The Charmed Sons: 2005-2014

[cyma]

THE CHARMED SONS: 2005-2014

Today marked the end of an era as the last remaining fragment of the old Charmed Sons campaign, the TCS board, finally shut its doors for good. The site had been completely abandoned for almost two years and was just a sitting duck for spammers, so it's good that the board has finally been put out of its misery.

However, TCS wasn't always the hollow, empty shell it has been for the past few years.

Back in April 2005, almost exactly 9 years ago to this day, things looked a lot different. The show was still on the air, the fandom was still active and organized, and the potential for a spinoff was high. It was then that Lisa and Donna got together and organized the earliest incarnation of the TCS site and campaign:

Several had joined and connected to one another through a popular web site devoted to discussing television programs. One night in April of 2005 two of these fans, women who had met through this forum, were chatting on yahoo instant messenger. They bonded over their interest in the characters Chris and Wyatt and were discussing the possibility of a spin off centered around the popular Halliwell brothers. That’s when the Charmed Sons was born.

The Charmed Sons has one purpose: To convince a network to create a Charmed spin off about the brothers who had rejuvenated the show in its sixth season, with Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey as the leads.

They decided to launch a message board, hoping to rally support to get this show made. Within a month, The Charmed Sons already had 71 members.

The fact that the original site managed to collect 71 members in just a month is a testament to how popular Chris and Wyatt were at the time. Season 6 saw some of the highest ratings the show had ever seen in years, nearly reversing the ratings drops from Seasons 4 and 5. Chris had literally rejuvenated the fandom, so a large percentage of fans were understandably disappointed when his storyline was dropped in Season 7 (hence the ratings drop). Lisa and Donna's campaign struck a nerve with a lot of people.

Of course, they weren't without setbacks, but they never let anything stop them:

Then, a major setback occurred. The host of the site crashed, completely wiping out the board resulting in lost threads and posts, but more importantly momentum., Undeterred, The Charmed Sons and its dedicated staff moved to webboard toolbox in June and started over.

And, that is how the the most famous incarnation of TCS came to be, as seen here on the Wayback in October 2005: web.archive.org/web/20051030120700/http://www.thecharmedsons.com/.

It was then that the campaign went viral. By the end of 2005, the site boasted 700 members and growing, and it had managed to catch the attention of both Wes Ramsey and Drew Fuller, as well as the attention of certain media outlets.

TV WEEK scan, circa late 2005-early 2006 

2006 continued to bring good news for TCS. The site got a shiny new redesign in July (web.archive.org/web/20060719060705/http://www.thecharmedsons.com/), and they had managed to raise enough money for a moving billboard (web.archive.org/web/20060712062955/http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/thecharmedsons/vpost?id=1195836), giving the campaign even more visibility.

TCS moving billboard, circa 2006

Unfortunately, 2006 was also the beginning of the end. Charmed aired its last episode in May, and not only did the larger fandom begin its long decline as people lost interest and moved elsewhere, but the finale, itself, and its infamous flash-forward caused more trouble than it was worth. Suddenly, the entire board had become split in half on whether or not Chris and Wyatt had a sister, or whether or not their cousins should be included in the spinoff. The cracks were starting to form.

Charmed's own network, The WB, also collapsed that year, merging into UPN to form the CW. While The WB was never the biggest fan of the TCS idea, the CW had even less interest in the concept. Despite being owned by the came company who owned Charmed (CBS), the CW wanted to move away from the show, altogether, and focus on younger, higher-rated shows, one of which was a little show called Supernatural. Following the demon-hunting adventures of Dean and Sam Winchester and their Impala, SPN boasted a very similar premise to TCS, and as the network saw it, it perfectly filled the "demon-hunting brothers" void. There was no need for TCS when SPN already existed.

Things started to hit the skids in 2007-08. Now that Charmed was over, the chances of getting a spinoff were becoming slimmer and slimmer, and people started leaving the site in droves. There were a few more site redesigns, and the campaign was even retooled into aiming for a TV movie instead of a full series, but it wasn't enough to stem the bleeding. By this point, even the site's founders, Lisa and Donna, were losing interest. The site would close for good in early 2009. (Last Wayback capture, circa February 2009: web.archive.org/web/20090219071712/http://thecharmedsons.com/)

But, that wasn't the end of TCS, just yet. Lisa and Donna turned the reigns over to someone else, whom we'll just call SP, and she started a new TCS site on ProBoards in May 2009. Many of the remaining refugees from the old board returned, as well as a few brand new members, and while TCS 2.0 was never as active as Lisa and Donna's original site (it boasted just 153 members at the end, only a fraction of which ever posted), it had a couple of good years in 2009-2010.

