'Charlie's Angels' May Return to ABC

ABC is closing in on a new treatment of Charlie's Angels, one of the network's long-running series from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Variety reminds us that Aaron Spelling tried to revive the property in the late 80s, and there was an attempt in 2004 that never got to the pilot stage. But this one is expected to at least get that far, with Drew Barrymore among the show's producers. You don't need to be reminded of her role in the two Angels films, one a nice diversion and the other a giant wad of suck. You might be like me, thinking, "Well, ABC has had such great luck with that remake of Eastwick, this is a no-brainer." Except that Eastwick was canceled rather quietly last week. Variety says that The Alphabet is "riding high" from the success of V, although that twice baked series suffered a whopping 29% audience loss from its premiere week, according to TV By the Numbers. That's the largest drop of any show all season. Granted, there was a lot of hype for the first show and now it's sort of settled down, but dropping behind NCIS in week two was probably not the plan. However, there's no question that the name Charlie's Angels is a bigger draw than V or Witches of Eastwick, so maybe this isn't the dumbest idea I've heard all week. (Far from it, in fact, since I read about the plot for Monopoly.) The first film was a good example of how you can take something old and familiar and turn it on its head. The trouble the second movie had, in my opinion, was that it tried to squeeze too many new things into 90 minutes. With a series, you can take your time with that stuff. But the action heroine genre is not big business in TV these days: The Bionic Woman tanked hard, Sarah Connor and Dollhouse couldn't make it two seasons, and even Alias started to tail off towards the end. I'm not saying a hit is impossible, but it's far from being a guarantee.

Comments

[Will]

I predict that 'V' is not renewed for a second season. Unlike Flash Forward, it is not a very good show.

As for Charlie's Angels, Disney/ABC would be smart to reinvent it for younger audiences, because I don't think adults will tune in (Unless, of course, there are Bill Murray cameos from time to time).