WAS SEASON EIGHT AS GOOD AS THE OTHER SEASONS?

[Deleted]

The dying WB just needed to fill a time slot, nothing more. 

If they didn't have any money for a decent budget, why bother with a new season.  Just show reruns of the previous seasons, that wouldn't have cost them very much.

Fox does this now on Friday nights.  For years, their shows on that night kept bombing, so they wised up.  Instead of putting new shows on Friday nights, they just show reruns of Gotham and their other shows.  And Fox is in much better shape that the 2005 WB was, they just don't see the point of wasting money on a night no one is watching. 

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2015 18:27:27 GMT -5 @tim66 said:

The dying WB just needed to fill a time slot, nothing more. 

If they didn't have any money for a decent budget, why bother with a new season.  Just show reruns of the previous seasons, that wouldn't have cost them very much.

That's really what the WB should've done.  It's not like renewing Charmed ended up saving their network, anyways.

What really ruined Season 8, I think, was the meager budget.  Not only did it make the show look cheap and awful, but it also seriously crimped their storytelling.  It forced them to only use certain sets (which had the effect of making the already sloppy "secret identities" storyline even worse), as well as write certain longtime characters out of the show (Leo and Darryl).

[Deleted]

That's really what the WB should've done. It's not like renewing Charmed ended up saving their network, anyways.

Yeah, the writing was clearly on the wall.  The WB was doomed, no matter what happened. 

They could have let Charmed end on a high note with S7, and then just shown reruns of the past seasons.   As I said, they just needed to fill a time slot, reruns would do the job for a lot less money. 

[Deleted]

I think I remember hearing that in order to try and make the WB > CW transition smoother, they recommissioned a few long running shows, trying to keep the audience. Charmed was one, there was also Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven. In all three of these cases, it seems this led to very poor final seasons that fans didn't respond well to. I've never watched 7th Heaven, but online discussion seemed to suggest that. I can say for sure that that was the case with Gilmore Girls; the creator and main writer wasn't even on board for it.

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2015 20:16:30 GMT -5 @p3nathan said:

I think I remember hearing that in order to try and make the WB > CW transition smoother, they recommissioned a few long running shows, trying to keep the audience. Charmed was one, there was also Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven. In all three of these cases, it seems this led to very poor final seasons that fans didn't respond well to. I've never watched 7th Heaven, but online discussion seemed to suggest that. I can say for sure that that was the case with Gilmore Girls; the creator and main writer wasn't even on board for it.

True for Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven, but not true for Charmed.  The CW wasn't even announced until January 2006, long after Season 8 had gone into production.  Charmed's renewal really didn't have anything to do with the CW, as explained in this May 2005 Sci-Fi Wire article:

Charmed Will Charm Again

The WB announced that it has renewed its witch series Charmed for an eighth season, with Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan returning as the bewitching Halliwell sisters and Mark McGrath joining the cast for a large part of the season. The WB made the announcement as part of its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York City on May 17. The announcement caps weeks of uncertainty about whether the long-running series would come back.

"The decision to renew Charmed in many ways was a no-brainer, because we looked at its performance this season, and it has held its own incredibly against strict competition, especially with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," WB Entertainment president David Janollari told SCI FI Wire during a press conference following the announcement. "The performance is terrific, and we said, 'Why try to launch something new there when we know we're getting the numbers and our core audience in that time period?'"

McGrath, Janollari added, will be "a regular for at least most of the season, and we'll see how that goes." It's unclear what role will be played by McGrath, lead singer for the rock group Sugar Ray and current co-host of the entertainment news program Extra. "That [role] is being created right now," Janollari said. "But I am guessing it will be a romantic interest." The WB added that Charmed will retain its current timeslot, Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Now, 7th Heaven was the one that was brought back from the dead to help launch the CW.  The show was supposed to end with Season 10 and go out with the WB, but because the series finale got such high ratings, and the CW had hardly ANY good new pilots, it was dragged out for an 11th Season:

Just days after the WB series finale, it looks like the Camdens will be back for a record-breaking eleventh season. Remarkably, the new CW network has reportedly agreed to purchase thirteen new episodes of 7th Heaven.

In an article published today in Mediaweek: “With the merging of the WB with UPN, and an influx of corporate cash in the new partnership of CBS and Warner Bros, a decision was made to bring back the WB’s most-watched show on the new CW.” The show’s stars Stephen Collins, Catharine Hicks, David Gallagher, Beverly Mitchell, Mackenzie Rosman and George Stults are all expected to return.

Like all of the broadcast networks, the CW is still in the process of finalizing their fall primetime schedule. The network is expected to officially announce where on the schedule 7th Heaven will be at its upfront session on Thursday, May 18, 2006. Heaven aired on the Mondays and is likely to remain in that time period next season.

