Discover

'''Charmed''' is an American television series that ran for eight seasons on The WB. It was produced by Aaron Spelling and is about three sisters who are the world's most powerful good witches, known throughout the supernatural community as "The Charmed Ones" but known to everyone else as the Halliwells. Each sister possesses unique magical powers that grow and evolve over the course of their lives. The Charmed Ones live together in a manor and use their supernatural abilities to battle the warlocks, demons and other evil forces that populate San Francisco, California.
The show was the last in its generation of supernatural-themed shows such as ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' ''Angel'' and ''Roswell''. It is also noted for its mixture of multiple genres (from horror and fantasy to comedy and even soap), as well as continuing after a number of archetypal jump the shark moments, most famously the departure of one of the leading actresses at the end of season three. It also had the highest rated debut (until the debut of ''Smallville'' at 8.40 million), for the WB Television Network, with 7.70 million viewers tuning in for the series premiere, "Something Wicca This Way Comes".
On January 15, 2006, with the airing of "Payback's a Witch", ''Charmed'' became the longest running show with all-female leads, surpassing ''Laverne & Shirley''.^[1] The series ended its run on May 21, 2006 in the US.^[2][3] The ''Charmed'' series finale, "Forever Charmed", pulled in a season high of 4.49 million viewers.
The theme song for ''Charmed'' is called "How Soon Is Now?" by Love Spit Love, which was originally recorded by The Smiths and previously used in the film ''The Craft''.

Contents

Premise

Characters

Main

Supporting

Recurring

Billing order

Episodes

Recurring themes

Character development struggles

Deaths of main characters

Exposure of magic

The SFPD and the Halliwells

Show changes

Initial changes

Changes in story structure

Departure of Shannen Doherty

Timeslot changes

Changes in the ''Charmed'' universe

Budget cuts

Multimedia

References

External links

Premise

The story of ''Charmed'' begins with the three Halliwell sisters — Prue, Piper and Phoebe — coming together six months after the death of their grandmother. Moving back into the family Manor in San Francisco, the youngest sister, Phoebe, discovers an old book — the Book of Shadows — in the attic. Reading an incantation from it, she unwittingly sets in motion events that fulfill an ancient prophecy. Strange and harrowing occurrences begin which eventually leads the sisters to realize that they are witches.
They discover that not only do they possess supernatural powers, but also come from a long line of powerful witches. The first in the line, Melinda Warren, was burned at the stake in the Salem Witch Trials. However, before she died, Melinda prophesied that each coming generation of Warren (later Halliwell) witches would grow stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters -- the strongest good witches the world had ever seen; the three sisters would form The Power of Three, the most powerful magical force ever.
Prue Halliwell, the oldest sister, develops the power of telekinesis and can move things with her mind. She later gains the power of astral projection, where she can make a "copy" of herself appear wherever she desires by projecting her consciousness, while her physical body is left standing there unconscious. In the season three episode "Primrose Empath", one of the last times she is shown using her astral projection power, she was able to project her "clone", while her physical body stayed conscious. Piper, the middle child, receives the power to freeze or stop time/objects. It is later revealed that her power to freeze worked at a molecular level in which she is able to slow molecules down to the point where the object she is directing her powers at is frozen. This power later evolves so that instead of slowing molecules down to freeze them, she is able to speed them up and blow things and obejcts up. Phoebe, the youngest sister, receives the passive power of premonition, which allows her to see see future events (and later past events as well). Her power is triggered through touching people or objects, as well as if the psychic residue of an area is strong enough. She eventually obtains the active power to levitate, which is useful when used in combination with her martial arts skills. Her empathic powers develop late in the series, allowing her to read others' emotions and affect the supernatural powers of other beings whose powers are tied to their emotions, allowing her to "rebound" and channel the attacks and powers of certain demons, as well as the Valkyries seen in "Valhalley of the Dolls".
After the tragic and unexpected death of Prue, it is revealed that the sisters have a younger half-sister named Paige, born to their mother Patty and Sam, her Whitelighter, a guardian angel for witches. As this type of relationship was forbidden and unheard of at the time, they gave the baby to Sister Agnes, a nun, and the Matthews family later adopted her. Her birth parents requested only that her first name begin with 'P', to continue the tradition. From her Whitelighter father, Paige inherits the power to "orb". For the prophecy of the three Charmed Ones with three powerful and distinct powers to stay true, the third sister was to have the power of telekinesis. Being half witch and half whitelighter, this also has an effect on the powers she inherits from Patty: instead of telekinesis like Prue's, Paige is able to call for an object; the object in question will then orb to her or to any location she wishes. Though this power requires the use of verbal commands, she has been able to do so silently when in a state of enhanced power, and in a few other instances. This power is called telekinetic orbing. In Season 5, Paige reveals that she also has other Whitelighter powers, such as glamouring. Halfway through Season 8, Paige develops more of her Whitelighter side by being able to heal and locate charges by sensing them.
A central theme throughout the shows run is the sisters' struggle to balance their normal lives with their supernatural responsibilities. The burden of keeping their destinies a secret from the outside world has repeatedly created tensions in their friendships, workplaces, and romantic relationships. Only a few know their secret and help them on a regular basis. The most important is Leo Wyatt, a Whitelighter assigned by the Elders to guide and protect the sisters. Leo means a great deal to the sisters both professionally and personally: he heals their wounds, advises them collectively and individually, and mediates between them and the enigmatic Elders. He also becomes the love of Piper's life, her husband and father of her children. Others who keep the Charmed Ones' secret over the years include policemen Andy Trudeau and Darryl Morris, tormented half-demon Cole Turner, the mysterious time-traveler Chris Perry, sisters Christy and Billie Jenkins, Paige's husband Henry Mitchell and the many other creatures in the magical community.