Of course, with the spectre of the old campaign still hanging over their heads, people began to take their frustrations out on each other as nothing was getting done. (Zenescope's Charmed comics, launched in 2010, were especially a point of contention, as they weren't a spinoff, and they included both a sister and cousins.) The in-fighting went nuclear in May 2011 with the Big Fight, which led to a long-time staff member getting fired, and about half of the remaining members quitting. After that, the board just continued to slow to a crawl as more and more people jumped ship for greener pastures. By 2013, the site was completely abandoned and awaiting deletion: web.archive.org/web/20130603215338/http://charmedsons.proboards.com/.

A nearly decade-long campaign ended today, and while TCS was ultimately a failure, going out with a whimper instead of a bang, the site deserves to be commemorated for all of the hard effort that was poured into it and the large collection of fans it brought together, if only for a short time. Rest in peace, TCS.

It's amazing how much of the original site was preserved on the Wayback. While most of the forums are long gone, as well as many of the pictures, you can still find many gems laying around.

Here's the site's original mission stated (some of which I quoted in my post), circa October 2005:

At the end of Season 5 of the popular WB television series “Charmed”, fans were introduced to “Chris Perry”, a mysterious figure from the future whose motives were unclear. Immediately, they were intrigued. Who was this young man? What was his connection to the sisters? Was he, as many had speculated, Wyatt from the future? This intrigue carried over into the sixth season when Drew Fuller, the actor who portrayed Chris, became a regular member of the cast. Many speculated as to who Chris was and why he was here, but mostly, they were curious and wanted to learn more.

When the episode “Chris Crossed” aired, it was the first time Chris’ identity and purpose were revealed to the audience. It pitted him against an adult and quite evil Wyatt from the future, played by Wes Ramsey. The episode yielded the highest ratings for the series in three years at over 6 million viewers.

Fans were hooked.

The chemistry between the two actors was palpable. The dynamics between the characters provided ample opportunity for exploration. What happened to set Wyatt down this evil path? What was his relationship like with his younger brother? What role did their parents play in their lives? And most importantly, was Chris successful in altering the future or was his death in vain?

Then, in season 7 rather inexplicably the storyline was all but dropped completely, and the character of adult Chris did not return, save for a brief appearance in an episode where he appeared to his father in a dream.

For many fans, this was unacceptable.

Several had joined and connected to one another through a popular web site devoted to discussing television programs. One night in April of 2005 two of these fans, women who had met through this forum, were chatting on yahoo instant messenger. They bonded over their interest in the characters Chris and Wyatt and were discussing the possibility of a spin off centered around the popular Halliwell brothers. That’s when the Charmed Sons was born.

The Charmed Sons has one purpose: To convince a network to create a Charmed spin off about the brothers who had rejuvenated the show in its sixth season, with Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey as the leads.

They decided to launch a message board, hoping to rally support to get this show made. Within a month, The Charmed Sons already had 71 members.

Then, a major setback occurred.

The host of the site crashed, completely wiping out the board resulting in lost threads and posts, but more importantly momentum., Undeterred, The Charmed Sons and its dedicated staff moved to webboard toolbox in June and started over.

The members and staff began to take action. They created postcards with the images of Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey as Chris and Wyatt, requesting a spin-off, and flooded the WB network. They frequented other Charmed related message boards in an attempt to draw interest in a spin-off.

People started to notice.

Within three months, their numbers soared to nearly 700 members and continues to grow. The majority of members are women in their twenties and thirties. Many members are former Charmed viewers who have lost interest in Charmed and stopped watching, but very much wish to see a Charmed spin off centered around the Halliwell brothers and are supporting the quest to achieve that.

