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Charmed is an award-winning, American cult television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998 until May 21, 2006, when its network, Warner Brothers Television Network, ceased operation. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M. Burge and was produced by Aaron Spelling and his Spelling Television company, with the show runner being writer-director Brad Kern.
The series narrative follows the four Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, Phoebe and, later, Paige, the culmination of the long Warren line of powerful, good witches.
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Charmed is an award-winning, American cult television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998 until May 21, 2006, when its network, Warner Brothers Television Network, ceased operation. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M. Burge and was produced by Aaron Spelling and his Spelling Television company, with the show runner being writer-director Brad Kern.
The series narrative follows the four Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, Phoebe and, later, Paige, the culmination of the long Warren line of powerful, good witches. The sisters, despite being perceived as normal by the non-supernatural community, are known as The Charmed Ones, whose prophesised destiny is to battle against evil beings, such as demons and warlocks, in order to protect innocent lives from being endangered. Each sister possesses unique magical powers that grow and evolve, whilst they also attempt to hold normal working lives in San Francisco, living together in the ancestral home which they refer to as "the manor". Keeping their paranormal identities separate and secret from their ordinary lives forms part of the series' tension and challenges, with the exposure of magic having far-reaching consequences on relationships and has resulted in a number of police and FBI investigations throughout the series.
The show was the longest lasting of its generation of supernatural-themed shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Roswell and was noted especially for its mixture of multiple genres, from horror and fantasy to comedy and even soap. The series usually reached between four and seven million viewers on original airings. Although such ratings are lower than successful shows on the "big four" networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox), they were a major success for the relatively new and smaller WB Network. It also had, at the time, the highest rated debut for the network with 7.70 million viewers watching the series premiere "Something Wicca This Way Comes". In January 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences declared that Charmed was the longest running hour-long series featuring all female leads. The series finale, "Forever Charmed", ended with a season high of 4.49 million viewers. Reviews for the show were positive, and it was ranked #58 on the list of Cult TV Awards' Top 100 Cult TV Shows of all time. It has become included in popular culture, with its use of witchcraft resulting in AOL Television naming all four Charmed Ones inside the top fifteen of its review of the greatest ever television witches. Similarly, in 2008, the religious organisation Beliefnet accounted The Charmed Ones as the eighth most significant fictional witches in history, behind those from Shakespeare's Macbeth and the biblical Witch of Endor. The show has won ASCAP, Young Artist and Family Television awards, and has been nominated for Image, International Horror Guild, Saturn and TP de Oro awards.
The series' success has led to various tie-in products, including novels, magazines, board games and a video game. It has even inspired a spin-off television pilot, set in the so-called "Charmed universe", known as Mermaid. Charmed has received attention in fandom (including fan fiction, art and films), been the subject of cultural references and parody, as well as in-depth academic study. It has also influenced the direction of other fantasy television series, with Entertainment Weekly asserting that "most TV featuring either the supernatural or attractive young people is often built [...] along the lines of Charmed", leading to several British supernatural programmes, such as Hex, having been labelled British equivalents to the show. Its interpretation of female empowerment was also an influence for fan Quentin Tarantino, who later wrote and directed the Kill Bill film series.
Production
Development
In 1998, the Warner Brothers Television Network began searching for a new high concept drama series, and looked to Spelling Television, which had already produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven, to create it and follow up with their success. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural themed dramas, the production company explored different forms of mythology in order to find mythological characters they could realise with contemporary storytelling. Their chosen theme was witchcraft, which had become popular during the decade with films such as The Craft.
In order to begin creating the series, Constance M. Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with Spelling Television after having conceived the drama Savannah. When the theme of witchcraft was first pitched to her, she was aware only of the preconceived stereotypes of witches (flying brooms, black cats, and warts). After heavy research into Wicca, she discovered that the reality differed immensely from her notions and instead, she aimed at telling a story of witches who were both good, and looked and acted like ordinary people. With this, her initial concept was a series set in Boston, Massachusetts about three friends and roommates who were all witches. However, executive producer E. Duke Vincent lacked confidence in the idea and asked "why would anybody want to watch a show about three witches?" He proposed that the series focus on family values and developed the series-long mantra of it being about "three sisters who happen to be witches, not three witches who happen to be sisters." Aaron Spelling warmed to Burge's ideas and, after the concept was revised to a series about three sisters (now living in San Francisco) descended from a long line of witches, it was pitched to the WB's Susanne Daniels, who liked it immediately, allowing the series to begin development.
