Archive S3 news: chronology of the behind-the-scenes stuff
Mar 31, 2016 16:50:48 GMT -5
Sandra likes this
Post by val1993 on Mar 31, 2016 16:50:48 GMT -5
A lot of interesting info on what was going on behind-the-scenes, possible plot twists, ratings, etc.
17.07.2000 - According to E Online's Wanda, Jennie Garth will be reunited with her former Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty in an episode this season.
Where we left off: In warding off an apocalypse, sister Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) discover there's an evil organisation behind the last two seasons' worth of random attacks.
"We have been slow to create a mythology because we didn't want the mythology to drive this car. It's the sisters and their relationships that drive it. We're a show about three sisters who happen to be witches not three witches who happen to be sisters," says Brad Kern. "But as we go into our third season, it becomes easier because the girls are well established. So we can begin to peel the curtain back on a mythology."
"There's a reason why the three most powerful witches are alive and together now." In other words, the Charmed Ones' destiny will be revealed, a huge battle with a powerful evil force is looming.
E Online's Wanda said: "Next season, the girls are going to refine their powers and become so strong that a normal demon will be helpless against them. The Council will then become next season's recurring villain."
"That's something that Buffy does a lot, obviously," says Kern. "But that's not going to happen a lot [on Charmed]. We like to think that once we've vanquished a demon, they're gone."
Instead, Kern and his writing staff will focus on creating new friends and foes - and at least one character who might be a little of both. "We're going to be introducing a new male character. He's a soldier of fortune who's going to present an interesting challenge to the sisters. I don't want to say too much about him except my favourite way of describing him: 'There's a new cat in town.'"
This sounds like Cole, Phoebe's new love interest, about whomn Kern says "allegiances to good and evil will come into question." He may be supernatural, he may be evil and he definitely will have a crush on Phoebe, who he pursues in the first few episodes She begins to fall for him, but he's only after one thing from her, and it's got nothing to do with raging hormones.
Phoebe will discover a new, active power - one that will be more useful in a crisis than her gift of premonition. Fan speculation points has suggested some form of empathetic project, which was possibly hinted at in season 2's 'Morality Bites'.
"Radical change", "huge surprise" - these are the phrases that Brad Kern tosses around in connection with Piper and Leo. "[The writers] are still trying to play the forbidden love [angle], a little Romeo and Juliet thing."
Whatever happens, it's going to happen in the season premiere (see below), without any interference from Dan (Greg Vaughan), who's moved away. As for Prue, she may fall for a man from the past - "as long ago as 330 years," says Kern.
Prue will also take a bigger interest in witchcraft and the Book of Shadows, while Dorian Gregory's Morris will also get a bigger role on the show.
August 14, 2000 - Alyssa posted TWICE today on her message boards, as she told fans "everything is great on the third season of Charmed. I have a new power and.......new hair - but that is all I will tell you." She also told posters, "I went to the Maxim party, but there were too many people there and the SWAT team came in to shut it down. I could not believe it." Alyssa also surprised many when she admitted "Yes, I could have been Lara Croft, but I choose to do Diamond Hunters instead which was an incredible time."
October 6, 2000 - Charmed debuted tonight showing off an Alyssa Milano with a much lighter hairdo, one which onscreen sister Piper (Holly Marie Combs) asked what's up with the new hair after her one month disappearance from the her two sisters.
October 7, 2000 - The premiere of Charmed scored a 5.2 household rating and 8 share to tie the success the show had in it's series debut, which given this time it was against the vice-presidential debate and Major League baseball playoffs was quite impressive.
13.12.2000 - From the New York Post, 12 December 2000, contains spoilers for Sleuthing With The Enemy.
Brad Kern, the executive producer of Charmed - the WB's second-highest-rated show - says his show is not getting any respect from the network.
"I'm frustrated by the lack of promos and publicity - they don't promote us like they do their other shows," Kern says of the series, which centres around witchly sisters Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano).
"We're the No. 2 show on the network... but we don't get mentioned in the same breath as Buffy, Angel or Dawson's Creek," Kern says.
"They rarely mention us when they talk about their top shows."
Kern let off some steam while hyping this Thursday's episode, Sleuthing With the Enemy (9pm on Ch. 11), a stunner in which Cole (Julian McMahon) is revealed as a killer - much to his lover Phoebe's horror.
"This is the end of an eight-episode arc, where there are changes in the sisters' lives that will affect the show forever," Kern says. "But we've only been on once in the last five weeks. It's a source of great frustration for me and for the entire show."
