Charmed

Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on The WB Television Network.title='Charmed' a Casualty of the WB's Exit 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 in the magical community, whose prophesied 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, while they attempt to hold normal working lives in San Francisco. 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 having resulted in a number of police and FBI investigations throughout the series.

The first episode, "Something Wicca This Way Comes", garnered 7.70 million viewers, breaking the record for the highest rated debut for the Warner Brothers Network.www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/TV/9810/23/charmed/index.html In January 2006, producer Brad Kern declared that Charmed was the longest running hour-long series featuring all female leads (Murder She Wrote having only a singular lead, and The Facts of Life being a 30 minute sitcom).title=' Charmed Hits a (Final?) Milestone The series finale, "Forever Charmed", ended with a season high of 4.49 million viewers.

Production

Development

In 1998, the Warner Brothers Television Network began searching for a drama series, and looked to Spelling Television, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven, to create it

. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology to find mythological characters they could realize with contemporary storytelling."Genesis" Documentary, Charmed: The Complete Final Season Region 1 DVD
In order to create the series, Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah. When the theme of witchcraft was first pitched to her, she was aware of stereotypes of witches (flying brooms, black cats, and warts). After Wicca research, she changed her perspectiveGross, Edward, "Interview with Constance M. Burge," TV Zone Magazine, Issue #126, 2000 and aimed at telling a story of good witches who 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, asking "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." Spelling warmed to Burge's ideas and, after the concept was re-crafted to be a series about three sisters (now living in San Francisco) descended from a line of witches, it was pitched to the Warner Brothers's Susanne Daniels, who liked it, allowing the series to begin development.

Shannen Doherty, having worked with Spelling on Beverly Hills 90210, auditioned for the role of Piper Halliwell but won the role of Prue Halliwell. After the third season, Doherty left the series. As of September 14, 2009 it is still unclear whether she left the series because of differences with Alyssa Milano or was fired.

Doherty's best friend, Holly Marie Combs, known as Kimberly Brock from the series Picket Fences, became interested in the script and won the role of middle sister Piper Halliwell, although she auditioned for the role of Prue Halliwell.

The series was titled Charmed after Spelling's suggestion of House of Sisters was dropped, and the three lead roles were cast to Doherty, Combs, and Lori Rom. Burge wrote the pilot's script. They filmed a 28-minute version (the "unaired pilot", never aired on network television) with which the series was picked up by the WB. The majority of the pilot had to be re-filmed after Rom quit and Alyssa Milano took her role.

Upon its debut, Charmed received the largest audience for a series premiere in the network’s history. The first season of twenty-two episodes was picked up by Warner Brothers after two shows aired.

Executive producers

The two executive producers from Spelling Television were its creator Spelling, and Vincent, who maintained their roles until the series ended. Burge 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, 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, Burge was not an executive producer. She remained as executive consultant until the end of season four when she left Charmed.title=Constance M. Burge bio

Writing and format

Scripting was done by a large number of writers. 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. Burge wrote seven episodes for the first and second seasons before leaving her position as executive producer.

Scripting 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.The Women of Charmed, E!: Entertainment Television, April 19, 2000

cquote Charmed is the only show that has a licensed fully bonded demonologist, which is me, on staff and as a result because I've written books about demonology and the occult of witchcraft, I'm there to answer questions about how a demon would behave.

However, as 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, Burge left, leaving her former position to executive producer Kern. Burge 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, Warner Brothers asked Kern to abandon the serial system. 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 Warner Brothers 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. 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. Although the second logo replaced the first in all promotional material by the Warner Brothers, such as posters and television adverts, the first remained to be used on official merchandise after the third season, including on the covers of the novel series, the DVDs and the official Charmed magazine.

Music

Charmed shares the theme song "How Soon Is Now?" with the 1996 Columbia Pictures feature film, The Craft, appearing under the opening credits in a cover by Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler's hiatus band, Love Spit Love. The song was originally popularized by The Smiths. In stripped (daily) reruns on US cable tier TNT, the same music appears in a 5-second abbreviated 'tag' form to accommodate additional advertising; no music appears under closing credits as they are 'stacked' under an ad or over the succeeding show's opening tag.

The song appeared on the soundtrack album TV Themes: Popular Favorites, released by the St. Clair record label on September 6, 2005, as well as its follow-up TV Themes: Sex and the City and Other Favorites, on August 30, 2005. It also appeared on Your Favorite Television Themes, released by Artemis Strategic on June 7, 2005. The song always appeared on the compilations in its full-length version of 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

The song's license expired before the Season 8 DVDs went into production. After efforts to get it back for the Region 1 release failed, it was replaced by a generic hard-rock instrumental theme.

