Angels on Skates is one of those episodes that pushes credulity so far that it devolves into camp towards the end. The plot revolves around a young heiress named Rita played by Lory Walsh who runs away from home and ends up hanging out at a Venice Beach roller rink. There she teams up with Ed Begley Jr's character as a roller skating duo entered into a $30,000 contest. Only problem is she's kidnapped in broad daylight, in front of the three Angels no less, who in the moment are strangely powerless to help her.
Rene Auberjonois plays Freddy Fortune, an owner of a skate shop who sponsors the big contest. He plays Freddy like a fast talking Ratso Rizzo flimflam character. It's a little over the top but it seems to fit well within the framework of the episode. This is his second CA appearance having played a conniving hypnotist in season 1's The Seance.
Other guest stars include Chris Mulkey playing a rival skater to Ed Begley's Kenny Daniels (and Mulkey seem to do his own skating work and looked impressive doing so). And Roz Kelly plays a woman who dreams of being in the roller derby who works in Freddy Fortune's shop. She is best known for playing Pinky Tuscadero on Happy Days.
Eventually Kris talks her way into the roller derby contest as a background dancer in order to monitor Freddy's behavior. Tiffany and Kelly meet with Rita's (the heiress) mother in anticipation of a ransom request and delivery.
An interesting note regarding Tiffany Welles. The episode begins with Kelly and Kris taking Tiffany to the skating rink to immerse her in LA culture, her being a cop from Boston. But oddly enough, the very next episode takes place on a college campus in the Los Angeles area, and we discovered that Tiffany in fact went to college in Los Angeles (and was a sorority member) and would probably have been pretty familiar with the L. A. scene.
After all the kidnapping nonsense is settled, the episode ends on an unintended funny note. After heiress Rita is rescued, she's encouraged by Kris Munroe to join back together with Begley's character and win the $30,000 contest. The Angels seemingly don't have any concern that Kenny Daniels was actually in on the kidnapping, at least initially. But because he apologized and helped tackle one of the kidnappers, he gets a pass.
Then poor Rita, who'd been held in a locked windowless room for 3 days, goes out and roller skates her way to winning the contest, trauma be damned. Can't make this stuff up. The final scene has awkward Bosley getting roller skate lessons from Pinky Tuscadero. No word on whether he got a Malachi crunch.
Rene Auberjonois plays Freddy Fortune, an owner of a skate shop who sponsors the big contest. He plays Freddy like a fast talking Ratso Rizzo flimflam character. It's a little over the top but it seems to fit well within the framework of the episode. This is his second CA appearance having played a conniving hypnotist in season 1's The Seance.
Other guest stars include Chris Mulkey playing a rival skater to Ed Begley's Kenny Daniels (and Mulkey seem to do his own skating work and looked impressive doing so). And Roz Kelly plays a woman who dreams of being in the roller derby who works in Freddy Fortune's shop. She is best known for playing Pinky Tuscadero on Happy Days.
Eventually Kris talks her way into the roller derby contest as a background dancer in order to monitor Freddy's behavior. Tiffany and Kelly meet with Rita's (the heiress) mother in anticipation of a ransom request and delivery.
An interesting note regarding Tiffany Welles. The episode begins with Kelly and Kris taking Tiffany to the skating rink to immerse her in LA culture, her being a cop from Boston. But oddly enough, the very next episode takes place on a college campus in the Los Angeles area, and we discovered that Tiffany in fact went to college in Los Angeles (and was a sorority member) and would probably have been pretty familiar with the L. A. scene.
After all the kidnapping nonsense is settled, the episode ends on an unintended funny note. After heiress Rita is rescued, she's encouraged by Kris Munroe to join back together with Begley's character and win the $30,000 contest. The Angels seemingly don't have any concern that Kenny Daniels was actually in on the kidnapping, at least initially. But because he apologized and helped tackle one of the kidnappers, he gets a pass.
Then poor Rita, who'd been held in a locked windowless room for 3 days, goes out and roller skates her way to winning the contest, trauma be damned. Can't make this stuff up. The final scene has awkward Bosley getting roller skate lessons from Pinky Tuscadero. No word on whether he got a Malachi crunch.