Intended as a sort of pilot for a male spin-off version of "Charlie's Angels", "Toni's Boys" could have been better. The Angels are understandably annoyed at first by Charlie's plan to have an all-male trio of detectives "protect" them when someone seems to have targeted them for extinction, but gradually they accept the situation. But instead of all 6 people working together to find out who has a grudge against them, the Angels are put on the side and Toni's Boys save the day almost all by themselves! The Boys are good in the action parts but a little short on personality; in fact, they kind of blend together. And Barbara Stanwyck, arguably THE biggest name to ever guest-star in the series, has her only really good lines at the very end. Still, there are some very amusing scenes, like Kris and her "bodyguard" visiting a male strip joint, and another great guest-star, Robert Loggia. **1/2 out of 4.
7 Reviews
Vapid Boys are Rigid Ken Dolls: All Show No Substance!
imdb-2528815 August 2020
The "boys" have 0 personality and the charisma of wallpaper drying. They are gorgeous, sort of, but appear plastic and the lack of personality make them seem like they're constantly "posing" and looking for the best camera angel and lighting to hit their pretty faces. In comparison, all the angels had personality, beyond their gorgeous looks, and that is true for the most disliked one or the one I personally despise. All of them brought something to the table.
These boys are barely eye candy. They look so plastic, they should be modeling but not talking. The one remotely "passable" might be "Cotton". The others can barely act. What a missed opportunity to bring John Saxon to the show! He would have nailed it. I mean none of these boys had any chemistry with the angels. I'm not sure which other actors would have measure up to work along with John Saxon, but just imagine the spin-off that could have been! Pity he never had his series. This could have been it for a while. And the next time fools criticize Shelley Hack's acting: compare the "boys" to Tiffany: that lady acted circles around everyone else when given the chance to speak her lines! Never been a Barbra Stanwyck fan but at least, she had some "zip" here. A very generous 6/10 from me, all for the angels. And maybe the "Cotton" guy. So glad his name wasn't "Polyester"! (That's the other 2!)
These boys are barely eye candy. They look so plastic, they should be modeling but not talking. The one remotely "passable" might be "Cotton". The others can barely act. What a missed opportunity to bring John Saxon to the show! He would have nailed it. I mean none of these boys had any chemistry with the angels. I'm not sure which other actors would have measure up to work along with John Saxon, but just imagine the spin-off that could have been! Pity he never had his series. This could have been it for a while. And the next time fools criticize Shelley Hack's acting: compare the "boys" to Tiffany: that lady acted circles around everyone else when given the chance to speak her lines! Never been a Barbra Stanwyck fan but at least, she had some "zip" here. A very generous 6/10 from me, all for the angels. And maybe the "Cotton" guy. So glad his name wasn't "Polyester"! (That's the other 2!)
The best episode
fletcherfletch25 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Warning: spoilers. The best episode of the series guest-starred Hollywood legend Barbara Stanwyck as Toni (think of a female Charlie, but not anonymous). She is a friend of Charlie who runs an all-male detective agency populated by three hunks (Bruce Bauer, Stephen Shortridge from "Welcome Back Kotter" and Bob Seagreen, the 1968 Olympic winner from "Soap"). Her boys are hired by Charlie and Boz to protect the Angels. This was a pilot for a possible spin-off of the series, which did not get picked up by the network. The guys are handsome, the action good. The chemistry was boiling, as the Angels tried to escape from some determined guys. It had promise, but rather than taking a given such as this, the network four years later gave "Dynasty II: The Colbys" to Stanwyck several years later--and she quit, calling the scripts "the worst crap" she has ever read.