Shannen Doherty, who was one of Spelling's favorite stars, having already worked with him in Beverly Hills 90210, took part in the audition and won the role of Prue Halliwell.
Doherty's best friend, Holly Marie Combs, who was known as Kimberly Brock, from the series Picket Fences, got interested in the script and won the role of the middle sister Piper Halliwell. Combs hadn't wanted to come back to television, wanting a break after five years of playing Kimberly Brock, but because of Shannen's involvement, she came back, and she loved it. Having an actress of such fame was a key factor in the series' success.
The series was titled Charmed, after Spelling's suggestion of House of Sisters was dropped, and the three lead roles were cast to Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Lori Rom. Constance M. Burge wrote the script for the pilot, and they filmed a 28 minute version (the so-called "unaired pilot," which has never been aired on network television) with which the series was picked up by the WB. The majority of the pilot had to be refilmed after Lori Rom quit and Alyssa Milano took her role.
A week before the updated pilot, Something Wicca This Way Comes was meant to air, the WB developed concerns about the entire series and considered pulling it. Spelling Television forced it to go ahead. Upon its debut, Charmed received massive ratings — the largest for a series premiere in the network’s history — and massive Internet attention with dozens of websites focusing on the series, and the beginning of the show's cult fan base. The complete first season of twenty two episodes was picked up by the WB after only two had aired; the first time such an event had occurred so quickly in all of Aaron Spelling's long and award-winning career.
Executive producers
The two original executive producers from Spelling Television were its creator Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent, both of whom maintained their role until the series ended in 2006. Constance M. Burge also became an executive producer when she was hired to create the series and write the pilot. After the short "unaired pilot" was shown to the WB, and the series was picked up by the network, Brad Kern was recruited as the fourth executive producer and as the show runner in order to decipher how the series would develop over the course of its run. While Kern remained with the show until its end, between the second and third seasons, Constance M. Burge left her position of executive producer. Instead, Burge remained as executive consultant until the end of season four when she left Charmed permanently.
Writing and format
Script writing was done by a large number of writers. Brad Kern did the most writing with a total of 26 episodes, as well as directing one of them. The writers with the most writing credits other than Kern include: Daniel Cerone, Curtis Kheel, Zack Estrin, Chris Levinson, Krista Vernoff, Sheryl J. Anderson, Monica Breen, Alison Schapker, Cameron Litvack, and Jeannine Renshaw. The series creator, Constance M. Burge, also wrote 7 episodes for the first and second seasons before leaving her position as executive producer.
Script writing was carried out after group brainstorms took place, discussing the events of the episodes, the emotions of the characters, and the mythology involved. Robert Masello, an executive story editor for the series, credits himself as the only demonologist hired for a series, in order to add his experience to the storyline.
However, as Holly Marie Combs revealed in The Women of Charmed documentary, the series aimed at following a mythology created by fantasy, and not adhering to Wiccan rules too closely, for fear of coming under criticism for either not being "technically correct enough," or missing the truth completely.
Between the second and the third 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. 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 increasing 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.
Logo and symbols
During the show's run, the WB Television Network used two official logos to represent the series. The first was used during the first and second seasons and featured the name Charmed underlined and with a triple-aspect symbol above it (a shape which some fans refer to as a "triquetra.") Online, the font used is known as "A Charming Font" where it can be downloaded from certain websites, including DaFont. The second logo was introduced at the start of the third season and remained until the series ended. It was written in a different font and is still underlined and sometimes featured a triquetra above the name. This logo was designed by Margo Chase who also designed other television logos for the WB. She was inspired in her work by pre-20th century script.
This new font is sometimes known as "Endor" when downloaded, and it is the same font used for the logo in other countries, such as Italy where the series is called Streghe (Italian for witches). Although the second logo replaced the first in all promotional material by the WB, such as posters and television adverts, the first remained to be used on official merchandise well after the third season, including on the covers of the novel series, the DVDs and the official Charmed magazine.
Shooting locations
Cole and Phoebe's house
- Cole is exploiting his as yet undiscovered underworld leadership role as the newly frocked Source of All Evil in the fourth season episode "" and so plotting to seduce his wife away from her goodness as well as her sister's side, so arranges for the demon infested Law firm he's been newly hired by to give him a fine house
name="SPL4th"
> . He inaugurates the site by throwing a fancy black-tie party and has a minion demoness magic up a fantastic black gown for Phoebe to wear to the dance. Afterwards, in a romantic clutch after the guests depart, he talks her into moving into the house away from her sisters and the manor. He reveals his true intentions and the role of the house in them in several scenes even stating at one point that he'd "then slit their throats"(Written by Constance M. Burge)}}
The story of Charmed begins with the three Halliwell sisters — Prue, Piper and Phoebe — coming back together six months after the death of their grandmother, because the disrespected and picked upon youngest, Phoebe is moving back (unannounced) into the family Manor in San Francisco. When the lights suddenly go out during an afternoon storm the two older sisters head for the fuse box, but the youngest sister stimulated by the family spirit board goes to the attic instead and discovers an ancient book bathed in an ethereal light — the Book of Shadows. Reading an incantation from it to herself out loud in the dim light, she unwittingly sets in motion events that fulfill an ancient prophecy. Strange and harrowing occurrences begin which eventually lead the sisters to realize that they are witches.
