Water In The Gas

Shelley with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd

in a fab and glamorous promo pic

for Charlie's Angels, 1979

Supermodel Shelley Hack joined cast of Charlie's Angels for its fourth season in 1979; and everyone was so excited to see THE Charlie Girl become a Charlie's Angel. She took over from Kate Jackson (who left after the third season), joining Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd (who took over from Farrah Fawcett, who left after the first season). Since the series had women as leads, it was always unfairly plagued by rumors of catfights and jealousy on the set. The fourth season was no different. Immediately, tongues started wagging about the three main stars not getting along. But Shelley dispelled the rumors by saying that Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd had been nothing but nice to her.

Shelley with fellow Charlie's Angels Kate Jackson,

Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd

in a writeup for the French edition

of Story magazine, 1981

The rumor mill persisted nonetheless. In 1981, Charlie's first five Angels were featured in a writeup for the French-language edition of the Belgian magazine Story (It seems the 4th season of Charlie's Angels was aired around 1981 in Belgium and France. The 5th season was aired in those countries much later, in the 1990s). In a writeup called "There Is Water In The Gas (**) Among Charlie's Angels," rumors about the behind-the-scenes events on the set of Charlie's Angels was the topic. The English translation of the heading goes something like:

There Is Water In The Gas Among Charlie's Angels

Discord reigns within the new trio. Is it jealousy, fear of being replaced? Maybe. Still, Jaclyn Smith is not worried. "I've been here since the beginning, since the creation of the series." she explains. "Every day that passes is great for me, because I am a Charlie's Angel."

Charlie's Angels first season finished at no. 5 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1976 TV season. It rose to no. 4 for its 2nd season. It experienced a significant drop for its third season, to no. 12. For its fourth season, it finished at no. 18 - still within TV's top 20 shows (not bad for a four year old show). But Shelley was unfairly blamed for the ratings drop experienced during that season. And everything about her was cited as the reason for the ratings decline - from her acting to her rapport with the other Angels to her hairdo. It seems, many had forgotten that she was given little to say and do during the first half of the season, when the show lost many of its viewers. Shelley was replaced by Tanya Roberts for the fifth season and the show dropped out of TV's top 20 shows.

The fabulous women of Charlie's Angels

(clockwise from the below center):

Kate Jackson, Shelley Hack, Jaclyn Smith,

Cheryl Ladd, Tanya Roberts, Farrah Fawcett

**The French expression "Il y a de l'eau dans le gaz" (which translates in English to "there is water in the gas") refers to an occurrence observed on a gas stove; when water enters the holes in a gas stove, the flame tends to go out. The expression is used to say that the atmosphere in a certain situation is tense and an argument is brewing.