The Angel Factor

Once upon a time, there was a television series that featured three beautiful women as private detectives solving mysteries and preventing crimes. It became a huge worldwide success and cultural phenomenon, spawning a multi-media franchise that would later include films and a re-booted series. And they were each heavily criticized. Author and television enthusiast Gian-Luca Di Rocco is hoping to take them away from all that with the publication of The Angel Factor: A Critical Appraisal of Charlie’s Angels.

This book is the first on Charlie’s Angels to review each episode and film of the entire American franchise, from its beginnings in 1976 up to its most recent film incarnation released in 2019. These comprehensive reviews focus on how well each installment refined and embodied the “Angel Factor” – those qualities that defined the Angels’ characters and helped to make the concept of Charlie’s Angels unique, warranted and successful. Actively engaging with the criticisms and charges levelled at the original television series, Di Rocco endeavours to answer the long-standing question of whether Charlie’s Angels was a vehicle for women's empowerment, or was primarily sexist. Addressing the evolution of the Charlie's Angels franchise over the decades, Di Rocco not only turns an analytical eye to its history but also looks ahead to explore its future possibilities, as the Angels 'spread their wings' to embrace new generations.