‘Angels’ battle bad guys anew

By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it

“Once upon a time, there were three little girls ... ”

The “little girls” part may not sit as well now, but the new “Charlie’s Angels” quickly prove themselves quite capable in fighting crime.The expectedly glamorous, Miami-set ABC update of the female-detective series premieres Thursday, Sept. 22, with Minka Kelly (“Friday Night Lights”), Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh (“General Hospital”) as the trio working for heardbut-not-seen Charlie (whose voice was to have been Robert Wagner’s, but hadn’t been recast at this writing).

Only two of the women are sleuthing partners as the show begins, with a tragedy leaving an opening for which street racer Eve (Kelly) becomes a prime candidate during the resulting investigation by thief Abby (Taylor) and ex-cop Kate (Ilonzeh). Bosley, the go-between first played by fatherly David Doyle, gets younger and sleeker in the persona of co-star Ramon Rodriguez; Isaiah Mustafa, the hunky Old Spice pitchman, will recur as a police detective from Kate’s past.

“Certainly, it’s high-octane and it’s exciting,” says Australian actress-model Taylor (“Transformers”), “but I think there is a genuine chemistry and a genuine warmth between us, and you can’t really fake that. I think we’re part of something really special, because we like each other.”

Drew Barrymore — who produced and starred in two “Charlie’s Angels” feature films — is involved in making the new series, as is television veteran Leonard Goldberg, executive producer of the original show along with the late Aaron Spelling. He decided on the casting of original “Angels” Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and the then-named Farrah FawcettMajors in the mid-1970s, and he admits to having luck as well as expertise.

ABC.

“There’s something called ‘stardust,’ and you either have it or you don’t,” reasons Goldberg, whose credits also include CBS’ “Blue Bloods” now.“We looked for a very long time at a lot of people for this show.When we selected Rachael and Annie and Minka, it was the qualities they had individually but also how they all go together with Ramon. It’s something that either works or it doesn’t, and I think we’re very, very lucky.”

The recent girlfriend of New YorkYankees star Derek Jeter, Kelly believes her series training on NBC and DirecTV’s widely acclaimed “Friday Night Lights” helped prepare her for her new role, which involves a lot that the other one didn’t.

“It taught me everything,” Kelly recalls of the high-school football drama.“I was so green when I started that; I had no idea what I was doing, I was in way over my head, and I really hit the jackpot with that show. At that level I was at, you’re auditioning for everything, and you’ll take any job you’re hired for.

“I don’t think any of us had any idea how golden that was,” Kelly adds.“That gave me the confidence to be here today and do ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ I’m a daredevil and an adrenaline junkie.”

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Web Links

Premiering Monday on CBS, “2 Broke Girls” follows a waitress (Kat Dennings) and a former rich girl (Beth Behrs) struggling to get ahead. Click on www.cbs. com/shows/2_broke_girls/

Launching Tuesday, the Fox comedy “New Girl” stars Zooey Deschanel (sister of Fox star Emily Deschanel of “Bones”) Get introduced at www.fox.com/programming/

BY MICHAEL KORB

secrets everyone should know regarding their specialty. So a gardener will have five secrets, chefs will have five secrets, etc.

“We will help the viewers a lot more,” Stewart says. “I think it will be fascinating. And at the end of each show, using social media, we’ll find out if people think the tips are useful.” (Three days a week the show airs live.)

And immediately following the premiere comes the new season of “Martha Bakes” begins. But why would she take on another show when she has so many other projects going on?

“I love to bake and I love to cook and I don’t get to do my thing as much because we are doing other people’s stuff on the (Martha Stewart) show,” she says. “But by creating ‘Martha Bakes,’ we can have three lessons per show: With 26 episodes per season, that’s 78 segments. And they can be put out on the Internet to help people learn. Plus, we shoot it in my own kitchen, so that is a respite from coming into the studio.”

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