thepowerofnicki
Familiar
My favourite character Paige! Yet I am a firm fan of the Original Power of Three
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Post by thepowerofnicki on Jul 14, 2013 0:12:14 GMT -5
It is always my pet peeve and I always have to point it out that Connie Burge was NOT the show runner ever. Aaron Spelling hired Brad Kern as Show runner because they wanted someone with more experience.
Charmed 's internal politics is more mysterious than the show itself!
Another question ignored by fans is how much influence did Aaron Spelling have on the show? Most outsiders such as media bill it as another Aaron Spelling Show.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 16:02:52 GMT -5
It is always my pet peeve and I always have to point it out that Connie Burge was NOT the show runner ever. Aaron Spelling hired Brad Kern as Show runner because they wanted someone with more experience. Charmed 's internal politics is more mysterious than the show itself! Another question ignored by fans is how much influence did Aaron Spelling have on the show? Most outsiders such as media bill it as another Aaron Spelling Show. Aaron Spelling from my understanding only dealt with the financial aspects of the show. E Duke Vincent was mediator between Aaron and the show executives such as Brad/Connie. Vincent also had a lot more input and involvement on the show than Aaron himself. You can even see glimpses of this in the dvd extra of season 8 when Vincent speaks about Charmed. He seemed to be the one calling the shots over Constance and Brad. And its billed as another Aaron Spelling show because his company produced it. I always assumed Aaron had Vincent on set to keep tabs on what was going on, not only that, but I always viewed him as an adviser for Aaron. If you listen to Vincent's interviews, he constantly says, "How we can change this" that to me signifies that he had a part of the show changing drastically in the later seasons. A lot of fans tend to place sole blame on Brad Kern but fail to realize other people were involved with the show. Vincent to me would bring these ideas/changes and pitch them to Aaron. Whereas Aaron would agree, order the change, and deal with financial aspects such as getting a higher budget. Whether Connie was show runner or not, it was evident she was a poor writer. She was the one who created the show and had the vision. She failed to keep her own shows mythology in tact even within its first year. Her structure she had for the show had absolute 0 depth for her characters. Phoebe may have been likeable but she had no type of development in 2 years of the show. Connie's vision for Prue was horrible and I'm glad Brad added more layers to her character in season 2 and 3. The episodes also written by Connie aren't even good. Its something I don't understand with this fan base that constantly seem to praise this woman when she added absolutely nothing to the table other than the shows creation. Shes partially responsible for the show being so sloppy and inconsistent in the first place. If anything she should look worse than Brad Kern. He didn't create Charmed, she did. I also believe whether Connie had stayed Exec, Shannon, Holly, and Alyssa, would've grown tired. From my understanding they were already becoming tired mid season 2, I can't recall who made this statement, but someone said "It felt like we were doing the samething every week" Its just funny how everyone pinned the blame on Brad Kern, yet he made an amazing season with season 3. Even Shannon Doherty said season 3 was her favorite and thats when she believed the show hit its stride. If brad was this horrible person and horrible to Shannon, I highly doubt she would feel that way about that particular season. If she felt more comfortable with Connie's version of Charmed she clearly would've said season 1 was her favorite, but she didn't. As a matter of fact she made other statements that supported Brads vision. Regardless, I would always feel Brad and Connie were a perfect balance for the show. 1 without the other the show was doomed.
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Esmeralda
Charmed
S2 "What If...?" Fan Fic Winner
Twenty Years Gone....But Never Forgotten.
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Post by Esmeralda on Aug 6, 2013 12:44:16 GMT -5
The "It felt like we were doing the same thing every week" was due to the episodic method rather than the story arcs that were used in Season Three and Four, which most fans like. I do think that had Shannen not been fired that she would've hung around for Season Four and maybe Season Five (although had Alyssa remained the star, I don't think Shannen would've signed her second contract, so Paige would've been introduce in Season Five, which would've been much better, since Season Four could've concentrated on Phoebe and Cole), but I think she would've gotten bored at that point, although she never would've shown it, the same way I don't think Alyssa and Holly ever showed their boredom; the only one who did is Rose.
Otherwise I agree totally that we probably put too much of the blame on Kern when I now believe that most of the blame actually was on The WB who was trying to use Charmed to save their dying episode.
I agree that Connie's not a good writer. During my re-watch, I was surprised to find out how many episodes written or co-written by Connie were ones I didn't like, while some of the ones that Brad wrote, I did. Although I usually didn't like the Charmed Ones in the ones written by Brad unless they were co-written by Sheryl J. Anderson. She's quickly becoming my favorite Charmed writer - I always loved all three sisters when she either wrote or co-wrote the episode, the same way I love all three sisters in the books written by Paul Ruditis and the comics.
Where I do put the blame on Kern as showrunner - and it does appear that he was the showrunner for the entire series - is all of the inconsistencies. You'd really think that as showrunner, he would've been more careful to keep the mythology consistent, but even in the episodes he wrote for Season One, there are many inconsistencies with previous episodes.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 17:49:48 GMT -5
The reason Connie Burge lost her job is simple, she's a woman. The two Old White Guys in charge, Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent (born in 1923 and 1932), still seemed to think it was the 1950's. You know, the era of "Me Tarzan, you Jane, now get into the kitchen and rattle those pots and pans." When they found someone with the same outdated sense of values, Kern, they put him in charge.
I've always said that the writers of Charmed seemed to think it was still the 1950's. This is why, the people in charge were time locked into that era.
