclyn and David on the other aren't any better. It really makes me wonder just what was going on with the production in the fall of 1979.

I rewatched Angels on Skates (Season 4, episode 9). I don't know that my opinion of this episode has changed much from what I wrote earlier in this thread: "[T]his episode does have great time capsule charm to it with disco music, roller skating, Venice Beach, women wearing Mork from Ork-style suspenders, etc. The only thing missing is Jack Tripper skating by on roller skates!" I would only add that there's one other thing missing - Olivia Newton-John striding on-screen singing "Xanadu"! In a more serious vein, I've noticed that Cheryl was very disconnected from the rest of the cast through the first nine episodes of Season 4. Even in ostensible team episodes like "Love Boat Angels," "Angels on the Street" and "Angels on Skates," Kris goes her ways during the episodes while Kelly, Tiffany and Bosley function (more or less) as the team of old. One wonders what was going on behind the scenes during Season 4. We'll probably never know as all concerned have remained generally tight-lipped about Season 4 (as compared to how chatty everyone is about Seasons 1-3).

All true. But Philip's grandmother (and Alexandra and Elizabeth's sister), Victoria, lived until 1950. Also, Victoria's son - Louis Mountbatten - had met the Imperial family and he was reportedly quite taken with the third daughter, Grand Duchess Maria (who was also his 1st cousin). So, there would have been reminders of the Romanovs everywhere for Philip.

18 Romanovs died at the hands of the Bolsheviks. While Elizabeth II had a connection to many of them, Philip's ties were much, much stronger: Tsarina Alexandra - Philip's great aunt as she was a sister to Philip's maternal grandmother, Victoria. Tsar Nicholas II - Philip's great uncle by marriage (to Alexandra). Also, Philip's 1st cousin once removed - Nicholas and Philip's father, Andrew, were 1st cousins. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna - Philip's great aunt as she was also a sister to Philip's maternal grandmother. Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich - Philip's 1st cousin once removed. Philip's father and Michael were 1st cousins. Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich - Philip's uncle by virtue of Paul's 1st marriage to Philip's aunt, Alexandra (Andrew's elder sister). Paul and Alexandra were parents of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who was one of Rasputin's murderers. Philip and Dmitri were 1st cousins. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich - Philip's uncle by George's marriage to Philip's aunt, Maria (another sister of Andrew). Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich - Philip's great uncle as he was a brother to Philip's paternal grandmother, Queen Olga of Greece. So, for Philip, the Russian Revolution wasn't some dusty affair from history. For him, it resulted in the deaths of many of his closest relatives and he would have known that growing up. As for Marie Feodorovna, she got "lucky" in the sense that Crimea came under German control once the Bolsheviks negotiated a peace treaty with the German Empire in 1918. The Romanovs sheltering in Crimea were safe under German control even though it aggravated Marie F. to no end because she and her sister, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, despised Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany,

November 19th, 1968 was the 54th (!) anniversary of Alexandra Moltke's last appearance on Dark Shadows. Even though Moltke's tenure on the show was only 2 1/3 years, she still ended up in the Top 5 in terms of number of appearances on the show: Jonathan Frid - 593 (4 years) Grayson Hall - 474 (short of 4 years) Nancy Barrett - 403 (entire run) Joan Bennett - 391 (entire run) Alexandra Moltke - 335 (2 1/3 years)

Nicholas, Alexandra and their children were doomed long before the October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to permanent power. George V abandoning Nicholas, Alexandra and the family to their fates remains a severe mark against his character. But offering asylum and then rescinding it was irrelevant to the family's final fate. The last French ambassador to the Imperial court, Maurice Paleologue, wrote this in his Ambassador's Memoirs: "During the last few days a rumour has spread among the mob that "Citizen Romanov" [Nicholas] and his wife "Alexandra the German," are working secretly for a restoration of autocracy, with the connivance of "moderate" ministers. The [Petersburg] Soviet accordingly demanded the immediate arrest of the sovereigns yesterday evening. The Provisional Government yielded to its desires." Paleologue wrote this nine days into the February Revolution. The Bolsheviks were never going to let the Romanovs escape their grasp. In exile, they would serve as a living challenge to what was more than a change in government - the successive revolutions represented an entirely new vision of the world. That's why the Bolsheviks killed every Romanov they could lay hands on, including Nicholas's younger brother, Grand Duke Michael, and Alexandra's older sister, the saintly Grand Duchess Elizabeth (who was an Orthodox nun at the time and whose husband, Grand Duke Sergei, had been assassinated in the Revolution of 1905). (Elizabeth, like Alexandra, was also Prince Philip's great aunt.) To his credit, George V did come to the aid of Nicholas's mother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, who, along with other Romanovs, had sheltered uneasily in Crimea while they waited to see which side would prevail in the Russian Civil War. (Besides being Nicholas's mother, Marie Feodorovna ["Aunt Minnie"] was also George V's aunt - Marie and George's mother, Queen Alexandra, were sisters.) Realizing that the Bolsheviks were advancing on Crimea, George ordered a British warship to rescue his aunt and the other Romanovs. He also provided for Marie Feodorovna's financial upkeep for the remainder of her life.

