While many critics admonished Charlie’s Angels as “jiggle television,” many viewers felt that the series advocated for women in positions of power. It was a sentiment that executive producer Aaron Spelling seemed to agree with.

Spelling spoke about what truly made the series special in his memoir, Aaron Spelling: A Prime Time Life. The producer seemed to feel that the series took three women and put them in the driver’s seat.

“The show is about three beautiful private detectives named Sabrina, Jill, and Kelly,” wrote Spelling. “Instead of taking messages for their male bosses, these women really did the legwork, fighting and collaring each episode’s villain. In doing so, they developed the type of buddy relationship previously reserved for male heroes. So even when one of the angels did end up in jeopardy and needed to be saved, it was another angel, not a man, who did the rescuing.”

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Despite this passionate defense, the series certainly wasn’t exempt from criticism.

“Still, we were crucified for this show,” wrote Spelling. “We could never figure out what the griping was about. Was it because we were the first show with three beautiful women? I don’t know too many men on TV who are unattractive. Was it because they were sometimes in bathing suits? When my kids go to the beach, they see more bikinis in one day than anybody saw on the series.”

Spelling didn’t let the criticisms bother him. He was confident in the series. Moreover, audiences believed in it.

“The show was camp,” wrote Spelling. “Fantasy. We were just trying to have fun. Charlie’s Angels was exactly what it set out to be: light, escapist entertainment. A glamorous, upbeat, and colorful fantasy. Look at the situations they got themselves into. The scalding steam bath capers, the cruise ship with the homicidal maniac aboard, the time the facelift farm was taken over by mobsters. Reality? Come on.”