The Charmed Ones
They discover that they not only possess supernatural powers, but also come from a long line of powerful witches. The first in the line, Melinda Warren, possessed the power to freeze time, move objects with her mind and see the future. Melinda was burned at the stake in the Salem Witch Trials. (In reality, no one was burned at the stake in Salem). 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.
Piper
Piper, at first the middle child and mediator, and later eldest, receives the power to freeze objects therefore essentially "stop time". At first, Piper's control of her powers is weak. Her range is not very far, and she cannot keep people or objects frozen for very long. As her powers grow, she is able to expand her range. She can freeze entire rooms, or direct her freezing powers only at certain objects or people without freezing everyone and everything. By season three, she can also keep demons or people frozen while unfreezing only certain body parts, such as demon heads, which comes in handy when she questions them. Piper can also keep people frozen for very long periods of time without her having to be in the room to "hold the freeze". It is only late in season three when it is revealed that her power to freeze works at a molecular level; they work by slowing molecules down to the point where they appear frozen in time. This power later evolves so that instead of slowing molecules down to freeze them, she is able to speed molecules up, causing objects (and demons) to explode. Her freezing power is triggered by fear, panic, or surprise, while her explosion power (before she gains full control of it) is triggered by fury.
Phoebe
Phoebe, the youngest sister receives the power of premonition, which allows her to see future events. Her power is triggered through touching people or objects (or, if the psychic residue of an area is strong enough, simply being in the room). While her premonitions are initially passive, she eventually gains control to the point that the power is considered an active one. Over time, her power of premonition evolves in several ways. She begins having visions of past events, as opposed to future ones, in season one's episode, "", making her the first of the sisters whose powers show an advancement. Her abilities are then proven to physically help through demonic situations, when tempest, a time manipulating demon, rewinds time in season one's episode "" making the sisters and the rest of the world repeat the same day, in the hopes that a fellow demon will vanquish the charmed ones, through trial and error, Pheobe however, due to her phycic abilities, realises that the day is repeating itself, fundamentally helping her save the day. Her powers of premonition later grow stronger taking on an emotional dimension, so that she is able to feel the emotions in her premonition; for example, she feels her mother drowning when she receives a vision of the past in season two's episode, "". This ability to feel the emotions within her premonitions may serve as a foretelling of her soon-to-come empathic powers.
In season five's episode, "", after not having had any premonitions in months due to overwork and overstress, she seeks the help of Gypsies to unblock her powers. She gets a "super premonition", in which she astral projects into the future within her premonition; her ability to feel what happens grows so that when she is hurt in her vision, her present self is also physically harmed. This liability is also repeated in an episode where her father asks her to probe a ghost town he's thinking of buying as an investment. In the event, Prue magically projects to the town with concerned beau Cole Turner to 1873 where they resolve a time loop caused by a great injustice—the magic which affected Phoebe strong enough to cause physical harm—as well as trap a town in the same day for nearly 130 years.
Though this type of premonition occurs very rarely, she is also able to astral project into the future and converse with her future self in season eight. Phoebe also has the power to share premonitions with others who have the gift of foresight. Phoebe eventually obtains the active power to levitate, which is useful in combination with her martial arts skills. Her power of levitation is first seen in season three's premiere episode, "The Honeymoon's Over". Her empathic powers, which develop in season six, allow her to read others' emotions and affect the supernatural powers of other beings (whose powers are tied to their emotions). She can channel the powers and reflect the attacks of demons and other magical beings, such as the Valkyries seen in "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 1)" and "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 2)". In season six, she has her powers removed for misuse, but is re-awarded her premonition and power in the
seventh season of the show. Her power of premonition is given back in the episode "Styx Feet Under", however her powers of empathy and levitation are not
returned to her during the course of the rest of the programmes run, making the viewer wonder whether they are ever returned to her.