As if it couldn't get worse, it came at the expense of another show, the lower-rated, but more critically-acclaimed Everwood.  That show was originally meant to get a 5th Season on the CW, but it was scrapped when they decided to renew 7th Heaven instead.  As you'd expect, this decision caused a huge fan revolt and sparked a failed "Save Our Show" campaign.

[Deleted]

Sometimes a show just needs to end,  7th Heaven was one such show.  Why didn't they keep the newer Everwood?

[Deleted]

Dec 20, 2015 0:19:51 GMT -5 @tim66 said:

Sometimes a show just needs to end,  7th Heaven was one such show.  Why didn't they keep the newer Everwood?

I've never watched the show, but from what I understand, Everwood was always one of those shows that got low ratings, but good reviews from critics and had a loyal fan following.  It did just well enough to continue getting renewed, but it wasn't one of the WB's juggernauts.

7th Heaven, on the other hand, was, more or less, the opposite.  It always got excellent ratings for the WB, but tended to be scorned by critics for being preachy, sappy, and formulaic.  In fact, 7th Heaven was often compared unfavorably to Everwood, which was praised for being a grittier and much more realistic family drama.

Neither show was a good fit for the young, sexy teenybopper direction Dawn Ostroff had in mind for the CW, but 7th Heaven had the ratings advantage, and the new network was desperate for shows in 2006.  Like many of the older shows, 7th Heaven was only renewed to fill a timeslot until the CW could get something better.  Notice how many of the WB/UPN shows that carried over, such as Gilmore Girls, Reba, Veronica Mars, and the aforementioned 7th Heaven, all ended after the 2006-07 season?

[Deleted]

Ah, I see.

That's a shame about Everwood, I loved that show. In fact I might rewatch it now that you mentioned it
Same goes for Veronica Mars, I would've loved a 4th season... the movie was okay (better than nothing) and the novels are very good, but still- sad that it was cancelled.

At least Netflix are giving Amy Sherman Palladino the opportunity to give Gilmore Girls the ending she had planned. I'm looking forward to that.

[Deleted]

Interesting, and somewhat related news, America's Next Top Model is ending.   It was the last of the UPN shows.

Now the only pre-CW show left on the network is Supernatural.

[Deleted]

Dec 20, 2015 10:10:14 GMT -5 @p3nathan said:

That's a shame about Everwood, I loved that show. In fact I might rewatch it now that you mentioned it
Same goes for Veronica Mars, I would've loved a 4th season... the movie was okay (better than nothing) and the novels are very good, but still- sad that it was cancelled.

Veronica Mars was a similar case to Everwood--low-rated, but critically-acclaimed and had a loyal fan following. However, unlike Everwood, Dawn Ostroff reportedly liked Veronica Mars and thought that it and Gilmore Girls would help establish the teenage girl direction that she wanted to take the network in. This led to extensive Executive Meddling in the 3rd Season, which alienated many fans and only caused the show's ratings to sink even lower.

The CW didn't really find a big, lasting success until Vampire Diaries in 2009. While Gossip Girl and New!90210 managed to scrape by with low-to-average ratings, most of the network's earlier shows bombed after only 1 or 2 seasons: Runaway, Hidden Palms, Life Is Wild, Privileged, and so many others.

Even after Vampire Diaries, the CW still struggled to launch new hits, seeing a large number of massive flops from 2009-2012, such as The Beautiful Life, New!Melrose Place, Life Unexpected, Hellcats, The Secret Circle, and Ringer.

It wasn't until Mark Pedowitz took over the network from Dawn Ostroff that the CW finally figured out what its bread and butter was: geeky genre TV. Supernatural still continued to get good ratings, despite its age, and the network finally scored another big hit with Arrow. Toss in other new hits like The Flash, The Originals, and iZombie, and the CW seems to have finally found its footing, even if it took almost a decade.

[ryang]

Some responses after reading this very interesting thread:

- I appreciated the attempt at a season-long arc.  Loved seasons 1, 2, and 5 but I needed more to tie episodes together.

- A Charmed Sons spinoff wouldn't have happened as Supernatural is well-underway and takes care of the 2 brothers fighting evil.

- Billie and Christie would have made more sense as descendants of Melina Warren and possibly evil family

- Phoebe didn't need a condo, and she was useless this season. Would have been great to have Coop there from the beginning.

- Leo didn't need to become frozen. They could have used him in fewer episodes like Darryl or Dan and removed him from the opening credits. He could have been kidnapped or something else.

- I do think that the idea was for Billie to be a spin-off. Kern did have a Mermaid show that was supposed to happen around this time I think.

- Bringing back the Triad was OK and the Homeland Security stuff was good. Had potential but poorly executed.

- Yes, the budget was slashed but Seasons 1 and 2 did had great episodes with a modest budget. A shorter season also could have helped.