Characters

Main

★ 'Prudence "Prue" Halliwell' – (Shannen Doherty) (Seasons 1–3)
:Born October 28, 1970, Prue is the eldest Halliwell sister. Born with the power of telekinesis, she later manifests an astral projection ability. Strong-willed, feisty and intelligent, she would often take charge of situations and has always been overprotective of her two sisters, Piper and Phoebe. Having spent her childhood taking care of her two younger sisters after the death of their mother, she became responsible, with a fierce determination at whatever she did, including fighting demons. This sense of responsibility occasionally leads to clashes with the more free-willed Phoebe, however, the two grow closer as the series progresses. Though at times Prue lets pride dictate her way of handling things, she never lets her personal life interfere with her work life. On May 17, 2001, she is killed by Shax, a demonic assassin sent by the Source.

★ 'Piper Halliwell' – (Holly Marie Combs)
:Piper was born in 1973 and is the middle child until Prue's death. Her powers include the ability to freeze and explode objects at will. She is most concerned with having a normal life, and always has reservations about her life as a Charmed One. When she first becomes a Charmed One, she is quiet and reserved, often having to mediate between Prue and Phoebe. As the show progresses, she gains a stronger persona and takes more authority after Prue dies. She eventually becomes the mother of two sons (Wyatt and Chris) and a daughter (Melinda) with her husband Leo Wyatt, and goes to great lengths to protect her children. In the series finale, the final montage shows her with a granddaughter.^[4] Her love of food steers her to a career in the culinary arts, which leads her to open her own club, and as revealed in the last episode, her own restaurant.

★ 'Phoebe Halliwell' – (Alyssa Milano)
:Phoebe, born November 2, 1975 is the original baby of the family and is a spontaneous, free-spirited young woman. The power she was born with is premonitions, which grow to enable her to see into the past as well as the future. This later allows her to project herself into the future. She later gains the powers of levitation, which she often combines with her martial arts skills, and the power of magical empathy but later loses the latter two. She is a romantic, and later becomes a successful columnist and author. Early on, she often had a turbulent relationship with her older sister, Prue; later she mediates between Piper and Paige. Her longest relationships are with Cole Turner for over a year, and with Coop. In 2006, the Angel of Destiny marries Phoebe and Coop, as seen in the series finale, and they eventually have three daughters. She continues to work at the Bay Mirror and writes a book on finding love.