The fourth sister, Paige
After the tragic and unexpected death of Prue at the end of season three, Piper and Phoebe learn that they have a half-sister named Paige Matthews, when spurred to action by activities in the demonic underworld which begin before during and after the funeral proper as season four begins. Paige was born to their mother Patty and Sam, her Whitelighter, a sort of guardian angel for witches and future whitelighters—but because would look askance on the liason as well as the issue, the baby was given up for adoption accounting for the last name Matthews. As this type of relationship was forbidden and unheard of at the time, Patty and Sam 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 female family naming tradition.
From her Whitelighter father, Paige inherits the power to "orb". At first, Paige can only orb out momentarily and just reappears in the same spot; this is triggered by fear and surprise. She learns this when the Source of All Evil retargets the potential new charmed ones when warned of her lineage an potential by demoness, who can see her in many futures. warned by premonition and accompanied by love interest , witness her first self-defense using the power, when Prue's killer demon and the source's assassin attacks her. Her orbing ability progresses throughout the forth season; at first her ability is relatively useless, as she can only orb to the same place, but after she orbs from on room to another at the beggining of season four's episode "" she then pushes her power to travell from one side of the city to the other, near the end of the episode. In season five's episode "", after realising that pheobe is in Egypt, Paige orbs herself and Piper, half way across the world without any hesitation, showing a huge progression in her powers. Her other ability Is to move objects by orbing them to and from her. This power doesn't really have noticable growth throughout the following seasons, but she does gain further control over it.
Prue
Prudence "Prue" Halliwell, the eldest, most over-protective sister, develops the power of telekinesis and can move things with her mind. Her telekinesis is usually triggered by anger, and is first channeled through her eyes. But she can soon channel her telekinesis through her hands, like her ancestor Brianna and her Grams. She later gains the power of astral projection, where she can project her astral self, while her physical body is left standing unconscious. Her power of astral projection develops from her power of telekinesis, when she feels an overwhelming need to be in two places at once, in the season two episode Ms. Hellfire. While in that status, she is unable to use her power of telekinesis. In the season three episode, Primrose Empath, one of the last times she is shown using her astral projection power, she is able to project her astral self, while her physical body stays conscious.
Prue was cast to "name actress" Shannen Doherty and written as the uncontested star of the series through the first two and half seasons. When Brad Kern took over long term creative control of the series as sole day to day Executive Producer with the departure of series creator and Doherty's friend, Constance M. Burge— Ms. Doherty soon after elected to take on other work and declined to renew her contract, so was written out of the series in a sensational cliff hanger finale episode: —an episode ironically directed by Ms. Doherty. Consequently given ample warning of the pending cast and formula shake up, the series' writers poised the network to either fold or reinvent the series the next television production year, as season three came to a close. In the main, the second half season depicted bigger central roles for the sisters Phoebe and Piper, accompanied by increasing witch powers in preparation for a reinvention of the series dynamics, should the WB network elect to continue the series. In the event, the fourth season's premier showing was the most widely seen episode of the series entire run reaching over seven million homes.
reconstituting the The Power of Three
When Cole and Phoebe show up without ryhme or reason and attack Shax, Paige comes to the manor for answers after leaving her injured boy friend in the hospital. Meeting and shaking Piper's hand while Phoebe presents and introduces her with arms joined causes The Power of Three to awake Paige's latent powers just in time—the demon Shax blows his way into the foyer so her sister's quickly draft her into reading her first spell from the book of Shadows to vanquish him as her first voluntary act as a witch in emergence. Despite some friction with both Piper and Phoebe, she quickly develops the power to orb wherever she wants over a handful of episodes, and masters orbing objects telekinetically almost immediately—as she does inadvertently at first at work with a sexist-jerk lawyer's topee.
According to the prophecy of the three Charmed Ones with three distinct powers, the third sister has the power of telekinesis. Being half witch and half whitelighter affects the powers Paige inherits from Patty: instead of telekinesis like Prue's, Paige is able to move an object by calling for it; the object then orbs to her, or to any location she wishes. This power is called 'telekinetic orbing'. Though this power requires the use of verbal commands, she can sometimes use it silently, such as when in a state of enhanced power. In Season 5, Paige reveals that she also has other Whitelighter powers, such as glamouring. Halfway through Season 8, Paige's Whitelighter side develops more fully when she becomes able to magically heal others and to locate charges by sensing them. Ironically, her whitelighter powers are first used to help her wayward whitelighter father Sam Wilder, come to grips with his shattered life (He's been grieving inconsolably since was dragged under by a water demon— which the Prue lead Charmed Ones vanquished in "} when the others first made Sam's acquaintance.