One night, a staff member asked if it was known whether the actors themselves would be interested in a spin-off. The staff decided to ask them. Drew Fuller was asked and confirmed his interest through his official website “www.drewfullerfan.com”. Wes Ramsey proved a bit more challenging to contact. One of the founders of the Charmed Sons contacted his publicist and asked if he’d be willing to speak with the members of the site. They knew it was a long shot.

Sometimes, long shots pay off. Not only has Wes indicated an interest in the spin-off, but he has agreed to come and conduct an on-line chat for members of the Charmed Sons. Suddenly, a group that started with 2 women on instant-messenger has, in a few short months, secured the participation of one of its proposed stars.

The members are understandably excited. While there is some disagreement as to how the spin-off should look, there is one thing all of our members do agree on: We want a show starring Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey that is centered around the two magical brothers Chris and Wyatt Halliwell. If we can achieve our goal, The Charmed Sons might be the first new television show created due to fan demand.

Sad to look back and see all of that optimism. If only they knew...

Oh, and that online chat with Wes they mentioned? That was also saved: web.archive.org/web/20070209235655/http://www.thecharmedsons.com/actors/wes_chat.htm.
Same for this hand-written note he sent in June 2006: web.archive.org/web/20070209235422/http://www.thecharmedsons.com/actors/wes_message.htm.

Here's the final message Wes sent to Lisa and Donna, circa February 2007:

"Hello Lisa and the crew, Wanted to take a moment to say thank you all again for everything you and your team put into seeing those dreams realized. Sorry for the delayed response, had some technical issues worked out, etc. Now I seem to be up to speed again and wanted to let you know how much I, personally, appreciate the efforts and ideas you all had created. I, of course, also wish there was a way to break the doors down and make them give the idea a shot, but from a marketing standpoint, it seems to me like they may already have their own version of that spin off with that show "Supernatural" Two guys, fighting the spirits etc. While I have not really watched it, it was a thought I had recently. Alas, it is no Charmed is it? I do hope this finds you all well and that whatever projects I am able to participate in throughout the future, that you and all your friends and colleagues will tune in and hopefully enjoy. There is a movie next month I posted on my site for starters. Its even a Sci-Fi story, although once again, its no Charmed...and I'm the first the recognize that was a unique time for me and while I wish I was allowed to participate more on that show I am thankful that they included me at all and did bring me back throughout the duration... Who knows what the future will bring right? I do appreciate all that everyone did. I never could have imagined such a passionate following. I do hope you will all keep up with what I do and I will try my best to make it worth your while.....all of you. Cheers!" -W.

Supernatural might've been "no Charmed," but it's getting ready to enter its 10th season (!!), right now. That must count for something.


Original Source: casahalliwell.proboards.com/thread/1075/charmed-sons-2005-2014

[cyma]

Wonder what the outcome for spin-off would've been like if Facebook, Twitter and Netflix existed back then....

[BettyN]

Jun 25, 2015 15:33:01 GMT -5 cyma said:

Wonder what the outcome for spin-off would've been like if Facebook, Twitter and Netflix existed back then....

While I still don't think it would've ever happened without official support (Kern clearly had NO interest in the idea), Lisa & Donna probably would've gotten a lot further than they did.  Facebook and Twitter have opened up communication with actors, writers, and producers in a way that was unimaginable just 10 years ago.  That their campaign consisted of things like writing letters and making billboards seems outright quaint nowadays.  Alas, the TCS campaign happened 5-10 years too early.

[tim66]

I was more or less with TCS right from the beginning in 2005. When Lisa and Donna set up the first TCS board at Yuku (or EZBoards, as it was then called), was quickly part of the staff. It was there that I met a group of people I could call online friends.

However, it wasn't long before I encountered my first bump in the road. For some reason I have long since forgotten, Lisa and Donna insisted that to be part of the TCS staff, you HAD to participate in some stupid interactive game. A game I had zero interest in. Lisa eventually e-mailed me and more or less gave me an ultimatum: Contribute to the game or resign from the TCS staff. Not like having a gun pointed at my head, I resigned right then and there. However, the game was eventually abandoned for some reason, and it wasn't long before I was back on the staff.

Then came the second bump in the road. Yuku was the victim of a massive hacker attack. Many boards were virtually wiped out, TCS included. Realizing that Yuku had let them down, Lisa and Donna moved operations over to the second TCS board, and most of us went along.