★ 'Paige Matthews' – (Rose McGowan) (Seasons 4–8)
:Born on August 2, 1977. After a secret love affair with her Whitelighter Samuel Wilder, the Charmed Ones' mother, Patty Halliwell, gave birth to a fourth daughter. They left Paige at the doors of a church because her parents' love was forbidden. She was adopted when she was still a baby, and grew up as an only child of a couple. While in school, Paige would often get into trouble. Her personality is bold and vibrant, adding a new dynamic to the show from season 4 onwards. Paige's birth power is telekinesis, but because she is part Whitelighter this ability combines with her natural orbing to create telekinetic-orbing. She comes into the craft quickly, aiding in the vanquish of The Source of All Evil. In Season 8, she gains the ability to heal those she loves, starting with Henry. She is driven to become a "full-time witch", and has a hard time finding a career she is content with, eventually settling with her destiny as a Whitelighter, like her father. After the death of Gideon, Paige begs the Elders to keep Magic School open. They agree only if Paige becomes the headmistress and runs the school to guarantee the students safety. Paige marries mortal parole officer Henry Mitchell and they have twin daughters and a son, Henry Jr.

Supporting

★ 'Andy Trudeau' - (Ted King) (Season 1)
:Andy is the sisters' childhood friend and Prue's love interest. He serves as the sisters' initial connection to the police force once he learns of the girls' activities, as well as the first conflict between the girls' secret and normal lives. The demon Rodriguez, kills Andy while he is trying to protect the girls in the finale of season one.

★ 'Darryl Morris' – (Dorian Gregory) (Seasons 1–7)
:Darryl, who is Andy's partner, takes over the role as the Halliwells' police connection after Andy's tragic death. He continues to cover up for the sisters once he learns their secret, even after the events which lead to him almost being executed through a lethal injection, until his wife later forces him to move to another state.

★ 'Leo Wyatt' – (Brian Krause) (Recurring Season 1; Seasons 2–8)
:Leo is the sisters' Whitelighter in the beginning, and soon becomes romantically involved with Piper. Leo's magical promotions provide the show's portrayal of a supernatural ladder of success and struggle between career and family. His relationship with Piper is the first of many conflicts between the Halliwells and the Elders.

★ 'Dan Gordon' – (Greg Vaughan) (Season 2)
:Dan moves into the house next door with his niece, Jenny, and instantly falls in love with Piper. They temporarily date, but Dan can not take the place of Piper's first love, Leo. He later moves away, at the end of season two.

★ 'Jenny Gordon' – (Karis Paige Bryant) (Season 2)
:Jenny is Dan's niece. She was written off suddenly.

★ 'Cole Turner' – (Julian McMahon) (Seasons 3–5, cameo in 7)
:Cole is Phoebe's first husband; he is a half-demon, creating situations over which the sisters clash. He is originally a powerful villain, later taking other forms and roles throughout his character's history. After his final vanquish at the hands of the sisters, he continues to watch over Phoebe, silently and unseen.

★ 'Adult Chris Halliwell' – (Drew Fuller) (Season 6, cameo in 5, 7 and 8)
:Piper and Leo's unborn son, Chris, came from the future to help defeat the Titans and save Wyatt from turning evil. His adult form dies at the hands of Gideon. Due to a change in the timeline, he later reappears in the series finale.

★ 'Billie Jenkins' – (Kaley Cuoco) (Season 8)
:Billie is Paige's charge. While at first over-confident in her abilities, she eventually becomes a student of the sisters, helping them to maintain their normal lives. After being swayed by her sister to betray the Halliwells, she eventually sides with them in the series finale.