Charmed has been averaging about 5.8 million viewers this season, the WB's second-highest-rated show behind 7th Heaven (8.2 million viewers).
It's done so in a tough timeslot, airing at 9pm opposite Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on ABC and Will & Grace on NBC.
"On a network like ours, which generates a lot of attention in the media, there becomes some jealousies between programmes as to which one is getting the most favourable treatment," says a WB spokesman.
"[Kern] is right and he's wrong," he says. "On the one hand, there's never enough promotion for one show... but there's only so much promotion that can be divided up.
"Charmed is clearly our key show on Thursdays and its ratings have never been higher," he says. "So something must be going right."
December 16, 2000 - The New York Daily News reports Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano recorded a February episode pitting the two in a wrestling match against WCW's Scott (Poppa Pump) Steiner and Booker T.
December 20, 2000 - The Star reports Alyssa Milano gets the most fanmail of the girls of Charmed, causing jealousy from Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs... Apparently it got bad enough for their boss to step in, Aaron Spelling.
December 30, 2000 - Not an Alyssa story, but big news in entertainment as her Charmed co-star Shannen Doherty was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after officers saw her black pickup truck weaving on a California freeway according to police.
1/27/01
This weeks Soap Opera Weekly reports that Alyssa Milano has asked to be released from her contract which means she will not be in Charmed's 4th season due to Milano being sick and tired over their strained relationship with Shannen and her on the set antics.
WANDA SPOILERS - 05.02.01
11.02.01 - Are the rumours that Alyssa Milano might be leaving the show true?
There's definitely something a-brewin'. A source close to the set has told me that there is some not-so-charming tension between Alyssa and her onscreen sibs. Apparently it's stemming from jealousy over better storylines and Shannen's more expensive wardrobe, which is full of Chloe and Versace and has created a few budget problems.
What about Alyssa's weight? Is she pregnant?
Not that I'm aware of. The added poundage (and for the record, I think she looks more healthy this way) can be attributed to her quitting smoking a few months ago.
March 2, 2001 - E! Online reports Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano have requested as few scenes together as possible and have an icey relationship. When they must, sources say they show up, run through their lines and storm off..
WANDA SPOILERS - 05.03.01
08.03.01 - Ted says someone might be leaving the troubled set of Charmed - say it ain't so!
Sorry, I can't.
Anything new on Charmed?
In an upcoming episode, Prue has a run-in with Death. This is an actual being whom she blames for her mother's death years ago, and when she realizes he is swooping in on an old friend of hers, she's determined to stop it. By the end of the ep, Prue finds out that she's next on Death's list.
WANDA SPOILERS - 12.03.01
15.03.01 - You mentioned last week that Prue is "next on Death's list." What does that mean? Is she the one who's going?
No. This week's episode is all about Prue coming to terms with Death (a physical being whose shadow she sees). When she allow Death to kill an innocent, Death tells her she was next on his list, but because she came to accept Death, she will live. (Got all that? I don't.) As for Cole, he proves to the girls that he's 100 percent on their side by trying to save an innocent and protecting the trio from demons that are after him. His romance with Phoebe is strong.
WANDA SPOILERS - 26.03.01
28.03.01 - A brief snippet: a main character does not return next season [presumably Cole then].
April 12, 2001 - MSNBC reports a well-placed source on the set of Charmed says the three actresses can't stand each other and it has gotten so bad that producers are seriously considering killing off one of the characters, most likely Alyssa’s.
19.04.01 - According to the New York Daily News, tonight's episode, Sin Francisco, is the first of five episodes that will carry the show into the heart of the May sweeps.
The episode has each of the sisters being afflicted with one of the seven deadly sins, including Phoebe struggling with lust (that's a surprise!) It also marks the start of a storyline about Phoebe's battle to save Cole from the dark side of the world. That theme will continue until May, ending the season on a cliffhanger, about which Kern said, "we couldn't come up with a more shocking finale...It will absolutely change their lives forever, and it will be one hell of a cliff-hanger."
19.04.2001 - As executive producer of Charmed, the WB's second-most-watched programme (after Seventh Heaven), Brad Kern should be a fairly happy guy.
However, like many in his position, Kern believes his programme doesn't get enough attention from network higher-ups, even though the show gets better ratings than, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"They are terrific to us," Kern said of the WB executives. "But if I have a complaint, they don't promote us as much as I'd like them to. I don't know why we don't have the same visibility as the other shows, though we're as successful."
