What Might've Been: Toni's Boys (1980)

 Late in its 4th season, Charlie's Angels was down to its last original Angel (Jaclyn Smith) after Kate Jackson had left the series. Shelley Hack was a 1 season solution, replaced by Tanya Roberts in the final season.

With ratings slowly dropping, someone convinced Aaron Spelling to do a back-door pilot for a spin-off series, which was a vehicle to bring back 60's icon Barbara Stanwyck (ex-The Big Valley).

In the episode, "Toni's Boys", Stanwyck's character of Toni Blake is an old friend of Charlie Townsend (voice of John Forsythe), and a widow whose late husband was a private detective himself. Toni's three operatives include a rodeo champion (Stephen Shortridge, ex-Welcome Back, Kotter), and a track champion (former Olympian Bob Seagren, who'd been dabbling in acting for a few years, including a stint on Soap). When the Angels (Hack, Smith, & Cheryl Ladd) are targeted for murder by an unknown enemy (Robert Loggia, ex-T. H. E. Cat), Charlie calls on Toni and her team to lend a hand, despite the Angels' objections.

Unfortunately, the only video currently on YouTube is privatized, hence the group still shot.

Spelling would keep Shortridge on his payroll, although Aloha Paradise (previously reviewed) was a dud as well.

No rating. Just a public service.