Plot synopsis

Overall

Charmed is the story of the three Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper and Phoebe, discovering that they are the world's most powerful good witches, The Charmed Ones; each gifted with innate magical powers they must collectively use to defend the "innocents" of San Francisco from demons, warlocks and other evil beings. Prue has the power of telekinesis and astral projection, Piper the power to freeze time and blow things up and Phoebe the power to see the future and the past,levitation and empathy. During their fight against the forces of evil, the Source of all Evil's assassin, Shax, kills eldest sister Prue, breaking the united Power of Three. However, the Charmed triple-destiny is restored with the introduction of a long-lost fourth half-sister, Paige Matthews, who is half-witch and half-whitelighter Paige is a telekinetic like Prue, but due to her whitelighter ancestry has the ability to call for objects to move where she wants them. During Seasons One to Four, the sisters' combined destiny was to vanquish the Source of All Evil, the ruler of the Underworld, and his demonic minions. Upon fulfilling their primary destiny, the Charmed Ones engaged in the Ultimate Battle; and ushered in the next generation of good witches. The Charmed Ones were also the guardians of the Nexus and in order to vanquish the demon Zankou they had to destroy the Nexus where Zankou had taken refuge. On top of their supernatural lives, the four sisters must also contend with serious issues in the real world (such as relationships, careers, marriage, childbirth, illness and death), as well as preventing the exposure of magic, the subject of several police investigations throughout the series.

The Power of ThreeThe Charmed Ones

align=right

The story of Charmed begins with the three Halliwell sisters coming together six months after the death of their grandmother, Penny Halliwell, 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 evening storm, the two elder 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 moving objects, move objects with her mind and see the future. Melinda 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 who would be the most powerful good witches ever to walk the Earth. These three sisters would form The Power of Three, the most powerful magical force ever. When Phoebe reads out aloud the incantation from the Book of Shadows, she causes the prophecy to be fulfilled, and each sister's abilities are activated - Prue could move things with her mind through telekinesis, Piper could freeze objects and people, and Phoebe was granted the power of premonition. Later, when Prue died, Piper and Phoebe discovered their half-sister, Paige, who once again reconstituted the Power of Three.

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, despite a long-standing rule against witches and whitelighters falling in love. However, Piper and Leo ultimately persuade the Elders to let them marry, and they eventually have three children, Wyatt, Chris and Melinda.

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, apprentice witch Billie Jenkins, Paige's husband Henry Mitchell, a Cupid (Coop) assigned to Phoebe, who eventually married him, and the many other creatures in the magical community.

Characters

[[Rai Due]]

Spin-offs

Mermaid

''Charmed's executive producers Brad Kern, Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent developed a one-hour pilot episode for The WB Television Network in early 2005, entitled Mermaid. It was written by Kern and filmed in Miami during Charmed's seventh season, at the same time as "Something Wicca This Way Goes?".

, transformed into a mermaid in "A Witch's Tail", the inspiration for the spin-off series Mermaid.
As work progressed on the fifth season's double-episode premier, "A Witch's Tail", the theme of mermaids was recognized to have potential for its own series, even though the episode was never meant to be a backdoor pilot for a television spin-off.

The series plot is centred on a mermaid, Nikki, who is rescued by a young man when she washes ashore in Miami. Her savior, Matt Johnson, is a lawyer living with a roommate and engaged to the daughter of his boss, and he is in utter disbelief of Nikki's true nature. She does prove to him that she is a mermaid, a race of creatures whose evolution took place in the water. The mermaids come from a sunken city and have supernatural abilities, including superhuman strength and agility, can see in the dark, read emotions and have a connection with other sea creatures, among other possible powers. However, there is another race of creatures who evolved underwater as well, but their evolutionary path has taken them onto dry land, and one of these creatures, Luger, is on the hunt for Nikki. Nikki, meanwhile, takes a job as a waitress at a nearby restaurant and stays with Matt and his roommate while trying to adjust to her life, and help Matt in his attempts to help people; as her would-be hunter Luger assesses, mermaids are drawn to protecting the innocent, it's "in their blood".

During the casting process, Kern "looked in London and New York and New Zealand, Hollywood, Florida, Melbourne and Sydney" and, after interviewing around 300 people, discovered "a fresh new face" in Australian Nathalie Kelley who played the lead role of Nikki. Geoff Stults was then cast as Matt, and Roger Daltrey as principal antagonist Eric Luger. Brandon Quinn, who later went on to play Homeland Security Agent Murphy in ''Charmed's'' eighth season, played Matt's "goofy best friend" in Mermaid. He spoke of his roles in both series:

quote Mermaid I was the party man...in the pilot, I had no job; I was a permanent bachelor. And when Brad [2] told me about Murphy, he was, like, 'He's a Homeland Security agent, he's 180 degrees opposite from what you played in my pilot this year, but I really think you could do it.' And I was, like, 'Wow, thanks for trusting me with Agent Murphy.'

Additionally cast in
The pilot was considered to have a good chance of being picked up, but when The WB and UPN merged into The CW, the resulting network passed on the show. Speaking on the failure of the series to be picked up, Kern also revealed that the studio Paramount/CBS "decided at the last second to cut the budget in half", which resulted in the number of shooting days to be reduced, thus decreasing the quality of the pilot in being able to "'sell' the concept".

Signed Music Artists