Cheryl Ladd Believes Charlie's Angels Groundbreaking Nature Is The Reason It Remains Timeless

Decades after "Charlie's Angels" aired on ABC, series star Cheryl Ladd reflected on the show, and why it resonated so much with viewers. "I think the original [series] for its time, it was kind of groundbreaking," she revealed in a 2020 interview with "Home and Family" (via YouTube). "Nobody had seen three young women being the stars of a television show before."

But the female-fronted cast wasn't the only reason "Charlie's Angels" was considered groundbreaking. In a flashback about the series published by McGill Tribune, it was pointed out that once they were hired by Charlie Townsend's detective agency, the three Angels, who at first worked low-level jobs with their police academy credentials, used their skills to handle "important missions" usually reserved for men. For the first time, a TV show reflected a real change in workplace roles with the financially independent female crime-fighting trio.

Ladd revealed that even today, women come up to her to tell her how the show inspired them to "go for something" that they may not have tried if they hadn't been inspired by the show. In an interview with People, Ladd said that when she was on "Charlie's Angels" in the 1970s, she would get letters from young women who would tell her they were pursuing careers as police officers and "taking chances to be something else other than the acceptable school teacher or secretary. "