Whoever was picking the episodes certainly knew what they were doing. Two Season One (Farrah!) crackers with log lines tailormade for the back cover of a tape (or TV GUIDE magazine). Of course it helps that one of them is the legendary ANGELS IN CHAINS, the episode that catapulted the show into a surefire hit with their toned-down-for-TV take on a Seventies 'women in prison' exploitation flick. Of course it helps that Mary Woronov and a young Kim Basinger are serving time on this episode as well.
Interestingly, the Spelling Telly Machine recycled the plot (but not the entire script) for the third season MATT HOUSTON outing 'Caged', a great showcase show for Pamala Hensley who - sure enough - finds herself banged up in a dodgy women's prison after suffering amnesia in a car crash.
BLUE ANGELS, the last episode of the first year to air (and, therefore, Farrah's last regular booking on the show that made her a global star), boasts a pre-BATTLESTAR guest turn from Dirk Benedict. TV heaven x 2.
From memory, I think this came from a three-tape boxset (part of the boom in old non-SF shows that came at the end of the VHS era) which was released to cash-in on the first feature film. Now I have all five seasons sitting on my shelf but - at the time - the chance to own any episodes was a treat.
the angels in chains image is so iconic, it was re-used in the Cameron Diaz movie version.
ReplyDeletethe more recent ( and short-lived ) tv re-boot is rightly forgotten.