A central theme throughout the show's 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 repeatedly creates 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 the father of her children. Others who keep the Charmed Ones' secret over the years include police inspectors 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.
Mythology
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 Woogyman, 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).
In the third season, it was revealed in order for adults to see fairies, they must cast a spell or believe in fairies and be sprinkled with fairy dust. However, after this point, the Charmed Ones were able to see fairies without the aid of the spell or the dust, including Paige, who never had the spell cast on her (at least, not on-screen).
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.
Plot changes
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.
Characters
Main protagonists
- 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, 3 years new to the craft she is killed by Shax, a demonic assassin sent by the Source of All Evil. While in the episode, "Death Takes a Halliwell" the Angel of Death foreshadowed Prue's death, "All Hell Breaks Loose" remained as a cliffhanger. Prue's death is only established in the premiere episode of the Fourth Season, "Charmed Again". Shannen Doherty never appeared on-screen as Prue again, except in the fifth season episode "Cat House", during the "flashbacks" that the girls visit, though Prue's face is never shown, only her back, and due to the fact the scene was on a motorcycle, it has been disputed that it was a stunt double. Even in the after life Prue still helps her sisters, it has been suggested that she sometimes turns the pages of the Book of Shadows, and in the season seven finale Prue lends her astral projection power to the sisters. This is indicated by Piper saying "Thank you Prue," after the spell's effect is over.
- Born on June 7,1972 and is the middle child. Upon Prue's death, she assumes the role as the oldest. Her powers include the ability to freeze and 'blow up' 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 and a daughter, Wyatt, Chris, and 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. Her love of food steers her to a career in the culinary, which leads her to open her own club, and as revealed in the last episode, her own restaurant.
- Phoebe, born November 2, 1975 is the baby of the family and is a spontaneous, free-spirited young woman. She was born as a witch with the power of premonition, which enabled her to see into the past as well as the future. This later allows her to project herself into the future and the past. She later gains the powers of levitation, which she often combines with her martial arts skills, and the power of empathy but later loses the latter two due to misusing them for personal gain. 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 2 years, 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. Originally, Lori Rom was cast as Phoebe in the unaired pilot episode 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". Phoebe has been called by some demons (like the Source) that she was the weakest Charmed One because of her powers being the weakest out of the four.
- 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. In fear of their daughter's safety, Paige was orbed to a church and entrusted to the arms of a nun named Sister Agnes, who was told she'd be in grave danger otherwise. Sister Agnes later in
"Charmed Again (Part 2)" described Paige— to the troubled Paige further investigating her origin while being manipulated by the Source of All Evil— as having come from Angels because she'd witnessed the white sparkling twinkling cloud of motes of light characteristic of the common whitelighter teleporting (Orbing). As a baby, she was adopted by the Matthews, and grew up as an only child unaware of her magical roots. 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 actually Teleportation, even though the series' writers and fans tend to mistake it for telekinesis, because she is part Whitelighter. They believe that Paige's teleportation is telekinetic-orbing, an ability that combines with her natural orbing to create telekinesis. 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. Eventually, she resigns; handing the role onto her brother-in-law Leo Wyatt. Paige marries mortal parole officer Henry Mitchell and they have twin daughters and a son, Henry Jr.
Supporting
- 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.
- Andy is the sisters' childhood friend and Prue's love interest for many years. In the episode "that 70s episode" we see a young Piper use her powers to freeze a young Andy. 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. Two years later, in the finale of season 3, Prue is killed by the demon Shax, and is assumingly reunited with Andy. The character of Andy Trudeau was originally played by another actor.
- 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, if reluctantly, until his wife later forces him to move to the east coast. After almost being executed, he expresses his desired uninvolvement with the sisters angrily and refuses to talk to them, answer calls or help them get police files. However, he finds out the Charmed Ones were willing to give up their powers to save him and realizing how much good the sisters do for the community, Darryl forgives them and he still considers them family. Darryl Morris didn't exist in the unaired pilot.
- Dan moves into the house next door with his niece, Jenny, and instantly falls in love with Piper. They temporarily date, but Dan cannot 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. Jenny disappeared at the episode 9, Ms. Hellfire, where Dan said that Jenny returned to her parents.
- 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.
- Piper and Leo's unborn son, Chris Halliwell, commonly known as Chris Perry for the year and a half of his time with the sisters, came from the future to help defeat the Titans and save young Wyatt from turning evil. His adult form dies at the hands of Gideon just before he is born. He later reappears twice, once in Someone to Witch Over Me and again in the series finale. Phoebe finds out Chris is actually Leo and Piper's younger son in The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell.
