Not a pointed hat in sight

Not all witches wear pointy hats and ride around on brooms. Granted, when the word witch is mentioned the image that comes to mind may be just that, but Pam Grier proves that witches don't always fit the stereotype when she played the Dust Witch in Something Wicked This Way Comes. So for my Witch-A-Day post, here's Pam Grier!

Angel Guest Stars--I wish

As a companion piece to my previous post about guest stars, I was thinking about all of the guest stars that have crossed paths with the ladies of Charlie’s Angels and some that should have. I could name plenty of actors I would love to have seen on the show, but just a random appearance wouldn’t be enough. They would need a script that fits with their style and I decided that I would list a few people. In addition, I’ve made a quick synopsis of episodes they could have appeared in.


Let’s start off with season one and the original Angels. The first season had Sabrina, Jill, and Kelly played by Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, and Jaclyn Smith.


Mother’s Day
Charlotte Hudson is the matriarch of a family of bank robbers in the vein of Ma Barker. She has three children, two sons—Matt and C.J., and a daughter named Cathy, who have robbed four banks in the L.A. area. The police know they’ve robbed the banks, but have not been able to get enough evidence or recover the loot. The Angels set out to capture Ma Hudson and her gang. Bette Davis guest stars as Charlotte Hudson.



Angels Go To Camp
Summer camp is the destination of the Angels when a counselor mysteriously drowns. Trying to find clues to the identity of the killer becomes easier when they get the lowdown on the suspects from Jerry, the head counselor. There are plenty of suspects, too, like the bus driver Hannah Bennett, the cook Nate Cochran, and groundskeeper Vern Latham. Paul Bartel guest stars as Jerry Carson.



Old Friends
The ladies and gentlemen of a retirement community are the victims of a scam that is taking their money, but they won’t open up about it. Some of the children of the victims get together to hire the Angels to find out what is happening to their parents. When the Angels arrive to investigate, the residents refuse to speak to them. Charlie contacts a friend and former investigator Roland Chambers and convinces him to come out of retirement to assist the Angels. In between trying to solve the case, the Angels pump Roland for information regarding what Charlie looks like. Vincent Price guest stars as Roland Chambers.



Season two began when Kris played by Cheryl Ladd joined the team. Jill had left to race cars in Europe, so her little sister, Kris, became the rookie Angel.


Family Matters
Sabrina’s cousin, Maggie, calls to ask for help. It seems her nightclub has been besieged by unexplained accidents and now someone has died. Power outages, small fires, and busted water pipes didn’t concern her, but when the D.J. is electrocuted in his booth, she is sure there is more going on. Kelly and Kris pretend to be patrons, while Sabrina uses the cover of visiting a relative. Adrienne Barbeau guest stars as Margaret Duncan.



Between the Covers
Authors are committing suicide left and right, or are they? The Angels investigate the deaths and discover that they were in fact murdered. The common link is the same publishing house. It seems publisher Constance Vaughn wanted to increase the sales of books to save her failing company. Sabrina goes undercover as a novelist and Bosley pretends to be a rival publisher looking to sign Sabrina. Constance signs Sabrina and the other Angels try to protect Sabrina from the evil publisher. Carrie Nye guest stars as Constance Vaughn.



Angels a la Carte
Ruthless food critic Theodore Schubert has received death threats. He's destroyed many restaurant owners with his articles and now the Angels must discover which is the guilty party. Trying to find the culprit is hard enough, but dealing with the client tests the limits of the Angels. Victor Buono guest stars as Theodore Schubert.



By season three, Kris was more experienced and sister Jill returned for a few visits.


Suburban Angels
Edna Davenport’s life has been in turmoil for quite some time. Her husband was killed in a car accident, her home was vandalized, and now she’s been receiving phone calls asking her for “the package”. Edna has no idea what package they are talking about and is now convinced her husband’s death was not an accident. As the threats and phone calls increase, Edna calls the Townsend Agency for help. Divine guest stars as Edna Davenport.