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Kern said, "we couldn't come up with a more shocking finale than we have. It will absolutely change their lives forever, and it will be one hell of a cliff-hanger."
The News says that Kern is taking a gamble by ending the season with an episode designed to entice viewers to stick around for next season. Charmed hasn't been renewed - yet. Although Kern is confident Charmed will be back for another season.
"If they don't pick us up," he said, "who are they going to pick up?"
April 21, 2001 - The Enquirer is painting a different picture about Alyssa and Brian Krause getting together than Alyssa's mom Lyn. The tabloid reports Brian's secret date was the reason his ex-wife Beth filed divorce.
22.04.01 - One of the witches may be killed on Charmed.
Burbank, CA (April 18, 2001) - The WB Network will roll out a line-up of not-to-be-missed original episodes during May sweeps. On Charmed, the season ends on a tragic note on Thursday, May 17 (9-10pm ET) when one of the three sisters may be killed after Prue (Shannen Doherty), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) make a deal with the dark side that turns bad.
On tape of all that, there's more! The WB boasts a bevy of guest stars this May, including Stevie Nicks performing on Charmed on Thursday, May 10 (9-10pm ET).
WANDA SPOILERS - 23.04.01
24.04.01 - Can you tell us anything about Charmed's season finale? PLEASE!
I've been promised a slow, torturous death if I tell you who kicks it [which probably means she doesn't know], so I'll stick with what the WB's using to promote the episode: Chaos ensues when Prue, Phoebe and Piper are exposed on television as witches. In their risky deal with the dark side to turn back time and reverse their sudden fame, each sister faces certain death at the clliff-hanger end of the season finale.
Anything else on Charmed?
As I've said before, the producers are looking for ways to keep Alyssa and Shannen away from each other, so there's an upcoming episode where Shannen is turned into a dog. I'll give you one guess as to how the face-time queen felt about that.
26.04.2001 - Shannen will be giving a brief livechat on Living's website tomorrow morning at 11.30. Here's the post on their forum from Sinead @ Living:
We've got Shannen here on Friday morning, available to talk to all of you from 11:30-12noon. We'll have her web-cammed up too!
DON'T MISS THIS!!
BUFFY'S GONE, BUT THE WB IS STILL CHARMED
Please note this contains some spoilers for the season finale.
28.04.2001 - Generally lost somewhere in the shuffle of last week's announcement about Buffy the Vampire Slayer moving from The WB to UPN next season is the fact that, while widely acknowledged as the network's signature show, Buffy is not its number-one show - or even its number two. The network's No. 1 rated spot is taken by the Monday-night family saga 7th Heaven, while Charmed is the second highest. "Everybody's always surprised to find out we're actually a higher-rated show," says Brad Kern, executive producer of Charmed, which is rated just ahead of third-place Buffy.
Airing Thursdays at 9pm ET, Charmed stars Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano as San Francisco siblings who are demon-fighting good witches. Kern has gone on record saying that he thinks the show isn't given enough attention or promotion.
"Our show is successful, despite my complaints about publicity, which I maintain, and the lack of promotion, which I maintain. But the network has been very supportive of us internally."
Although Charmed is produced by Paramount (owned by Viacom, as is UPN), and Spelling Television, Kern sees no need to jump ship.
"They've helped us, as we've helped them," he says of The WB. "It's my opinion that a show is successful because of the symbiotic relationship between the show and its network. There's a shared loyalty there to some extent."
He's also ambivalent about any positive fallout for Charmed - another supernatural drama with female leads - because of the departure of Buffy.
"I think it's never good when a show is going to leave the network," Kern says. "But at the same time, maybe we will get a little more publicity, and maybe they will be talking about us a little more, because Buffy won't be in The WB's vocabulary next year. On that level, it will be good."
"On the other hand, Buffy airs on Tuesdays, we air on Thursdays, so whatever publicity we got was from Tuesday. So, whatever benefits there are will be outweighed by the detriments. A lot of it will depend on how good WB's development is."
"We're just going to push ahead with our show and hopefully build off whatever momentum we've developed for the first three years."
Right now, Kern is concentrating on the show's finale, airing May 17, called All Hell Breaks Loose, which he wrote and star Doherty directed.