Then came the third bump in the road, caused by that damned flash forward scene in Forever Charmed. Yep, you guess it, Mystery Girl. This character that appeared for less than ten seconds, and had no lines, caused major fights (as to whether she was Piper's daughter or not). Donna almost quit because of this incident, which came to be called the Melinda Fallout.

However, as the years passed, interest gradually waned. Staff members began to bail out. Towards the end, I was one of the last staff member who still went there on a regular basis. Even Lisa and Donna began to appear less and less.

By 2009, Lisa decided it was time to move on. She handed the board over to a new Admin. This Admin then shut down that board and set up the Prboards TCS one. Most of us who were left migrated over there. The Admin appointed two Global Moderators, me and another prominent member.

2009 was the year a new member called Betty Newbie joined. At that time, I had no idea how much an impact she would have on my involvement in Charmed Online Fandom.

For a while, things went well. It was as 2010 went on, that things began to go south. One member became more and more militant, whenever we suggested that the time was long past, this person would throw tantrums, saying that we were "giving up". It was late 2010 that this member deleted their account and would not be seen at TCS again for several months.

Of course, things really went to Hell when another member, let's just call her The Queen, who had been absent since the second TCS board was shut down, reared her ugly head. This person had this habit of derailing threads and starting fights. I found myself having to step in more and more often when The Queen started stirring up trouble, locking threads and deleting posts. It seemed my main job at that time was putting out all those fires.

Of courser, by then the campaign was on life support and Betty Newbie made the Should We Change The Board thread which, of course, led to what would be called the Big Fight. I started to make some changes to the TCS board. One change was to create a sub-forum for my Rex and Hannah Chronicles stories. Of course, the aforementioned Queen made a mountain out of this mole hill, and all but accused me of turning TCS into Rex and Hannah Central. The TCS Admin was a good friend of the Queen and, no doubt on her complaints (although I can't prove this) fired me (although I remained a member of the TCS board). When Betty Newbie saw how unfair I'd been treated, she deleted her TCS account for good.

Of course, Betty then set up Glued To The Screen (then called Casa Halliwell), and I joined as a Global Moderator, a position I hold to this day.

Meanwhile, back at TCS, then came the "let's be nice" policy that squelched all the fun out of the board (the member who had deleted their account a few months back reappeared around this time). The Admin decided to make the staff a bureaucracy, a bunch of Mods that basically had no power to act if a troublemaker showed up. They could sticky and lock threads, but could not delete or move posts (one of them actually explained this to me).  Basically,  a troll could have strolled right in and wreaked all sorts of havoc and the Mods would have been powerless to put a stop to it.

To complicate matters further, the one remaining Global Moderator resigned and was never replaced. The Admin herself, who was AWOL most of the time, soon vanished as well (two years would pass before she logged in again). The only two people who could actually do anything against trolls and spammers were now gone.

Of course, in the long run, it didn't matter. The board gradually dried up and died. Even most of the Mods no longer bothered to show up (except one, and this person was literally the last one standing until the bitter end).

When I terminated my TCS account in January of 2013, I formally ended nearly a decade of involvement. I knew the campaign was finished, and felt it was time for me to move on.

Now the board itself is gone. However, the memories, good and bad, remain.

The Charmed Sons: 2005-2014

R.I.P.

[cyma]

Jun 25, 2015 18:55:03 GMT -5 BettyN said:

Jun 25, 2015 15:33:01 GMT -5 cyma said:

Wonder what the outcome for spin-off would've been like if Facebook, Twitter and Netflix existed back then....

While I still don't think it would've ever happened without official support (Kern clearly had NO interest in the idea), Lisa & Donna probably would've gotten a lot further than they did.  Facebook and Twitter have opened up communication with actors, writers, and producers in a way that was unimaginable just 10 years ago.  That their campaign consisted of things like writing letters and making billboards seems outright quaint nowadays.  Alas, the TCS campaign happened 5-10 years too early.

Facebook and Twitter are there sure, but moving billboards are still gonna turn many heads even now.

[cyma]

Where is William Shatner's tweet where he mentions the Charmed Sons campaign as an example to the Witches of East End fans to get their show back? I'm having a hard time finding it. But I do remember it since he also posted a pic of that billboard.