Undercover Angel
The murder of a prostitute leads the Angels to a brothel to discover why she was killed when it’s discovered she was from a rich family. Suspects are easy to find, but the most suspicious is a new girl in the house who suddenly appeared at about the same time as the girl’s death. The mysterious Coco is very evasive when questioned by the Angels. It turns out Coco is really Laura King, an undercover cop who works with the Angels to bring in the killer. Pam Grier guest stars as Laura “Coco” King.



At the beginning of season four we learned that Sabrina left the Agency to get married and was expecting a baby. The daughter of an old friend of Charlie’s graduated from the Police Academy in Boston and was assigned the normal hazardous duties that led the other Angels to the Townsend Agency. Tiffany Welles played by Shelley Hack was a classy, intelligent, and stylish addition to the team.


The Bounty Hunter
Cliff Ketchum is on the trail of a bail jumper heading through L.A. Seeking assistance in tracking him down, Cliff contacts the Angels. During the hunt, Tiffany begins working closely with Cliff and is taken in by his tough yet charming persona. Can a romance build when after the case Cliff will leave for another bounty? Jan-Michael Vincent guest stars as Cliff Ketchum.



Angels Back East
Tiffany’s former instructor at the Boston Police Academy is being framed for taking bribes, so the Angels head back east to find the truth. Marty has made many enemies during his years on the force, so the Angels look for possible suspects in his case files, but it’s possible that it’s someone else in the squad room. Ernest Borgnine guest stars as Sgt. Martin O’Reilly.



At the beginning of season five, we learned that Tiffany stayed back east, so Kelly and Kris work with Bosley on a case that leads them to meeting Julie Rogers played by Tanya Roberts. Julie wasn’t a Police Academy graduate, but did graduate from a top school for models. After assisting the Angels on a case, she joined them and now works with the Angels on a temporary investigator’s license.


Angel and the Mob
Julie has been dating a nice young man named Sam Tucker who has charmed Kris, Kelly and Bosley. The relationship seems to be getting serious, but while on a date, Julie and Sam are walking along the sidewalk, when a van pulls up and grabs Sam then drives away. As Julie and the others begin investigating why anyone would want to kidnap him, they begin to discover Sam isn’t who appeared to be. Sam Tucker is the son of Joseph Tucker, the kingpin of one of the largest crime syndicates in the city. Now they have to team up with people they would normally seek to bring to justice to save the man Julie loves. David Naughton guest stars as Sam Tucker.



Runway Angels
Lady Edwina Knight owns and runs one of the most famous fashion houses, Knight Fashions. Someone has been trying to stop her Fall collection from reaching the runway. Julie used to model for Lady Edwina and wants to do all she can to help. Kris gets a job as a seamstress at a rival designer’s fashion studio, while Julie and Kelly become runway models for Knight Fashions. Diana Rigg guest stars as Lady Edwina Knight.



It’s great to imagine who could have guest starred, but there were many who did. Mom Smackley doesn’t like Charlie’s Angels as much as I do, so the fact that three of his favorite actresses did guest star (Mary Woronov, Shirley Stoler, and Nancy Parsons) allows me to share episodes with him.

After Dark July 2010

You’re probably asking yourself, “2010”? Well, I’m sure you realize this isn’t a real issue. This special issue of After Dark is dedicated to the 14th day of July. Being a little self-indulgent, it happens to be an important day in the life of Hilly Blue. More specifically, the beginning of life for Hilly Blue. But a little about me later…let’s spotlight some other birthday buddies.

One of my favorites is Sid Haig, born July 14, 1939. If you don’t know his name, I’m sure you’d recognize his face.

He has appeared on my favorite TV shows and in some of my favorite films. I never realized until preparing for this post how many things Sid appeared in that I own.

He has starred in many cult films like Spider Baby…

…and Galaxy of Terror with Erin Moran.

