GREAT news for everyone who can't stay awake for an entire episode of Matlock!
The Minisode Network -- a broadband channel launched in June on MySpace -- specializes in condensed versions of vintage television programs. Shows like T.J. Hooker, Fantasy Island and Silver Spoons have been pruned down from their original, full-length running times to a tidy five minutes or so. "The shows you love, only shorter," goes the Minisode mantra.
From left, Shelley Hack, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd.
(The idea was sparked by Seven Minute Sopranos, a wildly popular YouTube video chronicling the first five seasons of the HBO series in seven minutes, 36 seconds.)
Fans of the jiggle-TV classic Charlie's Angels can also catch abbreviated broadcasts of that program at www.charliesangels.com. The exhaustive website is the work of Michael Pingel, a Los Angeles-based actor who this year celebrates his 30-year love affair with the campy she-tective drama.
Charlie's Angels was an out-of-the-box hit when it debuted in 1976, but Pingel -- just eight years old at the time -- had to wait until season 2 before his parents allowed him to stay up and see what all the fuss was about. No VCRs or DVRs in those days. Instead, Pingel would hold his portable tape recorder up to the television set in an attempt to preserve each week's instalment. When he wasn't busy memorizing dialogue, Pingel was at the mall, spending every last cent of his allowance on anything associated with the show.
Michael Pingel hasn't lost his childhood enthusiasm for the foxy TV detectives of Charlie's Angels.
"(Series producer) Aaron Spelling had the magic touch; he was to TV toys what George Lucas was to Star Wars," Pingel says when contacted at home. "Trading cards, puzzles, books, board games, luggage, shot glasses -- you name it, he licensed it."
Pingel mentions that instant collectors' items were created in 1977 when Farrah Fawcett-Majors, who played the character Jill Munroe, abruptly left the show at the height of its popularity.
"There had been a huge release of Charlie's Angels merchandise that fall, but then suddenly you had Farrah leaving and Cheryl Ladd taking her place. So what a lot of companies did with their dolls, for example, was remove Farrah's head and replace it with Cheryl's."
Pingel, an army brat growing up, says his collection actually benefited from a move to Germany midway through the show's six-year run.
"Charlie's Angels was huge everywhere, so it worked out well -- I was able to get a bunch of European posters etc. that I couldn't have bought otherwise," he says.
On the downside, Pingel's cache eventually became so formidable that by the time he reached his late teens, his parents had ordered him to begin downsizing.
"I regret to this day the stuff I threw away -- some of it would be priceless," he says.
But don't shed too many tears. Pingel has since recaptured most of what got tossed. His present-day count of Charlie's Angels hair dryers, Halloween costumes and spy kits numbers in the thousands. It's all neatly on display in his L.A. bedroom. And yes, he lives alone.
Two years ago, Pingel released Angelic Heaven, a definitive guide to iconography related to the show.
"I have most of the stuff that's in the book, but there are some things I'm still looking for. No. 1, probably, is the Charlie's Angels walkie-talkies. There was a set for sale on eBay three or four years ago, but it went for $2,100."
Pingel's collection -- arguably the largest of its kind in the world -- has been exhibited at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. And although he isn't in the market for any memorabilia associated with the recent big-screen productions, he does credit Drew Barrymore and Co. for introducing the old series to a new generation.
"The movies sparked a lot of interest with young people," Pingel says. "I find it heart-warming to get e-mails from 13-year-olds who've seen the original on TNT and tell me that Charlie's Angels is their favourite show ever."
Not content with paper dolls any more, Pingel has met personally with each of the six actresses who starred in the series. He currently works as a consultant for Cheryl Ladd's official website and as a publicist for Farrah Fawcett.
"I kid around, saying that what I'm collecting these days are the actual Angels," he says with a laugh. "But seriously, it's been really nice getting to know them ... and even nicer that none of them have put out a restraining order on me."
Pingel's second book, The Q Guide to Charlie's Angels, will be released in 2008. It will examine the show from a gay perspective.
If you'd like to share the story of your collection with our
readers -- anything from soup to lug nuts -- please contact David Sanderson at david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca.
His column appears bimonthly.
Angels on high
HERE'S a list of the title characters who appeared on Charlie's Angels during the show's run, along with the names of the actresses who portrayed them.
SABRINA DUNCAN
1976-1979
played by Kate Jackson
JILL MUNROE
1976-1977
and guest appearances in '78, '79, '80), played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors
KELLY GARRETT
1976-1981
played by Jaclyn Smith
KRIS MUNROE
1977-1981
played by Cheryl Ladd
TIFFANY WELLES
1979-1980
played by Shelley Hack
JULIE ROGERS
1980-1981
played by Tanya Roberts
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