- 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 Christy to betray the Halliwells, Billie eventually sides with them in the series finale and is forced to kill her sister in self-defense.
Recurring
Notes
Anthony Denison originally played the Halliwells' father in the first season episode "Thank You for Not Morphing". This episode establishes that the character's name is Victor Halliwell. This was later refuted by the end of the first season when, in "That 70's Episode", it is noted that Halliwell is in fact Patty's maiden name. Victor's name was changed to Victor Jones in the the family tree in season two's "Pardon My Past", and then finally to Victor Bennett in season three.
Rebecca Balding also played Aviva's Aunt Jackie in the season one episode "The Fourth Sister". From season four onwards, Balding portrayed Phoebe's boss and friend Elise.
Only officially credited in one season seven episode, "Imaginary Fiends", and from the season eight episode "12 Angry Zen" onwards.
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, beginning with the leading role of Shannen Doherty, with Milano still receiving the "and" credit. 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" where Combs received a special benefit for adding the character to her name in the opening credits. 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
The series began its first season on October 7, 1998 and aired for eight years until its finale on May 21, 2006. During its eight seasons, 178 episodes were aired, making Charmed the longest running hour-long television series with all female leads. The series ended when its American network, The WB, was shut down in order for it to merge into a new network station. Each season consists of 22 episodes with the exclusion of the fifth and sixth seasons which contain 23 episodes including their double-episode premiers and double-episode finales.
Specific Charmed episodes are detailed in the following by-season articles:
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 ownership of her club and then her 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.
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 dying nine times, Phoebe dying eleven times, 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 through the Cleaners, Leo's Avatar powers, changing time, soul trading etc.
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 (2nd vanquish), 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 a limbo state and Chris' 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, and keeping magic secret seems the one constant rule respected by all the in the series. 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, and conversely a problem for members of the evil underworld is using their powers without being discovered, nor leaving too strange a set of clues. 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 , a group (usually appearing as a pair of cleaner leaders) 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 as becomes evidence before in the episode "". As an example of inter-season fictional canon inconsistency, it is never explained why these characters did not intervene during the events of 's finale "All Hell Breaks Loose"which is because they had yet to be invented two and a half years later. It could be interpreted that Prue's death was destined to happen, and so they could not interfere, or that their exposure was another test set for the sisters, which they had to complete on their own, so the staff writing let the point hang with the ambiguity.
Power swapping and stealing
Throughout the show, the powers of the sisters are constantly being either swapped or stolen by demons.
In Season One's "Wicca Envy", Prue is framed by her boss Rex for stealing a tiara. In order to keep from going to jail, the sisters are forced to recite an incantation that will remove all of their powers and put them into a lantern. When they were about to hand it over to Rex, Leo "healed" the Book of Shadows which gave the sisters their powers back. Later in the episode, the sisters decided to burn the spell and agree to always keep their powers. In Season One's episode "Love Hurts", Piper casts a spell to switch her power to freeze time with Leo's power to heal in order to save him from the arrow of a Darklighter. The spell was meant to switch only their powers, but it also caused Phoebe to obtain the power of Telekinesis whereas Prue developed the power of Premonition. After they work out the kinks in their new powers, they use the same spell to get their powers back, and then agree to destroy the spell.
In Season Two's "How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans", the sisters' grandmother's old friend, Gail Altman, and her two friends chanted to summon the spirit of a demon named Cryto. The reason for this was that they wanted to be young and healthy again (Gail was in fact dying of cancer). Cryto however wanted something in return and the offer of a body was not enough, he wanted the powers of the Charmed Ones. So Gail made a potion that would allow the Charmed Ones powers to be stolen and then tricked them into drinking it. When Cryto got what he wanted he killed the other two women that had helped Gail gain youth and health, and threatened Gail with death if she did not obey him. When the Charmed Ones realized that they had lost their powers they had to make Cryto use the power he did not know he had which was astral projection. When he was forced to astral project upstairs to try and stop Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), the body that was left motionless was force fed the potion and the Charmed ones read out a spell which returned their powers.
In Season Four's "Charmed and Dangerous", the Source used the Hollow to obtain the sisters' powers. He managed to steal Piper's and Paige's, but was not interested in obtaining Phoebe's because her powers were too weak. But Cole used the Hollow against him, and with some help from the Seer, their powers were returned and Cole, unknown to the Charmed Ones, obtained the Source's powers, and a piece of the Source's essence with them that proceeded to possess Cole over the next several episodes until Cole's first true vanquish.