"I just saw the rough cut for the last episode," he says. "I think it's great. It's a big show. In it, the sisters are exposed to the world as witches. They vanquish a demon live on Channel 8. It's a big problem for them. It turns up to be a bigger demon than they ever imagined having to go up against. They don't succeed in beating this demon called the media."
"It seems like a high-concept episode idea, but it's central to the DNA of the series, because they've always had this great secret. Like, what if your next-door neighbour was a witch with supernatural powers that vanquished demons, and you didn't know it - then one day you do."
And whatever happens, don't expect it to be all undone in the fourth-season premiere.
"Yes," says Kern, "we could use magic to undo everything, but we won't use magic to undo everything."
May 6, 2001 - Alyssa posted on the Safesearching message board to say, "I have now completed the 3rd season of Charmed and I'm so very happy to have some time off. I will be leaving town to do a small independent movie entitled Rhode Island Blues I play young women who's getting married."
WANDA SPOILERS - 07.05.01
08.05.01 - Who dies on Charmed?
...Last I heard, nothing was set in stone. Alyssa has been battling with the WB to release her from her contract, so the upcoming storylines obviously depend on what happens with that legal battle. I would expect the finale to leave the door open to a possible death, because they haven't settled the fight over Alyssa's contract yet.
Is Julian McMahon signed on for the next season?
Not yet. He has been picking up a few substantial movie roles here and there, and word around the WB is that he's not all that enthused about staying on the witchy battlegrounds much longer.
5/11/01
This week's Soap Opera Weekly interviews CHARMED Executive Producer Brad Kern
in an effort to confirm the rumors behind Alyssa's said departure from the
series in her on-the-set battles with co-star Shannen Doherty.
"Nothing I've been told from the people that I work for indicates whatsoever
that anybody's leaving the show," Kern says of the rumor that Milano wants off
and that her character will be killed.
"Alyssa and Shannen are professionals. Are they best friends? No. Do they
have to be? No. Do they work well together? Yeah. They're sisters in
character only. They come in and do their job well. That's all that matters
to us."
May 15, 2001 - Shannen Doherty has mysteriously walked away from Charmed - and nobody's saying why. Many had speculated this would be Alyssa, though the future of the show appears now in limbo.
May 15, 2001 - Lin Milano confirmed reports on Shannen leaving Charmed telling the Safe Searching message boards, "I wanted you all to know that it is true Shannen is gone from Charmed. We were all very surprised and wish her good luck in all her endeavors."
17.07.2000 - According to E Online's Wanda, Jennie Garth will be reunited with her former Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty in an episode this season.
Where we left off: In warding off an apocalypse, sister Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) discover there's an evil organisation behind the last two seasons' worth of random attacks.
"We have been slow to create a mythology because we didn't want the mythology to drive this car. It's the sisters and their relationships that drive it. We're a show about three sisters who happen to be witches not three witches who happen to be sisters," says Brad Kern. "But as we go into our third season, it becomes easier because the girls are well established. So we can begin to peel the curtain back on a mythology."
"There's a reason why the three most powerful witches are alive and together now." In other words, the Charmed Ones' destiny will be revealed, a huge battle with a powerful evil force is looming.
E Online's Wanda said: "Next season, the girls are going to refine their powers and become so strong that a normal demon will be helpless against them. The Council will then become next season's recurring villain."
"That's something that Buffy does a lot, obviously," says Kern. "But that's not going to happen a lot [on Charmed]. We like to think that once we've vanquished a demon, they're gone."
Instead, Kern and his writing staff will focus on creating new friends and foes - and at least one character who might be a little of both. "We're going to be introducing a new male character. He's a soldier of fortune who's going to present an interesting challenge to the sisters. I don't want to say too much about him except my favourite way of describing him: 'There's a new cat in town.'"
This sounds like Cole, Phoebe's new love interest, about whomn Kern says "allegiances to good and evil will come into question." He may be supernatural, he may be evil and he definitely will have a crush on Phoebe, who he pursues in the first few episodes She begins to fall for him, but he's only after one thing from her, and it's got nothing to do with raging hormones.
Phoebe will discover a new, active power - one that will be more useful in a crisis than her gift of premonition. Fan speculation points has suggested some form of empathetic project, which was possibly hinted at in season 2's 'Morality Bites'.
"Radical change", "huge surprise" - these are the phrases that Brad Kern tosses around in connection with Piper and Leo. "[The writers] are still trying to play the forbidden love [angle], a little Romeo and Juliet thing."
