Product Details

• Actors: Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, David Doyle, David Ogden Stiers
• Directors: John Llewellyn Moxey
• Writers: Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff
• Producers: Aaron Spelling, Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff, Leonard Goldberg, Shelley Hull
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
• Run Time: 1164 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008WJEZ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,605 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Charlie's Angels: The Complete First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

America's guiltiest pleasure of 1976--the inaugural season of Charlie's Angels--has returned in all its jiggly, jolly glory in this tidy boxed set. It's hard to describe just how captivated the nation's media and viewing public were with cheesemeister Aaron Spelling's ABC-TV hit, but for awhile Charlie's Angels was wildly popular appointment television at its most self-consciously banal. The first season's three (and best-remembered) belles--lioness Farrah Fawcett (then Farrah Fawcett-Majors), pin-up babe Jaclyn Smith, and Thinking Man's beauty Kate Jackson--were something like primetime Spice Girls, gracing countless magazine covers and bestselling posters. The idea (even if a fan of the show didn't happen to be a straight male) was that one was compelled to choose a favorite angel as a kind of ink-blot window onto one's subconscious life.

While the 2000 Angels feature film (starring Cameron Diaz, etc.) kept faith with the original show's self-mockingly sloppy storytelling, there's nothing like seeing the old episodes for a lesson in narrative hubris. Basically, the three leading characters were bored policewomen wooed away to a private firm owned and operated by the unseen sybarite, Charlie (voiced--over speakerphone--by an uncredited John Forsythe). After a long set-up each week, the girls' investigations typically saw them going undercover: as fashion models--no great stretch--in "Night of the Strangler"; nurses in "Terror on Ward One"; roller-derby stars in "Angels on Wheels"; and vulnerable convicts (of course) in "Angels In Chains." The exploitation factor is not as bad as it might have been. The cast was so glamorous, their chemistry so perfect, Charlie's Angels never became a mere meat market. Despite such nods to modernity as Fawcett's no-bra look, the episodes were old-fashioned in their heroine-in-peril appeal, yet there was a difference: The Angels looked out for themselves and each other. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

This five-disc compilation features the entire First Season with the original Angels Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith and all their adventures from one of the most classic shows in television history.

Once upon a time, Jill, Sabrina and Kelly were police officers whose skills were being wasted in menial duties such as answering phones and filing. A mysterious millionaire named Charles Townsend took them away from all that by opening his own private investigation agency and hiring these gorgeous ladies as his operatives with John Bosley acting as their assistant and liaison.

NOTE:The Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired can be turned on or off by using remote of the DVD player.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Once Upon a Time, There Were Three Little Girls.......... June 18, 2003

By Tucker

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's great to have this 5-disc complete first season compilation on DVD. Although no one will confuse Charlie's Angels with "quality" television (this show was never meant to be taken seriously), this campy series is just plain fun, even 27 years later. Most episodes are light on plotline but the appeal of it's three stars make up for that. Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Jaclyn Smith have a chemistry unmatched by any of the future Angel pairings. Season One contains the series most "infamous" episode, "Angels in Chains." Every single "women in prison" cliche is here......the brutal prison matrons, the leacherous sheriff and deputy, the crooked warden and of course the obligatory shower scene. This is probably the highlight of the season.

This DVD collection gets high marks for including the original movie pilot. Although the pilot movie is just average, I haven't seen it since it first aired, so it was a nice bonus. Although Jaclyn Smith is featured prominently in the pilot, it was meant to be a showcase for Kate Jackson. Kate (for whom the series was created) was originally supposed to play Kelly Garrett but decided to play Sabrina at the last minute, thus Jaclyn Smith gets most of the screen time in the movie.
Unfortunately, the pilot movie is the best that can be said about the extras in the DVD collection. It also contains a rather dull featurette called "Angels Forever" which consists of a lot of geeky fans reminiscing about the series. TV Land and the E network had much better features about the series. Alas none of the stars are featured offering their thoughts on the series. The DVD also does not contain chapter selections for each episode, which is rather irritating. The packaging of the collection is certainly sparse as well. Each disc is contained in a flimsy plastic cover. Hopefully Sony Entertainment will correct these issues in future seasons.