I rewatched Angels on the Street (Season 4, episode 7) this afternoon. After four consecutive episodes where one Angel predominated (respectively - Kelly, Kelly, Jill, Kris), Angels on the Street is a welcome return to the team format. On the plus side, this episode's treatment of a serious subject matter - street prostitution - was clearly written in response to Kate Jackson's criticisms as to the more lighthearted direction the show had taken in Seasons 2 and 3. If Kate had stayed with the show, I can envision her playing the part that Cheryl ended up playing in this episode. Another plus is the twist that arrives about halfway through the episode. Not only do the Angels have to contend with the violent world of street prostitution but they also have to reckon with a character who has a serious mental illness. On the downside, there are moments that feel like they belong in different episodes altogether given the essentially serious tone of the episode. The comedic sequence with Kelly and Tiffany at the barre in the dance studio, and the two of them posing as prostitutes but looking more like they belong in an episode titled Disco Angels really cut against this episode's grain. There are also some moments that make the Angels and Bosley look incredibly stupid. The four of them (w/ Kelly and Tiffany in full prostitute garb) stupidly meet at the local coffee shop, which immediately arouses the suspicions of the malevolent coffee shop owner/waitress, Georgia (well played by actress Madlyn Rhue). Later, Kris and Bosley don't even notice the pimp and his henchman parked behind them even though the pimp's car is only parked a few feet away. It's bad writing because the only way to make the plot work is to make the Angels and Bosley look as stupid as possible! Still, this is a decent team episode - not the greatest but a step up from the prior 'Solo Angels' episodes.

I rewatched that little bit of Caged Angels (season 4, episode 6) where Kelly and Tiffany pose as nuns in order to pass a message to Kris, who has gone undercover in a women's prison. Jaclyn and Shelley (especially) look like they're having a ball, and it's one of those iconic moments from the series. Cracks me up every time I see it even though it feels like Jaclyn and Shelley have been spliced into this episode from a different Charlie's Angels episode altogether. Otherwise, I'm not a fan of Caged Angel. I can appreciate that Caged Angel would have been conceived and written in response to Kate's complaints that the show had evolved too far away from her original conception of it. But any Charlie's Angels episode where one Angel (in this case, Kris) doesn't interact with the other Angels and Bosley for 30+ minutes and the other Angels and Bosley only appear in two brief office scenes during those 30 minutes, isn't my kind of Charlie's Angels episode.

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula: Part 2 (Original Air Date: September 18, 1977) Summary: As the televised rock festival continues at Dracula's castle, "vampiric attacks" begin occurring in the nearby town. While sleeping in her room at the local inn, Nancy is forced to fend off an attack by a vampire bat. Part 1 of this two-parter was heavy on set-up but this second part is all action. Nancy battling the vampire bat is a highlight although it must be said that the bat itself isn't that far removed from the ones you would have seen on Dark Shadows ten years earlier. (Speaking of Dark Shadows, one of the extras dancing at the festival is dressed as the Barnabas Collins who began showing his actual age during the 1967 storyline. One ABC show saluting another, I suppose.) Otherwise, every old-time vampire movie cliche is trotted out - a coffin, wreaths of garlic, angry townspeople, a sinister, caped figure casting shadows around town, a secret room at the castle. And it all works! The ending scared me when I saw it as a kid although now it brings a smile to my face. Finally, the close-ups of Dracula's boots while he walks around the castle and the town continue unabated in this episode. It would make for a great drinking game - drink every time there's a close-up of Dracula's cool boots!

