The ABC series debuted in 1976, but has become a pop culture staple.

See Charlie’s Angels stars Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson reunite for show’s 50th anniversary

The ABC series debuted in 1976, but has become a pop culture staple.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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May 15, 2026 7:35 p.m. ET

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'Charlie's Angels' stars Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson in 1976. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson reunited Thursday at a Paley Center event in New York.

- The actresses costarred on TV's *Charlie's Angels* from 1976 to 1979, when Jackson left.

- Smith said she is "grateful" to be part of the show's legacy.

Two of the original* **Charlie's Angels*, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, aren't done with the series just yet.

The two were back together Thursday at the 2026 Paley Honors Spring Gala to pay tribute to the show's 1976 premiere. They posed in simple stances — no finger guns here —as they arrived to accept the tribute at the red carpet event in New York City.

"Kate and I were so lucky to attend and accept this on behalf of our *Charlie's Angels *family, continuing in our celebration of 50 years since the launch of the series" Smith wrote on Instagram. "Grateful doesn't begin to encompass how I feel to have been and continue to be a part of that legacy. Thank you to everyone!"

Jackson and Smith famously costarred on the Aaron Spelling–produced action series for its first three seasons, after which Jackson left, but they've remained close over the years.

Jackson and Smith reunite in New York on May 14.

Theo Wargo/Getty

The action series, which costarred Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, and David Doyle, aired for five seasons on ABC. It ended in 1981, but it has continued to air in reruns.

*Charlie's Angels* has also lingered in the culture via several modern projects: the 2000s movies of the same name that starred Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz; a 2011 TV series starred Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly, and Rachael Taylor; and a 2019 film, directed by, Elizabeth Banks, starred Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska in the titular roles.

As for the show that started it all, well, as Smith said in April at another recent PaleyFest event, it was groundbreaking.

"It was three women chasing danger instead of being rescued from it. Independent, not defined by the man in their life," she said, "And it gave women permission to step out of the mold."

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Ladd, who joined Smith and Jackson at the earlier anniversary commemoration, noted then that the stars were bonded by their work. (Ladd had replaced Fawcett after the late actress departed the series following season one.)

"We were all such individual women, but women who really cared for each other,"Ladd said. "Just as the show was, we were there for each other."

Jackson said then that she was actually responsible for the show's name. As she recalled it, Spelling had wanted to call the women alley cats.

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"I was looking down," Jackson said, "while [Spelling] was telling me the story of the Alley Cats thinking, 'That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life. What's going to happen when I look up? Is my top lip going to stick to my teeth, or am I going to be smiling?'"

She said her idea to use angels was inspired by a painting of three angels that hung in the producer's office.

Spelling died in 2006. Fawcett, one of the show's original angels, died in 2009.

Watch the full *Charlie's Angels* conversation at PaleyFest above.

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