- Best of the season? Piper blowing up/choking Billie. Ha.

- The ending was super ridiculous for all the reasons everyone pointed out.

- Then again, what show are that time of similar genre has had a GOOD final season? Throughout television, I think crappy final seasons are pretty normative.

[prettyinpink94]

It was a terrible, terrible abomination of a Charmed season that never ever should have seen the light of the day.

[Aaeiyn]

I like S8 better than S2 and S4. The reason why I like S8 better than S2 and S4 is because Dan Gordon absolutely ruined S2, for me. And, S4 was still trying to find its way, again without Prue and didn't know what to do with Paige until S5 came around (which S5 still gets on my nerves for how they mistreated the Cole character, but I digress). I don't think S8 is as good as S6 nor S7, but I'll certainly dabble into watching S8 than watching S2 and/or S4, any day.

[rebooted]

I'm not a fan of Charmed post Season 1 - 4.

But I do like Season 8's character development of Paige.

It makes me feel good knowing that one of the sisters developed really well and got better, and didn't regress towards the end like I feel the other 3 sisters did. Prue being reckless, Piper never being satisfied, and the demise of phoebe's character.

[Aaeiyn]

Aug 21, 2021 23:09:44 GMT -5 Aaeiyn said:

I like S8 better than S2 and S4. The reason why I like S8 better than S2 and S4 is because Dan Gordon absolutely ruined S2, for me. And, S4 was still trying to find its way, again without Prue and didn't know what to do with Paige until S5 came around (which S5 still gets on my nerves for how they mistreated the Cole character, but I digress). I don't think S8 is as good as S6 nor S7, but I'll certainly dabble into watching S8 than watching S2 and/or S4, any day.

I've changed my mind about S8 being better than S2 & S4, but I certainly still believe S8 is still better than S5. I still believe S6 & S7 are the strongest in the S5-S8 section, of the show.

[ryanhalliwell]

Mar 12, 2024 23:42:32 GMT -5 rebooted said:

I'm not a fan of Charmed post Season 1 - 4.

But I do like Season 8's character development of Paige.

It makes me feel good knowing that one of the sisters developed really well and got better, and didn't regress towards the end like I feel the other 3 sisters did. Prue being reckless, Piper never being satisfied, and the demise of phoebe's character.

For me, Paige's character development ends up being the worst of all and the only one painful to watch. I can see seeds of bitterness or self-centeredness in Piper and Phoebe's beginnings, but I don't see seeds of bitterness and hatred for their work in Paige's beginnings. Paige S8 is terrible, she is mean to Billie and rolls her eyes at any mission as a witch or whitelighter.

[BriannaWarren2.0]

Good concept, could have been done better. 

[rebooted]

Mar 30, 2024 7:37:03 GMT -5 ryanhalliwell said:

Mar 12, 2024 23:42:32 GMT -5 rebooted said:

I'm not a fan of Charmed post Season 1 - 4.

But I do like Season 8's character development of Paige.

It makes me feel good knowing that one of the sisters developed really well and got better, and didn't regress towards the end like I feel the other 3 sisters did. Prue being reckless, Piper never being satisfied, and the demise of phoebe's character.

For me, Paige's character development ends up being the worst of all and the only one painful to watch. I can see seeds of bitterness or self-centeredness in Piper and Phoebe's beginnings, but I don't see seeds of bitterness and hatred for their work in Paige's beginnings. Paige S8 is terrible, she is mean to Billie and rolls her eyes at any mission as a witch or whitelighter.

I still give Season 8 a clear fail. 

But for me, the only bearable parts to watch for me are the scenes between Paige and Henry.

[Aaeiyn]

Only Paige (and a little bit of Piper) are using their abilities the most.

S8 completely forgets about Phoebe, entirely. One of the WORST seasons to showcase Phoebe's abilities. With only three episodes worth of premonitions and maybe 2-3 episodes of Phoebe's (Strength) Martial Arts.

This is where I have to give S5 more credit. Even with four episodes of premonitions, there's two more episodes that kind of give us premonitions, but they're both non-visual. S8 (despite being on a budget) couldn't bother to give us premonitions the way it was handled in both S5E17 "Lucky Charmed" & S5E22 "Oh My Goddess, Pt 1".

Yet, it had enough for Paige's TK-Orbing and Piper freezes. S8 is the best season to get Paige TK Orbing. Along with Piper freezes, in the S5-S8 bracket.

Just felt like because Milano was a little too old to be the show's "hot chick", that she was substituted for Kuoco. As Milano's character was barely in any of the S8 fights.

[coophalliwell]

It was the most poorly rated, by viewers, but only slightly less than season 6:

www.ratingraph.com/tv-shows/charmed-ratings-7045