The handwriting was on the wall in the season opener when Pamela Sue Martin didn't appear in the stylized opening credits along with Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. Instead, she was first billed as a guest star at the start of the episode itself. Martin recovered nicely, though, as she started shooting the pilot for Dynasty in 1980. She would play the part of Fallon Carrington for the first four seasons of the show (1981-84) and, in another instance of her good timing, left the show before it became a caricature of itself. Better to leave a little before it leaves you . . .

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula: Part 1 (Original Air Date: September 11, 1977) Summary: Frank and Joe Hardy head to Europe in search of their missing father, Fenton. They soon encounter Nancy Drew, who is working with Fenton Hardy to investigate a recent series of art thefts. All roads lead to Transylvania, where a televised music festival will be taking place at the historical Dracula's castle. (Headlining the festival is rock star "Allison Troy" [Paul Williams]. Also performing at the Dracula festival are The Circus, led by Elton John's songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, as "Tim".) Once Frank, Joe, Nancy and Nancy's friend, Bess, arrive at the castle/festival, a strange series of events occurs. Is Dracula the culprit? This two-part Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew team-up kicked off Season Two of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. I remember watching this two-parter when I was young, and I was so impressed that it was being filmed in Transylvania. Watching this episode as an adult, I have to laugh at my younger self because "Dracula's castle" and "Transylvania" were clearly sets on the Universal Studio lot, where ABC filmed both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. That being said, there's a lot of old-fashioned 70s television goodness to enjoy in the first part of this two-parter. The episode isn't scary but the Dracula's castle sets, with their secret passageways, are fun in a Scooby Doo kind of way. A televised rock festival with Paul Williams as the headliner is amusing given that 1977 was the year punk rock was at its highwater mark. But the 'Dracula's Festival' concept provides the perfect excuse for Shaun Cassidy (as Joe) to get up on stage to sing some of his then-popular songs. Parker Stevenson (as Frank) and Pamela Sue Martin (as Nancy) have good chemistry with one another, and Nancy is in full action mode here. Action Nancy is the always the best Nancy. Finally, I have to mention the numerous shots of "Dracula," which consist of close-ups of his (admittedly cool) boots while he walks menacingly through the castle. Given the overabundance of boot shots, someone involved in the production may have had a footwear fetish! Review of Part 2 to come . . .

There are several great voices in The Fog. Adrienne Barbeau's voice is pitch perfect for a character who works into the wee hours of the morning as a DJ at a jazz station. And Hal Holbrook has that impressive delivery as Father Malone.

I couldn't find a standalone topic dealing with The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries series from the 1970s so I thought I would create one! I watched "The Mystery of Pirate's Cove" this weekend. (This was the first Nancy Drew episode of Season 1 and the second episode of the season after the Hardy Boys adventure, "The Mystery of the Haunted House".) In "Pirate's Cove," Nancy and her friends George and Ned see a light shining out of a long-abandoned lighthouse. Is the lighthouse haunted? Or is something else afoot? The two best things this nifty little detective story has going for it are (1) Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy, and (2) the strong sense of atmosphere that comes from this episode having been filmed in and around an actual lighthouse. In her debut as Nancy, Martin is very believable as the smart, resourceful detective who knows that something isn't quite right at the lighthouse even though everyone around her is trying to convince her otherwise. The location shooting at a lighthouse (both inside and outside) on the Pacific coast adds to the atmosphere as do the shots of the immensity of the Pacific in the background. On the down side, some of the supporting characters are off-model when compared to their characterizations in the books (as they were up to that point.) Ned in particular is different from his book counterpart and exists mostly to make Nancy look good in comparison. Looking forward to the Season 2 two-parter, "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula". I watch it every Halloween season!

I rewatched "Angels at the Altar" tonight. (It was the fourth episode of the 1979-80 season.) This episode has some amusing moments (Kris to Tiffany: "Have you ever broken up a wedding?") but, basically, it's a mess. "Angels at the Altar" is a Kelly-centric episode which, coming hard on the heels of Jaclyn's 'solo Angels' episode, "Avenging Angel," means that there were two episodes in a row where the team aspect of the show goes by the wayside in favor of one Angel. The Angels and Bosley barely interact with one another and, when they do, they stupidly do it in a way that attracts the attention of the nefarious bridesmaid ("Why would Kelly be speaking to a bartender [Bosley], a maid [Kris] and a violinist [Tiffany]?") [The Angels would do something equally stupid in episode seven, "Angels on the Street".] There's an unintentionally hilarious fight scene between "Kris" and the "nefarious bridesmaid" due to the bridesmaid clearly being a stunt man in a dress and a wig. Charlie's Angels was notorious for its bad stunt doubles! Unfortunately, more non-team episodes followed immediately after this one with "Fallen Angel" (Farrah's first return episode of Season 4) and "Caged Angel" (Cheryl's first 'solo Angel' episode). It wasn't until the aforementioned "Angels on the Street" that the audience got another team episode.

