Thirty years ago this week, there were three little girls who went to the police academy, and they were each assigned very hazardous duties. But then a man named Charlie took them away to work for him, and they became his Angels.

The face of crime-fighting women on television would never be the same – or lovelier –than it was with Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, a.k.a. “Charlie’s Angels.”

Though there were personnel changes at the Charles Townsend Agency during its five-year run on ABC, with Cheryl Ladd replacing Farrah Fawcett, Shelley Hack replacing Kate Jackson and then Tanya Roberts replacing Shelley Hack, the series was always grounded by Bosley (David Doyle) and the disembodied voice of Charlie (John Forsyth), who instructed the Angels on their assignments via a speaker box.

The Gay & Lesbian Times spoke with two authorities on the “Charlie’s Angels” experience: actress Cheryl Ladd, who spent four years on the show as the plucky kid sister of Farrah Fawcett’s character, and Mike Pingel, who has amassed an amazing collection of memorabilia and written a book about “Charlie’s Angels” titled Angelic Heaven. An actor himself, Pingel even tried out for the role of Cameron Diaz’s boyfriend in the film version of Charlie’s Angels.

Cheryl Ladd was born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor but began her career as Cherie Moor, and was the singing voice of Melody on the Hanna Barbera cartoon “Josie and the Pussycats.” She later married David Ladd, son of actor Alan Ladd, and had a daughter, Jordan. The two later divorced, but Ladd kept her surname and began making a name for herself as an actress on such television shows as “Happy Days” and “Police Woman,” before being approached to take part in the “Charlie’s Angels” phenomenon.

Ladd, who corresponded with the GLT via e-mail while filming her recurring role on “Las Vegas,” called filling Farrah Fawcett’s shoes “extremely daunting.” And before she would accept the role of Kris Munroe, she asked producers to make a few adjustments to her character.

“I wanted to make Kris Munroe more comedic and less glamorous; the rookie who tries really hard – very well-meaning, but makes mistakes,” she explained.

Mike Pingel grew up in Europe in awe of the Angels. His love for the show took root during its second season in 1977, with the introduction of Ladd’s Kris Munroe character.

“I got hooked on ‘Charlie’s Angels’ when I was a kid, about 9 years old,” he said. “They took the world by storm…. The second year they actually put the show on the air an hour earlier, so as kids we were able to watch a half hour of the show. And, if we had babysitters we’d tell them we could watch the whole show! [Laughs]”

And from that point on, he couldn’t get enough Angel stuff, collecting all things “Angels”-centric.

“The first pieces I remember [collecting] as a kid were the puzzles, the posters, ads from TV Guide, the ‘Charlie’s Angels’ trading cards,” he recalled. “I always wanted the dolls, but my parents wouldn’t let me have them because those were for girls.

“Later on, when I was a teenager, my parents were kind of like, ‘OK, time to move on,’” he continued. “So I threw the stuff away, a lot of the stuff I had, but I still have the puzzles from when I was a kid. And when I moved to Los Angeles in 1990, I started collecting again.”

And, yes, Pingel did finally get the dolls he coveted as a child, along with knowledge about the show that would lead him to write Angelic Heaven, which offers up some juicy morsels for fans who are hungry for more information about “Charlie’s Angels.”

For example, according to Pingel, when Shelley Hack was cast, Connie Selleca was up for the running and it was “head to head with both of them.” And when Tanya Roberts was on the “Angels” set and asked Ladd and Smith if they wanted to do another year, “they both said no at the same time.”

Pingel said he’s indebted to Fawcett and Ladd for supplying his book with candid, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos and forewords. The personal touches are key, he said, and he professed to acting “like a 9-year-old boy” whenever he spoke with Ladd.

Uncannily, both Pingel and Ladd cite one particular episode as their favorite: “Circus of Terror,” the episode where Ladd’s character, Kris, comes through the door of the Townsend Agency for the first time.

“That was the episode where the character started to develop,” Ladd said. “She was allowed to be clumsy and funny.”

“‘Circus of Terror’ was the second season and Ladd’s kind of audition piece,” Pingel said. “They threw her into the mix, and … by the time the episode was all said and done, she was the new Angel.”

The gay gasp moment at the Emmy Awards this year had to be when all three original Angels appeared on stage together.

Pingel, who was with the Angels backstage, recalled: “The Angels were having an insanely fun time together. Just being there and being with them, it was really, I don’t even know what words can describe it. Here you are with three women, who I’ve enjoyed on television – and the world has too – and they’re running around getting ready, and having fun and laughing … enjoying being back together. It was so much like I walked into 1976 and I was on the set of ‘Charlie’s Angels.’”

Even before the Angels set foot on the Emmy stage to pay tribute to the late, great Aaron Spelling, talk of a televised “Charlie’s Angels” reunion show had already begun.

Ladd said she participating in a reunion show would be fun. “I worked with Jaclyn the longest and we still spend time together,” she added.

Amazingly, three decades have passed since Charlie uttered his first, “Good morning, Angels.”

“We were like grown-up girl scouts,” Ladd said. “We cared about each other and did fun things, and we looked great doing them.”

“Aaron Spelling had that special golden touch. When he put a cast together, it just clicked,” Pingel said. “For some reason, ‘Charlie’s Angels’ clicked, and it clicked in a worldwide way. The world still knows these women, and they adore them and love them.”

“It was such a forward movement in women in television,” he continued. “It did help that they were drop-dead gorgeous and on every magazine cover. They’re angels. You have to love angels, and everybody has a special place in their hearts for them.”