TWoP had an interesting article about this and some rather nice casting choices and ideas about who should stay the hell away from this is they want it to succeed:
t first, the
news that ABC would be remaking Charlie's Angels made me roll my eyes in annoyance at yet another remake, as I'm sure it caused most people to do, but after looking closer at the story, I kind of think it could be fun. Josh Friedman, former showrunner of
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is writing and executive producing this remake as well, and he's actually a very smart guy, and a good writer, despite
Terminator's storytelling missteps. At the very least, he writes women well, and as long he doesn't fall into the traps of turning
Charlie's Angels into a character melodrama, as Fox's
Terminator budget cuts forced him to on that show, this could be the kick-ass, female-driven, addictive series that
Dollhouse was supposed to be, if they're careful, and if they cast it right. I can't write the scripts for them, but I can tell you who has Angel potential and who is
Olivia Wilde (for example). Here are our
Charlie's Angels casting hopes and dreams.
Yes:
Summer Glau
She's the best and most obvious casting choice for this by far -- beloved by geeks, has a professional history with Friedman, is beautiful, can actually act, and kicks butt like The Statham. I say smash your piggy bank and do whatever it takes to cast her if you're serious about making a decent
Charlie's Angels, ABC.
Katee Sackhoff
The only woman alive who kicks on-screen butt harder than
Summer Glau is Starbuck herself. And if they try and go the McG film route with the characters for familiarity reasons, she'd be a much more convincing biker chick than fricking Drew Barrymore ever was.
Grace Park
Battlestar's over and we didn't watch
The Cleaner, so we miss her. I don't know how funny she is, but her action chops and acting ability are definitely worth considering.
Katie Cassidy
After
Melrose is canceled, she's going to need a job, and while that show is a garbage can full of cheap soap, she is so awesome she almost makes it watchable (almost). Give her some kung fu lessons, feather her hair and she'll be a perfect Angel.
Dana Davis
We've lamented the loss of Dana Davis on Heroes before on the site, but if you didn't watch Season 2 of that show, first of all, congratulations on the 11 hours of your life you didn't waste that I did, and secondly, I'm sorry you missed Dana's copycat character Monica, because she was the only good thing about the entire season. Attractive, very likable and able to absorb martial arts and acrobatic moves from the television set? Let's get her off
10 Things I Hate About You and Angel her up.
And neither of these would ever happen, but they sure would be great:
Sarah Michelle Gellar
She just had a baby and she doesn't need the money (would you ever work again if you were her? I wouldn't!), but she'd be fantastic in this atmosphere and obviously a very big draw.
Jennifer Garner
It'd be like having Sydney Bristow back! This is a long shot, but it's not like she's been knocking it out of the park with her film choices since
Alias ended, and
she does have that development deal with ABC. Hmm...
No:
Evangeline Lilly
I know
Lost is almost over, and that she is a pretty girl who knows how to throw a punch, but please, God, no more
Evangeline Lilly
. On anything.
Lindsay Price
I feel like this one's a foregone conclusion, as she just lost an ABC show and may still have a contract to run out with them, but in addition to the fact that she has showkilled all the fluffy romantic programs she's been a series regular on, I seriously doubt she's got any action chops, either. Resist the urge for an easy placement, ABC.
Hayden Panettiere
Heroes may well have wrapped by the time
Charlie's Angels goes into production, and while I actually wouldn't mind seeing Hayden pop up on a CW dramedy or something eventually (just not
Gossip Girl, please), Tough Sexy Action Girl is just not a role that suits her. Remember Evil Future Claire and how laughable that was? This would be an entire
series of that.
Lena Headey
Josh Friedman, we know you're obsessed with her, but she should be making Merchant Ivory films, not kicking people while wearing stilettos.
Kristen Bell
We all wish the best for
Veronica Mars, but I just don't think a remake of
Charlie's Angels is going to be the turning point in her recent career of endless terrible decisions. And she was always more brains-over-brawn on
Veronica and had that electricity power fighting her battles for her on
Heroes, so we've never even seen her do any real fisticuffs that I can recall. This isn't the job for her.
Eliza Dushku
She's a beautiful woman and seems like an absolute blast to hang out with, but she simply cannot act. Sorry, it has to be said.
Kristin Kreuk
I don't even want to think too much about this one, but I presume we all know that it would be very, very, very awful.
Michelle Trachtenberg
Remarkably,
Mercy has not been cancelled yet, but if it is axed in the near future, I worry that her plucky, quirky persona (and pretty hair) may be irresistible to someone casting
Charlie's Angels. But bless her, she can't act either.
Olivia Wilde
I'd love to see her gone from
House as much as the next person, but this is not the way. Don't even think about it, ABC.
And just for good measure, I'd also like to switch Bosley's gender and cast Lucy Lawless in the role, hire Victor Garber's voice for Charlie (ABC does love him, and he'd be like the
Gossip Girl of
Charlie's Angels!), and pepper in Gina Torres, Amy Acker, Tricia Helfer and Sonja Sohn as recurring villains (kind of like a super version of The Misfits on
Jem), but that's just fan fiction at this point.
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2009/11/its-reboot-casting-time-who-sh.php
Garber would be the perfect Charlie!