"Hey . . . there's a fog bank out there!" So many great lines in The Fog!

I second this. The Fog doesn't have the same name recognition that some of Carpenter's other efforts do but it does have a deserved following. It's very atmospheric and Carpenter uses the isolated, windswept coastal setting to maximum effect. In addition to Curtis and Leigh, genre favorites Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook, Nancy Loomis and Charles Cyphers are also on hand. Barbeau, in particular, contributes a lot to the film in her role as a radio DJ who operates out of a converted lighthouse looking out on the ocean. She's the one who has to keep the coastal village of Antonio Bay informed about "the fog" once it comes ashore. It's a tough part because Barbeau spends most of the movie without scene partners to act with. Apparently, Carpenter deemed the first cut to be unsatisfactory so cast and crew went back to film a lot of inserts. You can notice it in the final cut because certain plot points don't necessarily stand up to close inspection. But who cares? The Fog is a fun little horror movie that's perfect for the Halloween season.

I think Aaron Spelling was entranced by the idea of the "Charlie Girl" becoming a "Charlie's Angel" - hence the hiring of Shelley. And it did generate a floodtide of publicity in the short term. But the problem the production staff ran into once shooting started in 1979 was that no one had any idea who the Tiffany Welles character was supposed to be or how to align that character with what Shelley could - and could not - do at that point. You certainly couldn't have the newest Angel fill the position Sabrina had held as the Angel everyone else looked to for leadership. Naturally, the audience would expect Kelly to assume that position as the Angel with the most seniority. The introduction of the 'solo Angels' format in Season 4 and the frontloading of the 'Farrah returns' episodes in the first half of the season also meant that precious time was lost developing the Tiffany character. By the time the show got around to writing for Shelley with "Angels on Campus" and "Angel Hunt," the season was almost half over. I do think the second half of Season 4 was more favorable to Shelley and she did come into her own by the end. Certainly, Shelley (and Tiffany) were the only things that made "One Love . . . Two Angels" tolerable. But, by that point, the show had finished the season at #20. So, it was easier to get rid of Shelley rather than admitting the show had problems that weren't going to be solved by hiring a replacement Angel, which Season 5 amply demonstrated. (I should also note that the show finished Season 3 outside of the Top Ten. So, it was already cooling while Kate Jackson was still there.)

I rewatched "Angels Go Truckin'" from Season 4 last night. (It was the second episode of the 1979-80 season.) After the so-so two-hour premiere which was a strange hybrid of a Cheryl Ladd solo episode and a Bert Convy-Bo Hopkins buddy adventure, the series rebounded nicely with this episode as Kris and Tiffany go undercover as truckers and Kelly poses as a waitress at a diner. Cheryl Ladd and Shelley Hack work very well together in this and all concerned appear to be enjoying themselves. (I never noticed it before but the underscoring contains several wonderful treatments of the Charlie's Angels theme.) It's a pity that there weren't more team stories like this in the first half of the season. But after "Angels Go Truckin'" aired, the series then slipped into the "solo Angels" format with "Avenging Angel" (Kelly) and "Caged Angel" (Kris). Then there were two Farrah "returns" episodes ("Fallen Angel" and "The Prince and the Angel") and a Kelly-centric team episode ("Angels at the Altar"). Only "Angels on the Street" is a true team story. By the time the series got around to featuring Tiffany in "Angels on Campus" and "Angel Hunt," the first half of the season was almost over.

What makes the Heather-Alice relationship hold up after four decades is that the truth of the relationship is elusive. Alice blamed Heather for all of her unhappiness and, certainly, Heather gave Alice plenty of ammunition regarding Alice's opinion of Heather as this bad seed daughter. But Heather brought up memories of when she was a child and how Alice was the one who caused so much unhappiness in their home. Which one was right? Or were they both right? It was precisely this elusiveness which the brought the ending to the Diana Taylor murder mystery to such a compelling conclusion.