Gottlieb’s Charlie’s Angels, released in 1978 and designed by Allen Edwall, brings the hit TV detective series to a clean, fast solid-state playfield right at the height of the show’s popularity. With a five-bank and a three-bank of drop targets, it’s a tidy, target-driven late-70s machine that captures the breezy glamour of its source through the elegant, skill-rewarding design typical of Gottlieb’s early solid-state era.
The scoring is a satisfying bonus-building affair anchored by those drop-target banks. The key piece of strategy is one of patience: hold off on the Collect Bonus target until you’ve already reached the 5X maximum, since shooting the drops to advance your bonus multiplier is the less risky path to a big score. It’s a clean, readable ruleset that rewards a player who builds the multiplier methodically before cashing in — exactly the kind of measured, accuracy-first play that defines the best games of the period.
A handsome and approachable piece of pop-culture pinball history, Charlie’s Angels is an enjoyable celebration of one of television’s biggest hits of the 1970s. For collectors who love a celebrity license and the clean, drop-target gameplay of the early Gottlieb solid-state machines, it’s a likeable and characterful classic. Build that bonus, keep your aim true, and the Angels will reward you with a high score worth bragging about.