Recurring

★ Penelope "Penny" Halliwell (Grams) – (Jennifer Rhodes)

★ Patricia "Patty" Halliwell (Mom) – (Finola Hughes – Seasons 1–5, 7 & 8)

★ Victor Bennett – (Tony Denison – Season 1) (James Read – Seasons 3-8)

★ Samuel Wilder – (Scott Jaeck – Seasons 2, 5 & 8)

★ Little Wyatt Matthew Halliwell – (Jason & Kristopher Simmons – Seasons 6–8; only officially credited in one Season 7 episode and halfway through Season 8)

★ Older Wyatt Matthew Halliwell – (Wes Ramsey – Seasons 6–8)

★ Little Chris Halliwell (Seasons 7 & 8)

★ Sheila Morris – (Sandra Prosper – Seasons 5–7)

★ Elise Rothman – (Rebecca Balding – Seasons 4–8)

Billing order

The initial five episodes list the actors as follows: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, T.W. King, Dorian Gregory, and Alyssa Milano. Beginning with episode six, the actresses playing the Charmed Ones are always listed first. The leads are then followed by whichever supporting actors are contracted for that particular season. If one of the supporting players does not appear in a particular episode, his/her name also does not appear in the opening credits. The second episode of season two, "Morality Bites", is the only episode in which only the sisters appear in the opening credits.
In seasons one through three, the lead actresses are listed by character age: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Alyssa Milano. After Shannen Doherty's departure, the veteran leading actresses receive the coveted first and last billing with their new co-star in the middle: Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Holly Marie Combs as "Piper". Brian Krause, who became a main cast member halfway through the second season, is listed fourth in the credits from season three to season seven. During season eight, however, Kaley Cuoco took the fourth spot.

Episodes

Main articles: List of Charmed episodes

Recurring themes

Character development struggles

The series always focuses on the constant development of its main characters; and each of the main characters has recurring problem points in their lives. As women in their late twenties and early thirties, the sisters constantly have to cope with balancing their magical lives with their everyday, professional lives (Prue's professional career, Phoebe's studies and afterwards her job, Piper's role as a mother, and Paige's accepting magic as a general part of her life). Another returning source of personal conflict is the sisters' love lives, and the problems that arise from hiding a part of their lives from their human relationships; and hiding their forbidden relationships with members of the magical community from the rest of the magical community: Leo and Piper's conflict with the Elders, and Phoebe loving a half-demon Cole.

Deaths of main characters

As the sisters have to struggle with many forces of darkness, death is a common event in their lives. Each of the sisters die at several points in the series, with Piper and Phoebe dying nine times each, Paige dying seven times, and Prue dying three times. Except for Prue's death in the third season finale, the protagonists always find a way to return the respective Halliwells back to life.
However, not every death on ''Charmed'' has been so easily reversed; as several important supporting characters have died without being revived, such as Andy, Cole, Kyle Brody, and Adult Chris. Although, Chris, Kyle, and Cole appear in episodes after their deaths, none are revived: Kyle reveals to Paige that he became a Whitelighter, Cole is in limbo, and Chris's first appearance is as a personification of Leo's guilt, his second is a Chris from a different future.

Exposure of magic

In the world of ''Charmed'', the existence of magic as well as benevolent and malevolent forces remains hidden from human society. A recurring problem for the protagonists during the series is finding a way to fight the forces of evil without exposing themselves as magical beings. Spanning the series run, the show's writers featured episodes that detail the dangerous consequences of magic being exposed to human society. Notably in the second season episode "Morality Bites", which sees Phoebe's execution in an alternate future; the third season finale "All Hell Breaks Loose", which leads to the death of Prue; and the seventh season finale "Something Wicca This Way Goes", in which events lead the three witches and Leo to fake their deaths and assume new identities.
The sixth season episode "Forget Me...Not" introduced the Cleaners, a pair of magical beings capable of warping reality in order to maintain magic's secret. While occasionally tasked with cleaning up after the Charmed Ones, the sisters generally covered their own tracks. Despite their introduction, it is never explained why these characters did not intervene during the events of "All Hell Breaks Loose".

