a closeup of Shelley
from a Charlie's Angels publicity pic, 1979
Shelley became Charlie's 5th Angel in 1979. She was handpicked by Aaron Spelling for the role of Tiffany "Tiff" Welles due to her impeccable background. She was a bright young woman with a high I.Q. from upscale Greenwich, Connecticut. She had a history degree from Smith (a classy East Coast college.) And, because of her Revlon Charlie endorsements, she was already one of the most recognizable faces in the world. "We hired her 40 percent from the screen test and 60 percent from the personality test," Spelling told TV Guide, "We decided she was a nice person with sparkle and intelligence." Shelley's debut episode "Love Boat Angels" topped the Nielsen ratings when it first aired; and it looked like Charlie's Angels was in for another explosive season with the addition of this Supermodel Angel. (NOTE: Charlie's Angels had already slipped significantly from #4 to #12 in the ratings on its third season in 1978.)
a writeup about Shelley and the Angels from 1980
But after the second episode, Shelley wasn't given the same amount of lines as her fellow Angels. THE OFFICIAL EXPLANATION: The production was ready to go with only two Angels so the third Angel was written sparingly. “We want to introduce the new Angel gradually.” THE TRUTH: According to producer Ed Lakso, the persona of Tiffany and the performance of Shelley did not create the desired effect. Shelley was left so far in the background in the earlier episodes of the season that, in some of those episodes, she was almost forgotten. After three episodes at the top 10, the ratings began to descend to the 20's, and then to the 30's. This prompted the writers to play up Shelley's role, but it was too late. Surprisingly, she did very well in these later episodes; but, unfortunately, many viewers had lost interest in the show. She was let go at the end of the season. They "can say I didn't work out, but it isn't true. What happened was a network war. A business decision was made. Change the time slot or bring in some publicity. How to get publicity? A new Angel hunt. Who is the obvious person to replace? I am — the new kid on the block," Shelley told People in 1980. (FYI: In spite of everything, in the Nielsen ratings, the fourth season of Charlie's Angels still finished within TV's top 20 shows of 1979, at #18, tied with CHiPs)
