"Charmed" Still Charmed and Kicking (2005)

Director:

James L. Conway

Writers:

Constance M. Burge (creator)
Alejandro Pose (story) ...

TV Series:

"Charmed" (1998)

Original Air Date:

25 September 2005 (Season 8, Episode 1)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

After being presumed dead, the Halliwell sisters begin their demon-free existence with new identities:...

Plot Keywords:

Butt Slap | Wiccan | Sisters | Demon | Witchcraft

Cast

Alyssa Milano	...	Phoebe Halliwell
Rose McGowan	...	Paige Matthews
Holly Marie Combs	...	Piper Halliwell
Kaley Cuoco	...	Billie Jenkins
Brian Krause	...	Leo Wyatt
Janice Dickinson	...	Paige #2
Beatrice Rosen	...	Jenny Bennett (as Béatrice Rosen)
James Read	...	Victor Bennett
Jennifer Rhodes	...	Penny 'Grams' Halliwell
Rebecca Balding	...	Elise Rothman
Mykel Shannon Jenkins	...	Paul Haas
Derek Magyar	...	Elkin
Glenn Morshower	...	Agent Keyes
Adrienne Wilkinson	...	Phoebe #2
Brandon Quinn	...	Agent Murphy

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Certification:

Mexico:B | USA:TV-PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Mark McGrath was replaced by Jason Lewis in 6 episodes of Season 8 because scheduling conflicts made it impossible for McGrath, who co-hosts Extra, to film any episodes.

Quotes:

The Brunette: I can't believe how many leprechauns are at my urn.
Brown-Haired Woman: They always had the hots for you.
The Brunette: It's a little creepy, but I guess you can't be too picky when you're dead!

Still Charmed and Always Funny

As a huge fan of the series, despite a rough seventh season, I was excited that "Charmed" got picked up for an eighth season. Even though season seven didn't provide the dramatic punch of prior seasons, the series is always enjoyable simply due to the interactions of the three sisters. Even the worst episode of "Charmed" is still completely enjoyable because of the quippy dialogue so excellently delivered by the lead actresses.

But due to CW's inability to let "Charmed" know if it would have a season eight or not, it was forced to have a season seven finale that had to work both as a series and season finale. The final choice was to make the sisters fake their death so they could stop worrying about demons always coming after them.

This created a horrible problem for season eight – it made the sisters boring. They had limited screen time, even more limited fighting scenes and rarely interacted with each other. Add to that the god awful addiction of Billy to the cast and at times, season eight was just painful.

Oddly enough, some of the best 'classical' "Charmed" moments in this episode wasn't between the leading actresses (due to a lack of interaction between them), but instead between two guest stars who were playing the disguised Piper and Phoebe.

Of all the body switches that have occurred on the series that have led to multiple actresses (and actors) playing the sisters, the top performance belongs to Dorian Brown for her perfect portrayal of Piper in the teaser of this episode. There were moments where she even sounded exactly like Combs. A close second was Wilkinson as Phoebe, and the exchange between these two in the opening was the best part of the episode.

For reasons I can't begin to understand, they actually changed the sisters' forms early in the episode and had new actresses in the roles who never came close to acting like the lead actresses.

Oh, and did I mention Billy? When she showed up, it was all downhill...