I suspect the appeal of this series lies predominantly with those of us who remember when it first aired in the 1970s. Today, it's hard to believe this innocent, cheesey little show caused as much controversy as it did. It's nice to see that Chucky's girls are still fun to watch after all these years.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A bona fide TV classic... July 27, 2005

By Britt Gillette

Format:DVD

Long before Magnum, PI put Tom Selleck on the map, Charlie's Angels owned the world of TV private eyes. Nominated for 4 Emmys and 7 Golden Globes, including 2 for Best TV Series - Drama, Charlie's Angels was a truly rare overnight sensation. The forerunner to modern day shows such as La Femme Nikita and Alias, creators Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts capped off long careers as showbiz writers by penning the unforgettable story of three sexy and vivacious private investigators. Executive producer Aaron Spelling (linked to innumerable hit shows such as Beverly Hills 90210, The Love Boat, Melrose Place, Dynasty, 7th Heaven, and Charmed among others) played a prominent role in the pop culture explosion of this series which witnessed the immediate mass marketing of Charlie's Angels trading cards, posters, lunchboxes, and endless other memorabilia - including a full-length feature film of the same name two decades later (2000). Through the duration of the series (five seasons), the cast changed continuously as Charlie's angels became media stars in their own right and left to pursue various opportunities in modeling, film, and TV...

Charlie's Angels centers around a group of gorgeous female ex-police officers hired to work for the Charles Townsend Detective Agency. A mysterious multi-millionaire with seemingly unlimited means, Charles Townsend communicates with his girls via speaker-phone and through the aid of his personal assistant, John Bosley (David Doyle). Charlie sends the girls on various undercover missions and dangerous assignments where they apprehend criminals and pursue justice with a vengeance. The original angels are Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson) who plays the role of the "smartest" angel, Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) who plays the part of the "street-smart" angel, and Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett) who plays the role of the "athletic" angel. Together, they unleash their collective talents on the criminal underworld, putting their own lives at risk in process... As the show progressed, Jill Munroe left as a regular on the series and was replaced by her sister Kris (Cheryl Ladd). The following year, Sabrina left the agency to tend to her family and was replaced by Tiffany (Shelley Hack) and later by Julie (Tanya Roberts)...

The Charlie's Angels (Season 1) DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the series premiere "Hellride" in which the audience first learns of the mysterious Charles Townsend Detective Agency and the beautiful women who comprise the majority of its agents. When a female racecar driver suffers a questionable death, Charlie sends the girls out to uncover the truth. To get the job done, Sabrina poses as a racecar driver, and the girls discover the existence of a murderous conspiracy... Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Bullseye" in which the angels uncover a drug-ring owned and operated by two corrupt military officials, and "The Vegas Connection" in which the angels and Bosley travel to Las Vegas in order to catch a deviant con artist...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Charlie's Angels (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Hellride)

Episode 2 (The Mexican Connection)

Episode 3 (Night of the Strangler)

Episode 4 (Angels in Chains)

Episode 5 (Target: Angels)

Episode 6 (The Killing Kind)

Episode 7 (To Kill an Angel)

Episode 8 (Lady Killer)

Episode 9 (Bullseye)

Episode 10 (Consenting Adults)

Episode 11 (The Seance)

Episode 12 (Angels on Wheels)

Episode 13 (Angel Trap)

Episode 14 (The Big Tap Out)

Episode 15 (Angels on a String)

Episode 16 (Dirty Business)

Episode 17 (The Vegas Connection)

Episode 18 (Terror on Ward One)

Episode 19 (Dancing in the Dark)

Episode 20 (I Will Be Remembered)

Episode 21 (Angels at Sea)

Episode 22 (The Blue Angels)

The DVD Report

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars ANGELS FALL SHORT May 28, 2003

By ...

Format:DVD

Let me preface this review with the fact that I am huge Charlies Angels fan and have been anxiously awaiting this release for years!

I do not believe these were taken from the master, as they come across a little grainy, but I could be wrong, and with every toss of hair and judo chop I seemed to care less and less how grainy it seemed.

The two reasons I feel this DVD falls short are (1)Each disc is inside a plastic case without any artwork or photograph except a label featuring each actress (making it look as if they were bootlegged). (2)The real disapointment was the featurette which was predominantly clips spliced togteher with interviews with fans and a bunch of nobody's who some have not even seen a single episode! Not a single Angel is intervewed, not even Aaron Spelling (although Leonard Goldberg is shown occasionally).

All in all, I am glad to have these classic episodes at my fingertips and hope the second season is better packaged although Farrah is featured in only one or two episodes.