Also does the TV week scan pic contains the whole article that appeared? Or is there more?

[tim66]

Destined: The Rise And Fall Of A Spin Off Fan Fiction Series

In 2007, one year before I launched the Rex and Hannah Chronicles, two ladies who were members of the Charmed Sons Campaign, Shannon and Jennifer, created their own board called Destined. This was a Fan Fiction series that centered on the grown Charmed Sons, Wyatt and Chris Halliwell. Since it seemed that Officialdom had little interest in making the TCS spin off, Shannon and Jennifer decided to do their own. Although this was a Fan Fiction series, they treated it like it was an actual television series being made, with their stories being "episodes". They even had actors who, in their minds, playing the role. Of course, Wes Ramsey and Drew Fuller would play Wyatt and Chris. However, they also had Colin Hanks who, in their series, would play DJ, the grown Manticore baby from the Season Six episode Little Monsters. Jessica Biel would play a character named Samera (or something like that).

Some of their online friends even made opening credits for the Destined series. Here is one that was made by former TCS member, Marlena (Storygirl83):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyQ9LZ2TIZs


The Destined home base was on a Proboards (like this one). Shannon and Jennifer would be writing the stories, while Shraddha (another former TCS member) would be handling the graphics. Shannon wrote this outline on her FanFiction.net profile about Destined:

Another sibling for Wyatt and Chris? Not going to happen in my stories. A five second clip in the last episode of a nameless and unknown little girl with the boys means nothing. Piper never mentioned having a daughter and I think she would have said something about that over talking about her restaurant. There were no pictures of that little girl on the wall with the boys. Piper had serious complications with Chris's birth and it was unlikely she would've been able to have another child. Plus, Chris and Wyatt - complete handful all on their own, I'm sure she would've stopped there even if she could have another child. I think the little girl with them was either A) Phoebe's daughter, thus their cousin, or B) a neighbor/close friend that had spent the night. I have more reasons, but I figure I won't fill up any more profile space with them. Just know that I don't believe they have a sister. She will NEVER appear in any of my stories. You can argue with me all you want, but I'm not changing my mind on this. I'm not going to be convinced. Wyatt and Chris are Piper and Leo's only children.

-A male cousin born of the Warren-line for the boys? Not gonna happen. Okay, I DO have Henry Jr. in there since he was mentioned by name in the Finale, but I have a solution for that delimma. He was adopted. Paige and Henry adopted him. It's logical, it makes sense. They both went through foster care/adoptive homes it only makes sense that they would have adopted a child too. And, considering everything with Paige happens for a magical reason, he is a magical child and the son of another witch. He's just not of "Halliwell blood". The main reason for my opinion that Henry Jr. is adopted is that I think it's extremely important that Wyatt and Chris are the only boys born into the Halliwell line tracing all the way back to their ancestor Melinda Warren. Everyone thought that Piper was going to have a girl. It was a HUGE shock when Wyatt came out. Another surprise that she had a second son. Phoebe had all girls. Everyone else in the Halliwell family has ALWAYS had girls. Paige had twin girls... and she and Henry (here it is again) adopted Henry Jr. Piper and Leo are the only ones to have sons: Wyatt and Chris.

-The boys are the main characters. I think that should be self-explanatory. Especially in my Destined series. The spin-off is about the boys, so Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins will only appear as 'Guest Stars', but will NOT appear as regular characters. Successful spin-offs take a few characters (two in this case) from the original series and drop them into a new setting, add a couple of new cast members to create their own story. This isn't Charmed all over again. This is a new show. The spotlight is on the boys. An example would be the spin-off Angel that was created from the parent show Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Completely sepparate show, with some characters from the original series, that jumped off on its own and was successful. That's what Destined is for me. Some folks have asked me about the cousins and if they're going to appear: the cousins are much younger than the brothers. Most of them are still in High School or Middle School - where as Chris and Wyatt are in college - so they would be unlikely to participate in the same sorts of things that Chris and Wyatt are doing anyway. Not to mention that Chris and Wyatt are on the other side of the country from them. I know some folks are interested in the cousins, but this isn't about them. If you do want to read a little here and there about the cousins, then I suggest reading my prequels to Destined, because the cousins do appear there a little bit. Brief appearances, but if you want to see glimpses of them that'd be where to do it. The focus of my stories will always be on Chris and Wyatt, though. So if you want focus on Phoebe and Paige's kids? Read someone else's stories.