Whatever happens, it's going to happen in the season premiere (see below), without any interference from Dan (Greg Vaughan), who's moved away. As for Prue, she may fall for a man from the past - "as long ago as 330 years," says Kern.
Prue will also take a bigger interest in witchcraft and the Book of Shadows, while Dorian Gregory's Morris will also get a bigger role on the show.
August 14, 2000 - Alyssa posted TWICE today on her message boards, as she told fans "everything is great on the third season of Charmed. I have a new power and.......new hair - but that is all I will tell you." She also told posters, "I went to the Maxim party, but there were too many people there and the SWAT team came in to shut it down. I could not believe it." Alyssa also surprised many when she admitted "Yes, I could have been Lara Croft, but I choose to do Diamond Hunters instead which was an incredible time."
October 6, 2000 - Charmed debuted tonight showing off an Alyssa Milano with a much lighter hairdo, one which onscreen sister Piper (Holly Marie Combs) asked what's up with the new hair after her one month disappearance from the her two sisters.
October 7, 2000 - The premiere of Charmed scored a 5.2 household rating and 8 share to tie the success the show had in it's series debut, which given this time it was against the vice-presidential debate and Major League baseball playoffs was quite impressive.
13.12.2000 - From the New York Post, 12 December 2000, contains spoilers for Sleuthing With The Enemy.
Brad Kern, the executive producer of Charmed - the WB's second-highest-rated show - says his show is not getting any respect from the network.
"I'm frustrated by the lack of promos and publicity - they don't promote us like they do their other shows," Kern says of the series, which centres around witchly sisters Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano).
"We're the No. 2 show on the network... but we don't get mentioned in the same breath as Buffy, Angel or Dawson's Creek," Kern says.
"They rarely mention us when they talk about their top shows."
Kern let off some steam while hyping this Thursday's episode, Sleuthing With the Enemy (9pm on Ch. 11), a stunner in which Cole (Julian McMahon) is revealed as a killer - much to his lover Phoebe's horror.
"This is the end of an eight-episode arc, where there are changes in the sisters' lives that will affect the show forever," Kern says. "But we've only been on once in the last five weeks. It's a source of great frustration for me and for the entire show."
Charmed has been averaging about 5.8 million viewers this season, the WB's second-highest-rated show behind 7th Heaven (8.2 million viewers).
It's done so in a tough timeslot, airing at 9pm opposite Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on ABC and Will & Grace on NBC.
"On a network like ours, which generates a lot of attention in the media, there becomes some jealousies between programmes as to which one is getting the most favourable treatment," says a WB spokesman.
"[Kern] is right and he's wrong," he says. "On the one hand, there's never enough promotion for one show... but there's only so much promotion that can be divided up.
"Charmed is clearly our key show on Thursdays and its ratings have never been higher," he says. "So something must be going right."
December 16, 2000 - The New York Daily News reports Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano recorded a February episode pitting the two in a wrestling match against WCW's Scott (Poppa Pump) Steiner and Booker T.
December 20, 2000 - The Star reports Alyssa Milano gets the most fanmail of the girls of Charmed, causing jealousy from Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs... Apparently it got bad enough for their boss to step in, Aaron Spelling.
December 30, 2000 - Not an Alyssa story, but big news in entertainment as her Charmed co-star Shannen Doherty was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after officers saw her black pickup truck weaving on a California freeway according to police.
1/27/01
This weeks Soap Opera Weekly reports that Alyssa Milano has asked to be released from her contract which means she will not be in Charmed's 4th season due to Milano being sick and tired over their strained relationship with Shannen and her on the set antics.
WANDA SPOILERS - 05.02.01
11.02.01 - Are the rumours that Alyssa Milano might be leaving the show true?
There's definitely something a-brewin'. A source close to the set has told me that there is some not-so-charming tension between Alyssa and her onscreen sibs. Apparently it's stemming from jealousy over better storylines and Shannen's more expensive wardrobe, which is full of Chloe and Versace and has created a few budget problems.
What about Alyssa's weight? Is she pregnant?
Not that I'm aware of. The added poundage (and for the record, I think she looks more healthy this way) can be attributed to her quitting smoking a few months ago.
March 2, 2001 - E! Online reports Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano have requested as few scenes together as possible and have an icey relationship. When they must, sources say they show up, run through their lines and storm off..
WANDA SPOILERS - 05.03.01
08.03.01 - Ted says someone might be leaving the troubled set of Charmed - say it ain't so!