The SFPD and the Halliwells

In order to keep the conflict between the secret of magic and the non-magical world going, the Halliwells frequently ran afoul of and under the scrutiny of the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department. While arguably a logical thing to happen, since the Halliwells would by necessity be around for a lot of deaths caused by demonic activity, at times certain of the fan base felt it was a bit overdone. In particular, the Charmed Ones ally, Darryl Morris, would find trouble from a determined partner or superior in the SFPD, who would say something like 'We have (however many number of seasons it was on at that point) years' worth of files on the Halliwells, and I mean to get to the bottom of it.' Frequently, it was the bottom of the body pile they would get to, as poking around the Halliwells' business meant getting in the sights of their many vicious enemies. The last such character of note was Season Seven's Inspector Sheridan, very nearly a caricature of this type. Despite warnings from the finally-fed-up Darryl Morris, she kept on what became her crusade, inevitably meeting her end at the hands of the demon Zankou. Perhaps in a tip of the hat to this plot device, Leo was successful in getting Piper away from the destroyed Halliwell mansion in the finale, not wishing to go through yet another round of questions they could not answer.

Show changes

In its eight-year course, ''Charmed'' underwent many changes, including departure of cast and crew members, some of which had a large impact on the series as a whole. While in the case of some of the newer changes executive producer, Brad Kern, openly referred to budget cuts as the reason, most of the changes happened without the reasons being released into public, giving rise to much speculation and debates among fans. Some of the changes are frequent topics of argument in almost every ''Charmed'' Internet forum even today, most notably the Kern-Burge and the Milano-Doherty disputes.

Initial changes

★ Originally, Lori Rom was cast as Phoebe in the unaired pilot of ''Charmed''. When the property was green lighted to go to series, Rom was unavailable. Producer Aaron Spelling called upon Alyssa Milano, fresh off her short-term guest appearance on ''Melrose Place'' to fill the role. Major portions of the first episode were re-shot, some scenes rewritten and new scenes added to create a full one-hour debut episode titled "Something Wicca This Way Comes".

★ Another actor, Chris Boyd, portrayed the character of Andy Trudeu in the unseen pilot and was referred to as "Detective". His partner, Daryl Morris, didn't exist.

★ ''Charmed'' was picked up for a full season after the ratings success of the first two episodes, according to the documentary ''The Women of Charmed'' produced in 1999. By then, the first few episodes had completed production. Some of the crew were then replaced, including the series' composer (thus discontinuing the use of the many chime instruments characteristic of the opening episodes).

★ Some basic story elements of the ''Charmed'' world laid down in the initial six episodes are later changed. The ''Book of Shadows'' is later established as untouchable by evil; Grams' husband and grandfather of the three sisters has his name and time frame changed, the sisters having a relationship with their father even though in the initial episodes they want nothing to do with him. In addition, the time frame of Victor Bennett leaving his wife, the girls' mother, changes occasionally throughout the series.

★ Anthony Denison originally played the girls' father in the first season episode "Thank You for Not Morphing". This episode establishes that the character's name is Victor Halliwell, which was later modified to be Victor Bennet (one 'T'). The family tree in "Pardon My Past" lists him as Victor Jones. The series soon after consistently referred to the character Victor Bennett (two 'T's).