He frequently appeared in Pam Grier films including The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, and more.



Being a big TV buff, I could see Sid in just about anything where he usually played bad guys. He has guest starred on Here’s Lucy with Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon…


…The Rockford Files with James Garner…

…The Dukes of Hazzard with James Best and Sorrell Booke…



…and, of course, one of my favorites, Charlie’s Angels. He and Jaclyn Smith were very graceful dancing together.

He guest starred on two episodes of Buck Rogers. He played two different characters. On the season finale of Season One, he played the henchman to Julie Newmar and then turned around on the season premiere of Season Two, he returned as a different character.


Sid played on one of those TV Shows that not many people remember or have heard of, but I remember like it was yesterday (actually, it was yesterday since I own the DVD). The show was Jason of Star Command and he was the regular villain named Dragos.




Sid has had a resurgence in popularity because the directors who grew up watching his 70’s exploitation films are now casting him in their films.

He has been in Jackie Brown, House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, the Halloween remake and Kill Bill, Vol. 2.



Harry Dean Stanton, born July 14, 1926 , is another actor who has appeared in many films and television shows.

Credited early as Dean Stanton, he appeared in The Big Valley.

Harry Dean Stanton also appeared in popular sci-fi flicks like Alien with Sigourney Weaver…

…and Escape From New York with Adrienne Barbeau.

He also appeared with Michael McKean in Young Doctors in Love.

In my collection of photo stills, I found some featuring Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas with Dean Stockwell and Karen Black’s son Hunter Carson.




There are many actresses I love not just because of the way that act, but also because of the way they sound. Ladies like Lauren Bacall, Tallulah Bankhead, Carrie Nye, Tammy Grimes, Eartha Kitt and Kathleen Turner are some, but only one was born July 14, 1930. Miss Polly Bergen.

She appeared on the Allen Ludden hosted Password with Janet Leigh, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford.


One of those TV movies that were trying to capitalize on the disaster film genre was Murder on Flight 502. It featured Hugh O’Brien, Farrah Fawcett, and Sonny Bono along with Fernando Lamas and Polly Bergen.

In 1984, Polly played Mrs. Vance, the leader of a secret organization of female agents who use the cover of aerobics instructors. The show, Velvet, also featured Shari Belafonte, Sheree J. Wilson, Micheal Ensign, Leah Ayers and Mary-Margaret Humes. I have to say right now, that it will be featured in an upcoming What’s On? post.


Two current stars that have been popular in recent months have been Matthew Fox, born July 14, 1966 and Jane Lynch, born July 14, 1960.


Matthew first became popular in Party of Five, but it was the TV show, Lost, that really made him a household name.



He appeared in the big screen version of Speed Racer as Racer X.


You can’t go anywhere these days without seeing Jane Lynch. Whether she is appearing on TV in Glee or in the papers for her recent same-sex marriage, Jane is popular. I’m not a huge fan, but I enjoyed her in Best in Show with Jennifer Coolidge.



Former President Gerald Ford was born July 14, 1913. Interesting bit of trivia for you: President Gerald Ford was never elected either Vice President or President. He was appointed his vice-presidency under Richard Nixon and then became president when Nixon resigned.


July 14th is also Bastille Day. Celebrating the end of the French Revolution and calling it Bastille Day on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a French fortress and prison.

William H. Bonney AKA Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.

On July 14, 2003, the U.S. Government admitted the existence of Area 51!

That’s about it…oh, yeah…I was born on this same day in 1968. Mr. & Mrs. Blue were very happy when Hilly came into their lives and they showered their only child with a lot of love.










I currently live in a quiet home on the outskirts of Atlanta with Mom Smackley. We’ve been together almost 11 years.





Our girls, Pyewacket, Susu, Mischa and Ursula, are the center of our lives and we dote on them like any proud parents.


Life is good and when it’s this good, you’ve just got to let people know.