Sorry, I can't.
Anything new on Charmed?
In an upcoming episode, Prue has a run-in with Death. This is an actual being whom she blames for her mother's death years ago, and when she realizes he is swooping in on an old friend of hers, she's determined to stop it. By the end of the ep, Prue finds out that she's next on Death's list.
WANDA SPOILERS - 12.03.01
15.03.01 - You mentioned last week that Prue is "next on Death's list." What does that mean? Is she the one who's going?
No. This week's episode is all about Prue coming to terms with Death (a physical being whose shadow she sees). When she allow Death to kill an innocent, Death tells her she was next on his list, but because she came to accept Death, she will live. (Got all that? I don't.) As for Cole, he proves to the girls that he's 100 percent on their side by trying to save an innocent and protecting the trio from demons that are after him. His romance with Phoebe is strong.
WANDA SPOILERS - 26.03.01
28.03.01 - A brief snippet: a main character does not return next season [presumably Cole then].
April 12, 2001 - MSNBC reports a well-placed source on the set of Charmed says the three actresses can't stand each other and it has gotten so bad that producers are seriously considering killing off one of the characters, most likely Alyssa’s.
19.04.01 - According to the New York Daily News, tonight's episode, Sin Francisco, is the first of five episodes that will carry the show into the heart of the May sweeps.
The episode has each of the sisters being afflicted with one of the seven deadly sins, including Phoebe struggling with lust (that's a surprise!) It also marks the start of a storyline about Phoebe's battle to save Cole from the dark side of the world. That theme will continue until May, ending the season on a cliffhanger, about which Kern said, "we couldn't come up with a more shocking finale...It will absolutely change their lives forever, and it will be one hell of a cliff-hanger."
19.04.2001 - As executive producer of Charmed, the WB's second-most-watched programme (after Seventh Heaven), Brad Kern should be a fairly happy guy.
However, like many in his position, Kern believes his programme doesn't get enough attention from network higher-ups, even though the show gets better ratings than, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"They are terrific to us," Kern said of the WB executives. "But if I have a complaint, they don't promote us as much as I'd like them to. I don't know why we don't have the same visibility as the other shows, though we're as successful."
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Kern said, "we couldn't come up with a more shocking finale than we have. It will absolutely change their lives forever, and it will be one hell of a cliff-hanger."
The News says that Kern is taking a gamble by ending the season with an episode designed to entice viewers to stick around for next season. Charmed hasn't been renewed - yet. Although Kern is confident Charmed will be back for another season.
"If they don't pick us up," he said, "who are they going to pick up?"
April 21, 2001 - The Enquirer is painting a different picture about Alyssa and Brian Krause getting together than Alyssa's mom Lyn. The tabloid reports Brian's secret date was the reason his ex-wife Beth filed divorce.
22.04.01 - One of the witches may be killed on Charmed.
Burbank, CA (April 18, 2001) - The WB Network will roll out a line-up of not-to-be-missed original episodes during May sweeps. On Charmed, the season ends on a tragic note on Thursday, May 17 (9-10pm ET) when one of the three sisters may be killed after Prue (Shannen Doherty), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) make a deal with the dark side that turns bad.
On tape of all that, there's more! The WB boasts a bevy of guest stars this May, including Stevie Nicks performing on Charmed on Thursday, May 10 (9-10pm ET).
WANDA SPOILERS - 23.04.01
24.04.01 - Can you tell us anything about Charmed's season finale? PLEASE!
I've been promised a slow, torturous death if I tell you who kicks it [which probably means she doesn't know], so I'll stick with what the WB's using to promote the episode: Chaos ensues when Prue, Phoebe and Piper are exposed on television as witches. In their risky deal with the dark side to turn back time and reverse their sudden fame, each sister faces certain death at the clliff-hanger end of the season finale.
Anything else on Charmed?
As I've said before, the producers are looking for ways to keep Alyssa and Shannen away from each other, so there's an upcoming episode where Shannen is turned into a dog. I'll give you one guess as to how the face-time queen felt about that.
26.04.2001 - Shannen will be giving a brief livechat on Living's website tomorrow morning at 11.30. Here's the post on their forum from Sinead @ Living:
We've got Shannen here on Friday morning, available to talk to all of you from 11:30-12noon. We'll have her web-cammed up too!
DON'T MISS THIS!!
BUFFY'S GONE, BUT THE WB IS STILL CHARMED
Please note this contains some spoilers for the season finale.