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Post by West on Jul 30, 2015 17:56:25 GMT -5
The reason Connie Burge lost her job is simple, she's a woman. The two Old White Guys in charge, Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent (born in 1923 and 1932), still seemed to think it was the 1950's. You know, the era of "Me Tarzan, you Jane, now get into the kitchen and rattle those pots and pans." When they found someone with the same outdated sense of values, Kern, they put him in charge. I've always said that the writers of Charmed seemed to think it was still the 1950's. This is why, the people in charge were time locked into that era. So so true. Why they hired old people, they needed someone who was born closer to modern times in their 30s and 40s when working on charmed for balance. No wonder Constance and Shannen left.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 18:00:23 GMT -5
Shannen didn't leave, she was fired. Kern clearly didn't like a woman having strong opinions, and Shannen clearly did. Why else would the gutless coward wait until Shannen was thousands of miles away (she was on location here in Canada, shooting a TV movie) before firing her over the phone As for Connie Burge, well, she became a "Creative Consultant". Translation: You can make suggestions that we MAY listen to, but you no longer have any real control over the show.
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Post by West on Jul 30, 2015 18:14:54 GMT -5
Shannen didn't leave, she was fired. Kern clearly didn't like a woman having strong opinions, and Shannen clearly did. Why else would the gutless coward wait until Shannen was thousands of miles away (she was on location here in Canada, shooting a TV movie) before firing her over the phone As for Connie Burge, well, she became a "Creative Consultant". Translation: You can make suggestions that we MAY listen to, but you no longer have any real control over the show. Very true, how things sucked. Constance was better off having her show on cable, if she never went to WB. Her vision would of been achieved by far. Or UPN at the time.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 23:19:38 GMT -5
As I have said, the Sci-Fi Channel was still respectable then, Charmed would have done well there.
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Post by West on Jul 30, 2015 23:48:55 GMT -5
As I have said, the Sci-Fi Channel was still respectable then, Charmed would have done well there. Very true, as I recall Stargate SGI did well on there, and still had 22 episode seasons. So yeah I think that is the best place it should of gone too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2015 2:23:14 GMT -5
Back in the good old days, when it was Sci-Fi, not "Syfy", the network of Sharknado
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Post by lilchi7212 on Jul 31, 2015 8:58:37 GMT -5
Shannen didn't leave, she was fired. Kern clearly didn't like a woman having strong opinions, and Shannen clearly did. Why else would the gutless coward wait until Shannen was thousands of miles away (she was on location here in Canada, shooting a TV movie) before firing her over the phone As for Connie Burge, well, she became a "Creative Consultant". Translation: You can make suggestions that we MAY listen to, but you no longer have any real control over the show. I thought Shannon quit?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2015 12:52:59 GMT -5
Nope, she got fired over the phone.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Jul 31, 2015 15:01:11 GMT -5
Good storylines and characters would've happened including Prue being alive still and none of the crappy run of the mill inconsistences occurring either.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2015 16:53:19 GMT -5
Good storylines and characters would've happened including Prue being alive still and none of the crappy run of the mill inconsistences occurring either. Yeah, pretty much. The show might have had a shorter run had Connie and Shannen stayed, but it would've ended FAR better. Quality over quantity.
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Post by West on Jul 31, 2015 18:24:43 GMT -5
Good storylines and characters would've happened including Prue being alive still and none of the crappy run of the mill inconsistences occurring either. Yeah, pretty much. The show might have had a shorter run had Connie and Shannen stayed, but it would've ended FAR better. Quality over quantity. I'd have loved that a lot. 5 seasons would of been good.
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Post by Sadrick on Aug 1, 2015 11:55:55 GMT -5
Well for one thing, there wouldn't be Leo after S1 or the sisters having any long-term relationships with guys since Connie wanted to keep them single for the most part, iirc. The series would probably continue to have just MotW episodes with maybe a touch of extended plotline like we saw with Rex and Hannah (the closest we saw to an overarching story arc during the Connie years). There were subtle hints now and then about a big bad orchestrating events behind the curtain, but I doubt very much that Connie had the short and whiny Peter Woodward in mind to play this character, assuming the Source appears at all in this alternate scenario. Charmed would likely have ended sooner than it did with Brad; at best, maybe five seasons with Shannen/Prue and Charmed remaining.
Overall, I believe the show would have benefited more with Connie's direction in mind than Brad's who later became a puppet for the WB's advertising campaign.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 18:02:55 GMT -5
At the end of The Witch is Back, Rex and Hannah were scared that they had failed "Him" (they never name this mysterious being).
When Whiny Source showed up, I thought: "This is the guy that R&H were so afraid of!? I don't think so, they could run circles around him."
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Post by West on Aug 1, 2015 18:41:02 GMT -5
At the end of The Witch is Back, Rex and Hannah were scared that they had failed "Him" (they never name this mysterious being). When Whiny Source showed up, I thought: "This is the guy that R&H were so afraid of!? I don't think so, they could run circles around him." Yes that's right. I liked him as a mystery. I don't know why he was never consistent.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 18:46:44 GMT -5
Me too. Notice that Rex and Hannah never say "the Source". They just kept referring to "He" and "Him". That kept an air of mystery around whoever "He" was. They should have kept it that way. "He" being mentioned, but never seen.
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Post by West on Aug 1, 2015 18:52:34 GMT -5
Me too. Notice that Rex and Hannah never say "the Source". They just kept referring to "He" and "Him". That kept an air of mystery around whoever "He" was. They should have kept it that way. "He" being mentioned, but never seen. Agreed. Since you can't defeat the ultimate evil, the source shouldn't be killed. Simply good and evil work together to lock him up in a cage in the underworld forever. Killing him made no sense.
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