In Season Five's "Siren's Song", Piper and Leo were having couple-problems. Piper was upset that her husband did not understand the burden of being pregnant while Leo was frustrated that his wife did not understand the importance of being a whitelighter. In order to make them understand each other's burdens, unborn baby Wyatt swapped his parent's powers, making Piper the whitelighter and Leo feel the nausea of Piper's pregnancy symptoms. In the end, Piper and Leo learned to understand each other better and unborn Wyatt switched their powers back.
In Season Six's "The Power of Three Blondes", three evil sisters, Mabel, Mitzy and, Margo Stillman, used a spell to steal the sisters' identities in order to steal their lives. After they obtained their identities, they used a spell in the Book of Shadows to steal their powers. However, since it's a spell to call a witch's powers, Paige's whitelighter powers were kept and she orbed out with Piper and Phoebe. Paige then went to get help from two gremlins to help find Chris. By provoking Mabel in front of Chris, he realized that their identities were stolen and made the three sisters use their powers against each other which in turn made the fake sisters lose their powers (as did the real Charmed Ones in an earlier season when Cole recruited a demon to anger the girls). With their identities returned, Piper, Phoebe and Paige used a spell from the Book of Shadows to take back their powers and strip Mabel, Mitzy, and Margo Stillman of their own powers. They were then arrested for the murder of the neighbors who live opposite the Halliwells.
In Season Seven's "Ordinary Witches", Phoebe is convinced that Piper must see this demon-free world the avatars promised, so she casts the same spell to switch her and Piper's powers. During the transaction, Zankou appears and causes their powers to fly out the window, into ordinary people. These two people are freaked out at first, but then decide to keep the powers and use them for personal gain. After showing the man with Phoebe's power what the future without demons holds, and the good they can do, they are convinced that the girls must get their powers back. In Season Seven's "Something Wicca This Way Goes", Zankou throws a potion to steal Piper's powers, a potion for Phoebe's, but luckily Paige is able to keep her powers as Zankou uses his potion on her astral self. They later vanquish Zankou along with the Nexus, and, knowing that everyone thinks they are dead, assume the identity of three normal women to lead a demon-free life, away from magic.
Noteworthy however, is the fact, that, although the sisters' individual powers were stolen several times throughout the show, no demon ever succeeded in stealing The Power of Three.
In Season Eight's "Repo Manor", three demons are able to steal the sisters' powers and even channel The Power of Three for some time. However, they were unable to completely separate the sisters from it, and were eventually destroyed.
Distribution
Initial broadcast
The series was originally shown on the WB television network in the United States and on CTV in Canada, with independent station SunTV (originally Toronto 1) picking up the show's 8th season after CTV decided against continuing its broadcast.
Currently, the show is licensed to a number of networks in North America, with the major carriers being TNT and for a while on Canada's Showcase Diva. TNT airs four different episodes each weekday at 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. EST. Charmed is also shown in Canada on Cosmopolitan TV, every day, different times each day.
Multimedia
Main articles: Charmed multimedia and List of Charmed books.
U.S. ratings
Charmed proved to be a success early on, the shows' premiere episode "Something Wicca This Way Comes" pulled in more than 7.7 million viewers; and the show was ranked the #1 rated show on The WB network (tied with Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) with an average of 5.5 million viewers per episode. The show also was extremely successful during its second season with an average of 4.8 million per episode and again tying with Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the #2 slot; during the shows 3rd season again placed 3rd with an average of 4.9 million per episode.
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 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and The Simpsons, as well as events such as the Golden Globes.
| Season | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Viewer Rank (#) | Network Rank (#) | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|
| 1st | October 10, 1998 | May 26, 1999 | 1998-1999 | 118 | 1 | 5.5 |
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| 2nd | September 30, 1999 | May 18, 2000 | 1999-2000 | 120 | 2 | 4.8 |
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| 3rd | October 5, 2000 | May 17, 2001 | 2000-2001 | 117 | 2 | 4.9 |
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| 4th | October 4, 2001 | May 16, 2002 | 2001-2002 | 129 | 6 | 4.2 |
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| 5th | September 22, 2002 | May 11, 2003 | 2002-2003 | 128 | 4 | 5.1 |
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| 6th | September 28, 2003 | May 16, 2004 | 2003-2004 | 154 | 5 | 4.3 |
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| 7th | September 12, 2004 | May 22, 2005 | 2004-2005 | 132 | 7 | 3.5 |
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| 8th | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | 2005-2006 | 132 | 7 | 3.5 |
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| 1st-8th (average) | October 10, 1998 | May 21, 2006 | 1998-2006 | 128 | 4 | 4.4 |
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Online
TNT has released full episodes of Charmed for viewing with their "DramaVision" video player on the network website. As of February 14th, 2009 the new TheWB.com website (Web streaming successor to Warner Brothers or "The WB") TheWB.com did not offer the shows among its otherwise long list of offerings.