28.04.2001 - Generally lost somewhere in the shuffle of last week's announcement about Buffy the Vampire Slayer moving from The WB to UPN next season is the fact that, while widely acknowledged as the network's signature show, Buffy is not its number-one show - or even its number two. The network's No. 1 rated spot is taken by the Monday-night family saga 7th Heaven, while Charmed is the second highest. "Everybody's always surprised to find out we're actually a higher-rated show," says Brad Kern, executive producer of Charmed, which is rated just ahead of third-place Buffy.
Airing Thursdays at 9pm ET, Charmed stars Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano as San Francisco siblings who are demon-fighting good witches. Kern has gone on record saying that he thinks the show isn't given enough attention or promotion.
"Our show is successful, despite my complaints about publicity, which I maintain, and the lack of promotion, which I maintain. But the network has been very supportive of us internally."
Although Charmed is produced by Paramount (owned by Viacom, as is UPN), and Spelling Television, Kern sees no need to jump ship.
"They've helped us, as we've helped them," he says of The WB. "It's my opinion that a show is successful because of the symbiotic relationship between the show and its network. There's a shared loyalty there to some extent."
He's also ambivalent about any positive fallout for Charmed - another supernatural drama with female leads - because of the departure of Buffy.
"I think it's never good when a show is going to leave the network," Kern says. "But at the same time, maybe we will get a little more publicity, and maybe they will be talking about us a little more, because Buffy won't be in The WB's vocabulary next year. On that level, it will be good."
"On the other hand, Buffy airs on Tuesdays, we air on Thursdays, so whatever publicity we got was from Tuesday. So, whatever benefits there are will be outweighed by the detriments. A lot of it will depend on how good WB's development is."
"We're just going to push ahead with our show and hopefully build off whatever momentum we've developed for the first three years."
Right now, Kern is concentrating on the show's finale, airing May 17, called All Hell Breaks Loose, which he wrote and star Doherty directed.
"I just saw the rough cut for the last episode," he says. "I think it's great. It's a big show. In it, the sisters are exposed to the world as witches. They vanquish a demon live on Channel 8. It's a big problem for them. It turns up to be a bigger demon than they ever imagined having to go up against. They don't succeed in beating this demon called the media."
"It seems like a high-concept episode idea, but it's central to the DNA of the series, because they've always had this great secret. Like, what if your next-door neighbour was a witch with supernatural powers that vanquished demons, and you didn't know it - then one day you do."
And whatever happens, don't expect it to be all undone in the fourth-season premiere.
"Yes," says Kern, "we could use magic to undo everything, but we won't use magic to undo everything."
May 6, 2001 - Alyssa posted on the Safesearching message board to say, "I have now completed the 3rd season of Charmed and I'm so very happy to have some time off. I will be leaving town to do a small independent movie entitled Rhode Island Blues I play young women who's getting married."
WANDA SPOILERS - 07.05.01
08.05.01 - Who dies on Charmed?
...Last I heard, nothing was set in stone. Alyssa has been battling with the WB to release her from her contract, so the upcoming storylines obviously depend on what happens with that legal battle. I would expect the finale to leave the door open to a possible death, because they haven't settled the fight over Alyssa's contract yet.
Is Julian McMahon signed on for the next season?
Not yet. He has been picking up a few substantial movie roles here and there, and word around the WB is that he's not all that enthused about staying on the witchy battlegrounds much longer.
5/11/01
This week's Soap Opera Weekly interviews CHARMED Executive Producer Brad Kern
in an effort to confirm the rumors behind Alyssa's said departure from the
series in her on-the-set battles with co-star Shannen Doherty.
"Nothing I've been told from the people that I work for indicates whatsoever
that anybody's leaving the show," Kern says of the rumor that Milano wants off
and that her character will be killed.
"Alyssa and Shannen are professionals. Are they best friends? No. Do they
have to be? No. Do they work well together? Yeah. They're sisters in
character only. They come in and do their job well. That's all that matters
to us."
May 15, 2001 - Shannen Doherty has mysteriously walked away from Charmed - and nobody's saying why. Many had speculated this would be Alyssa, though the future of the show appears now in limbo.
May 15, 2001 - Lin Milano confirmed reports on Shannen leaving Charmed telling the Safe Searching message boards, "I wanted you all to know that it is true Shannen is gone from Charmed. We were all very surprised and wish her good luck in all her endeavors."
