MovieChat Forums > Charlie's Angels (1976) Discussion > About the Shelley Hack Argument Going on...

About the Shelley Hack Argument Going on Here...

posted 7 years ago by horizonbeach
7 replies | jump to latest

I keep reading where people believe that Shelley Hack was given lines that were meant for Kate Jackson. Now, I know that this was the case when Cheryl Ladd stepped in at the beginning of season two and the scripts were already written with Farrah in mind, but Farrah quit rather abruptly and unexpectedly and not long before they were set to start filming season 2. Aaron Spelling actually did think that Farrah was coming back for the second season until the very last minute and the episodes had literally been written with Farrah in them.

Kate's departure, on the other hand, was expected and pretty much a done deal by the end of season 3. No one expected her to be there for season 4. The lines and role in the story line that Shelley was given, particularly in the season opener, "Love Boat Angels" and the next several episodes after that were fairly pathetic and miniscule, except for in "Angels Go Truckin'" which was an earlier episode. The writers would have never written the story line this way if they thought that Sabrina was going to be there, it would have seemed very, very odd, since she was always such an important and equal part of the equation. Also, some of the lines that Shelley was given were patently NOT Sabrina, such as when they're sitting in the ship's cabin with Dick Sargent and she spouts some kind of Latin phrase and then acts all proud and giddy about it. Can you seriously imagine Sabrina doing that or even saying that line? In three years she never spouted Latin phrases, why would she start now?

I'm just saying...I don't think that season four was written with Kate Jackson in mind, as was the case with Cheryl/Farrah in season 2. To suggest that Shelley didn't bring it because her lines were meant for someone else just doesn't hold water. It certainly didn't hurt Cheryl Ladd, and we actually know that this was the case with her because of the unexpected way that Farrah left.

I don't think that Shelley was a terrible actress all the time. She had a lot of weak moments in CA, but she also had some where she really shone, especially towards the end of the season. I think she should have been given another season and more story lines like "Angels on Campus" and "Of Ghosts and Angels" to show what she could do as she grew as an actress, but I don't think that anyone should be blaming the lines she was given on CA as a reason why she didn't succeed.

[–] thylacine80 7 years ago

Most people here are praising Hack's talent and regret that her character wasn't given a real direction until half season.

The fact that her lines were (or were not) written for Jackson doesn't change that.
I love Tiffany and I heard that her lines were written for Kate in mind.
But to be honest, I don't really care if it's true or not.

[–] sherm456 7 years ago

She really did improve a whole lot by the end of the season, especially impressive considering we're talking a matter of months and, yeah, she didn't have much screen time during which she could work on her craft. I think her acting in One Love Two Angels was as good as any of the other CA actresses. None of the actresses were truly phenomenal on the show. Not even Kate Jackson.

[–] TMC-4 (19386) 7 years ago

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/19354681-who-was-the-worst-charlie-s-angels-replacement-actress-

Shelley was worse. She didn't fit in at all. She wasn't believable as a detective or had the sex appeal the show required. She was also not a very good actress. They cut many of her scenes in her first episode because she was so bad. She improved some as the season progressed, but it was too little too late. The ratings were dropping big time (60% over the course of the season).

Tanya was not a strong actress either but she did have a tough edge to her and had sex appeal. I thought they should've made her character tougher though, so she would've stood out more. They made her seem quite airheaded at times and inconsistently written. Cheryl Ladd said she was glad when Tanya came along because got a lot of bikini scenes so she herself wouldn't have to do so many.

—Anonymous

reply 9 an hour ago

[–] sdtcats 7 years ago

Thank you horizonbeach. Shelley was NOT reading scripts meant for Kate. They knew they were going to let her go midway through season 3. All you have to do is watch Angels Go Truckin'. Does anybody here really think they would have had Sabrina paired of with Kris driving the trucks or would she have been the waitress like Kelly was. If Shelley was reading scripts meant for Kate, she would have played the waitress. If you look back on the season 2 and 3 episodes they had Kris and Kelly paired off almost always. Of course that's just speculation on my part but I'm pretty sure if Kate was around for season 4 this would have been the case.

[–] onwardsandupwards 7 years ago

Hacks lack of acting experience was apparent in the early episodes of season four.

It came largely from her manner of speaking. Instead of sounding like she was having a normal conversation with the other characters, Hack's line readings suggest she was trying to commit as much to memory as possible what her dialogue was, before the cameras started rolling.

Consequently the end result was that her speech pattern and moreover manner of talking sounds quite "rehearsed" - like she is trying to ensure her enunciation was clear (which it was) but in the process it was robbed of natural speech rhythm.

To that end, Jackson was the better actress. Sabrina's way of talking had a natural cadence to it. Not as carefully structured as Tiffany's was.

However being a television series, the turnover time is fast and Hack proved herself a quick study and as the season progress, the confidence in her work increased. She seemed less "mannered" and more natural in later episodes.

[–] engle_james 7 years ago

I remember reading not that Shelley Hack was reading lines written for Kate Jackson, but rather that early on, the producers took many of her lines and gave them to the other 2 actresses, because they didn't think Hack was doing a good enough job. Less dialogue meant less screen time, so it was harder for the audience to get to know Tiffany.

[–] InherentlyYours 7 years ago

We didn't want to know Hack/Tiffany-- we just wanted her to exit camera range, so we could focus our eyes back on the screen