International syndication
Outside of North America, Charmed is broadcast in a high number of other countries and television networks, each with their own schedule for the series, and sometimes with their own title for the series. In the United Kingdom, the entire series aired on the digital network Living TV and on the terrestrial channel Five from 1998 until 2006, when Channel 4 purchased the rights to air the final season on its T4 scheduling slot.
Other countries where Charmed airs include the following:
| Country / Region | Name | Television Network | Dubbing / Subtitles |
|---|
 | Charmed | Sony Entertainment Television | Spanish subtitles |  | Charmed - Zauberhafte Hexen (English: "Charmed - Magical Witches") | ORF1, ProSieben Austria | German |  | Charmed | TV1, Austar, Foxtel, Channel Ten | None |  | Charmed | Kanaal Twee | Dutch subtitles |  | Cini (English: "Spells") | PINK BH | Bosnian subtitles |  | Charmed | Sony Entertainment Television | Portuguese subtitles |  | ???????????"((Charodeikite); English: "Charmed") | Diema | Bulgarian |  | Carobnice (English: "Sorceresses") | Nova TV | Croatian subitiles |  | Heksene fra Warren Manor (English: "The Witches from Warren Manor") | TV3 | Danish subtitles |  | Vőluvägi (English: "Magic") | Kanal 2 | Estonian subtitles | |
 | Siskoni on Noita (English: "Charmed") | Nelonen | Finnish subtitles |  | Charmed | M6, Téva and W9. | French |  | Charmed - Zauberhafte Hexen (English: "Charmed - Magical Witches") | ProSieben,Kabel Eins | German dubbing |  | ?? ????sse? (English: "The Witches") | Star Channel | Greek |  | Bubájos Boszorkák (English: "Charming Witches") | TV2 | Hungarian |  | Charmed | SCTV | Indonesian |  | Charmed | TV3, Channel 4/T4 (Season 8)
& Cable: Trouble, Living TV (Seasons 1-8) | None | |
 | Streghe (English: "Witches") | FOX, | Italian dubbing | | Latin America | Charmed | Sony Entertainment Television | Spanish subtitles |  | San Francisko Raganos (English: "Witches of San Francisco") | LNK TV1 (Season 5) | Lithuanian dubbing |  | Charmed | Ntv7 | Bahasa Malaysia subtitles |  | Charmed | Living TV | None |  | Hechiceras (English: "Witches") | XHGC 5 | Spanish | | | Charmed | NET 5 | Dutch subtitles |  | Charmed | Star World | None |  | Czarodziejki (English: "Witches") | Polsat | Polish |  | As Feiticeiras (English: "The Witches") | AXN | Portuguese subtitles | | | Charmed | Studio 23 | N/A |  | ???????????? (Za•cha•ROH•van•ny•ye, ; English: "Charmed") | STS | Russian voice-overs |  | Charmed | MediaCorp TV Channel 5 | Chinese subtitles |  | Cari (English: "Charms") | Pink | Serbian subtitles |  | Carodejnice (English: "Witches") | Markíza | Slovak dubbing |  | Carovnice (English: "Witches") | Kanal A | Slovenian |  | Charmed | M-Net Series, SABC 3 | None |  | Embrujadas (English: "Bewitched") | Telecinco (first running), Cuatro (re-running), Cosmopolitan | Spanish dubbing |  | Förhäxad (English: "Bewitched") | TV3 | Swedish subtitles |  | Charmed - Zauberhafte Hexen (English: "Charmed - Magical Witches") | ProSieben Schweiz, SF2 | German | | | ???? (English: "Divine Girls & Magical Spells") | AZIO TV, CTV | None, Traditional Chinese |  | N/A | True Series | Thai subtitles |  | Charmed | DiziMax | Turkish | | | Charmed | MBC 4
| Arabic subtitles |  | ??? ????? ?????? (Vsi Zhinki Vidmi, English: "All Women Are Witches") | 1+1 | Ukrainian voice-overs | | | Charmed | TV3, Channel 4/T4 (Season 8)
& Cable: Trouble, Living TV (Seasons 1-8) | None |  | Phép Thu?t (English: "Magic") | Terrestrial: VTV1, VTV3
Cable: VCTV7 | Vietnamese dubbing | |
External links
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