On This Day, March 21, 1976...

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On this day, March 21, 1976, the Charlie's Angels TV show (pilot) aired for the first time.

This 72-minute pilot film aired as a "movie-of-the-week" and stars the original cast members; Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith). Also appearing in the pilot episode are David Doyle (as John Bosley) and David Ogden Steirs (as the company lawyer Scott Woodville). Many of the scenes used in the opening credits of the tv series are from the original pilot film.
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The guest cast in the pilot film consisted of familiar faces including Bo Hopkins, Diana Muldaur, and Tommy Lee Jones. John Llewellyn Moxey, a veteran of British horror films, directed the pilot film.
Filming began in July 1975. Due to the length of the program, the pilot has rarely been shown. A ratings powerhouse when it premiered on March 21, 1976 (got a 54.8 viewing share), Charlie's Angels resulted in the long-running (and frequently recast) weekly series, which aired from September 22, 1976, through August 19, 1981.