Changes in story structure

Between the third and the fourth season, creator and executive producer Constance M. Burge left the crew of the show, leaving her former position to executive producer Brad Kern. Burge continued to produce other shows, but remained as creative consultant until season four.^[5] Burge's departure resulted in changes in the story structure of the show, from a "demon of the week" system to using third- or half- season-long story arcs. In addition, more importance is given to the protagonists' personal lives.
The serial connection of episodes culminated in the second half of season four. Despite the ratings actually rising during season four's final story arc from 4.19 to 4.21, the WB asked Brad Kern to abandon the serial system in the future. This led to the largely episodic structure of season five, and resulted in the two systems being balanced from the sixth season onwards. The departure of Constance M. Burge is often debated in ''Charmed'' fandom. While reasons were never made public, unsupported claims (such as Burge leaving because she did not agree to the introduction of the character Cole or because of the story arc-episodic structure debate), still circulate among fans debating over whether Kern or Burge would have been a better producer.

Departure of Shannen Doherty

At the end of the third season, Shannen Doherty left the show, resulting in her character's death, and the introduction of Rose McGowan's character Paige. While in the episode, "Death Takes a Halliwell" the Angel of Death foreshadowed Prue's death, "All Hell Breaks Loose" (the season three finale) remained as a cliffhanger and Prue's death is only established in the season four premiere episode. Fan speculation continues to this day, some pointing to rumors of on-set issues with Doherty regarding punctual appearance at work and tension with co-workers, others putting blame on Alyssa Milano for reasons such as her supposedly asking the show's producers to let Doherty go. These rumors even today lead to harsh debates over whether it was Doherty's, Milano's, or someone else's "fault" that Doherty left.

Timeslot changes

The show witnessed multiple changes in its timeslot. From its initial Wednesday night, Charmed moved to Thursday nights in Season Two, and starting with Season Five it moved again, this time to Sunday nights, to anchor "The WB's Big Sunday" event. The change in broadcast day played a central role in the show's change of ratings, as from the moment ''Charmed'' moved to Sunday, its episodes had to continually compete with other strong-rated shows such as '' and ''The Simpsons'', as well as events such as the Golden Globes.

Changes in the ''Charmed'' universe

In the first three seasons, the magical world of ''Charmed'' introduces original concepts such as the spiritual nexus and the workings of the show's witchcraft, and involves creatures such as Whitelighters and Darklighters, and also a number of mythological creatures not frequently adapted to television, such as the Woogy, the Wendigo or the Banshee. This is probably attributable to Constance M. Burge, as well as story editor Robert Masello, introduced as the show's mythology expert (as seen in the 1999 documentary ''Women of Charmed'').
Gradually from the fourth season, besides keeping the dominance of creatures with attributes explicitly created to conform to the storylines, ''Charmed'' started to rely more heavily on using creatures from classical (i.e. Greek and Roman) mythology as well as from miscellaneous folklore items well-known in contemporary culture, such as leprechauns and dwarves.

Budget cuts

Budget cuts in the last few seasons led to many minor, and a few major changes in the show.

★ Budget cuts caused demons to become entirely human-like from the monsters with rich costumes and make-up witnessed in the first seasons.

★ One of the most notable budget-related changes was the WB's decision not to include Brian Krause and Dorian Gregory in season eight. As Brad Kern said in a number of interviews, he had to restructure the budget to include Krause in 12 episodes, to avoid abruptly ending his character's storyline. Enough money was saved to include Krause in the final two episodes of the series. However, Gregory's character was written out completely, with his final episode being the season seven finale.

★ In an interview in the eighth issue of ''Charmed Magazine'', Brad Kern revealed that in season eight Kern, executive producers Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent and a number of crew members opted to reduce their own salaries in order to maintain the show's quality, as the budget of the season was reduced by twenty percent.

Multimedia

Main articles: Charmed multimedia, List of Charmed books

References

1. ''Charmed'' Hits a (Final?) Milestone
2. Charmed Spell Is Broken Natalie Finn
3. 'Charmed' a Casualty of the WB's Exit
4. Shooting scripts released prior to the airing of the episode referred to the character as Piper's daughter, and even named her Melinda. The scene was not altered; these notes were part of the directions. Furthermore, the actresses playing Phoebe's eldest two daughters are in fact different actresses to the one shown in this scene.
5. Constance M. Burge bio

External links

★

★

★