A really good ep
MiketheWhistle10 October 2018
This Angels episode doesn't fly for this viewer
abcs9915 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I've watched all of the episodes sequentially over the last few months, and this one felt like the series fell off a cliff, IMHO, like the writers didn't put in an "A" effort and in seeing the next episode, although somewhat better than this, was surprised that the series was renewed. In this episode, an attempt on the trio is not an unusual plot line, that didn't bother me. It was turning to another agency for help that just happened to have 3 young men with smiles worthy of dentists that started my souring on this episode. Then, as the wary Angels tried to ditch each of those assigned to them, how they did so was clumsy and predictable. Each of the men had a talent, but it was almost an afterthought, held back towards the end of the episode, that each would use theirs, and the execution was weak and unconvincing. A man catching up to a plane taking off with barely any runway left, then lassoing the tail and pulling it off to flip the plane was impossible to believe, the coup d'grace! Altogether, this was a poorly written and executed episode, reminding me of some of my home movies, and it seems that the series has run out of gas.
A pilot for another series
riku-2816018 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The producers were no doubt hoping for a spin off series with three male detectives, but I put the disk in expecting Charlie's Angels, not a pilot for another show.
The basics of the plot don't make sense. If somebody released from jail is trying to kill the angels and has planted a bomb already then you don't have the angels mooching about getting into danger. You would hide them away and set the three male detectives on the trail of the villain. That of course would block any interaction between the three male detectives and the angels (how annoying for common sense to get in the way of a good plot).
The part with the lassoing of the plane by somebody with a rope on a horse was hilarious, lets try and have some grounding in reality, please.
Not even a good parody
aramis-112-80488021 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Robert Loggia plays a bad guy out to get all the Angels for testifying against him and sending him up the river.
Since they are targets, Charlie decides the Angels need assistance. Enter Toni (Antonia, Barbara Stanwyck) and her "boys," three studs who apparently have skills beyond their smiles. It's a pilot for a possible series.
Rule of thumb: pilot episodes within mother shows are usually pretty dire. Catch the last couple of episodes of "Green Acres," a phenominal show that in its dying gasps tried out two really lousy, unfunny pilots for sitcoms.
Allegedly an inversion of "Charlie's Angels," it shows how quickly they forget. Sure, Kate, Jaclyn and Farrah were cute when the series started, but they were also personable.
I'm no judge of beefcake, but if I were a woman and these three stooges were presented to me as someone to tickle my libido, I'd be offended. "Charlie's Angels" are personalities and these guys are names. Maybe that's all women want, but I prefer personalities.
Stanwyck (a stalwart since the Studio days in movies: she made some classics) then proceeds to ignite one of the most ham-handed plots I've seen, that gets all the Angels kidnapped. Is she on the bad guy's payroll?
Once the Angels are in his power, rather than shooting them the bad guy dredges up a plot right out of Edgar Allen Poe. Are the Angels worried? Well, if they're not worried by their fate they should sweat a few bullets over the fear that those three bland nincompoops are all they have to rescue them.
Whoever commissioned and wrote this episode should be sealed up behind bricks to think over their crimes against humanity.
Since they are targets, Charlie decides the Angels need assistance. Enter Toni (Antonia, Barbara Stanwyck) and her "boys," three studs who apparently have skills beyond their smiles. It's a pilot for a possible series.
Rule of thumb: pilot episodes within mother shows are usually pretty dire. Catch the last couple of episodes of "Green Acres," a phenominal show that in its dying gasps tried out two really lousy, unfunny pilots for sitcoms.
Allegedly an inversion of "Charlie's Angels," it shows how quickly they forget. Sure, Kate, Jaclyn and Farrah were cute when the series started, but they were also personable.
I'm no judge of beefcake, but if I were a woman and these three stooges were presented to me as someone to tickle my libido, I'd be offended. "Charlie's Angels" are personalities and these guys are names. Maybe that's all women want, but I prefer personalities.
Stanwyck (a stalwart since the Studio days in movies: she made some classics) then proceeds to ignite one of the most ham-handed plots I've seen, that gets all the Angels kidnapped. Is she on the bad guy's payroll?
Once the Angels are in his power, rather than shooting them the bad guy dredges up a plot right out of Edgar Allen Poe. Are the Angels worried? Well, if they're not worried by their fate they should sweat a few bullets over the fear that those three bland nincompoops are all they have to rescue them.
Whoever commissioned and wrote this episode should be sealed up behind bricks to think over their crimes against humanity.
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