Shelley in a promo pic from 1979
Shelley became Angel no. 5 in 1979 when she joined the cast of Charlie's Angels. Shelley was already a Supermodel when she joined the hit TV series and was known worldwide as THE Charlie Girl in those Revlon Charlie TV commercials and print ads. She auditioned, went though a screen test, and even a personality test; but what really got her the part, it seems, was the headline "THE Charlie Girl becomes Charlie's newest Angel" which was going through Angels exec producer Aaron Spelling's head as he was choosing TV's latest cherub. Also, Shelley had good rapport with her new co-Angels Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith; plus, the three photographed really well together. When Shelley's debut episode "Love Boat Angels" aired, it topped the Nielsen ratings. But after three episodes at the top 10, the ratings began descending to the 20s, then to the 30s.
a writeup about Shelley from 1980
Shelley was blamed for the decline in the ratings that season. But was it really her fault? The show had already declined the previous season (from TV's Top 4 overall in 1977 to TV's Top 12 overall in 1978); yet the show was never improved script-wise or plot-wise. They said she couldn't act; but she wasn't bad in the TV movie Death Car on the Freeway and in her Love Boat guesting (she was quite impressive in this one) - both of which came out during her tenure as an Angel. She wasn't given much to say or do during the first half of the season - when she was hot property and everyone wanted a piece of her. Only when the ratings began to go south was she finally given more lines and more significance in the plot - and she wasn't bad at all. You could actually see her taking over from Sabrina Duncan as the head Angel in her last episode "One Love... Two Angels: Part 2". The big question is why wasn't she given a chance to shine during the first half of the season - when she was the hottest name in Hollywood and everyone wanted to see and hear more from her? It was Charlie's Angels after all, and she could obviously handle the material. (For its fourth season, Charlie's Angels finished within TV's Top 20 shows overall... not bad for a four year old show).
Shelley in a promo pic from 1979