-A bit of clarification on additional characters. This is just a quit little blurb about D.J. D.J. is indeed the half-manticore baby the Charmed Ones helped save in Season Six in the episode Little Monsters that seemed so close to Wyatt. They were that close when they were infants, and I like the thought that they grew up continuing to be close friends. If you'll recall the Beast/Dad from that episode's name was Derrek, then the name D.J. makes sense: Derrek Jr. Needless to say, he and Wyatt are best friends, which in turn has Chris being close friends with him too -- and making them the Three Muskateers, all toads aside. D.J. is an endless font of useless pop-culture and entertainment history trivia. He's also rather melodramatic, but he's watched way too many movies. And he's a bloody remote control hog too. Ahem. D.J. is a good friend, something the Halliwells need. I mean, think of how much the poor guy goes through being friends with those two! Yeah, he should get paid for sticking around them and being so loyal.

All in all, it looked like it would be an interesting series. However, fate had other ideas.

After only just 2 1/2 episodes, Shannon had a baby and decided, rightfully so, to make motherhood her priority. She left the project for good. Destined came to a halt after that. However, they had not really given up. By 2011, it seemed they were ready to resume work. However, then Jennifer mysteriously vanished. The following quote is from Shraddha, she posted this on the now defunct Charmed Sons board in 2012:

Shannon had left for good, and she left Jennifer and me in charge. Jennifer was going to do the writing, and I was going to take care of technical related stuff and other activities. However, last year around April, Jennifer disappeared without warning. I've been worried sick. I couldn't reach her, and she never came back. Everything was starting to get so good, we were going to rebuild the site together, pick up where we had left off, and then she just disappeared. I still haven't heard anything from her.

A lot of things have happened in my life as well, because of which I don't have the time to take care of the site on my own or continue writing fan fiction. Also, I wouldn't be capable of continuing the well-written Destined stories at all. Janette (Stormythomas, another Destined staff member) and I thought it best to just close the site and move on.

It's sad, really, but Jennifer and Shannon were the life of Destined, and with both of them gone, it can't continue.. unfortunately.

So it seemed they were going to start the series again, when Jennifer did her Judge Crater impression.  Shraddha put the board into Maintenance Mode in March of 2011. The board has been in Maintenance Mode for going on four years now. However, we know it's dead.

A sad irony is that one Destined story, written by Shannon, called An All Knighter, had Rex and Hannah in it. R&H were apparently, they were going to go up against the Charmed Sons. I followed this story, because it was an R&H story that I had no connection to, so I was curious to see how things would play out. However, that was the time Shannon had her baby and departed. An All Knighter was never completed.

All that remains of Destined are a few stories that Shannon has on her aforementioned FanFiction.net account:

www.fanfiction.net/u/1163411/Twin_Swords


Sad to think what this series could have been, had fate been a little kinder.

This thread was originally written by me here:

casahalliwell.proboards.com/thread/1242/destined-rise-fall-fiction-series

[BettyN]

Jun 26, 2015 2:36:56 GMT -5 cyma said:

Facebook and Twitter are there sure, but moving billboards are still gonna turn many heads even now.

Well, TCS' billboard clearly didn't turn many heads, now did it?

As long as Tim's reposting old articles, I might as well share one of my own:

The Lost Potential of Chris & Wyatt Halliwell

After Shannen Doherty's firing between Seasons 3 and 4, Charmed had fallen into a bit of a rut. Just overnight, Charmed went from being one of the WB's highest rated shows during Season 3 to being at risk for cancellation during Season 4. While Your Mileage May Vary on the actual quality of Season 4's writing, I think most of us can agree that the writing during that season was somewhat inconsistent. Because of Shannen's firing, as well as the drastic ratings drop, previously planned storylines had to be constantly altered and moved around at the last minute--nowhere is this more evident than with the Dark Phoebe storyline, which Shannen's firing pushed back to early Season 5 (from early Season 4) and low ratings bumped up to late Season 4 (from early Season 5).

The low ratings of Season 4 had an impact on how Season 5 turned out, as well. Because of how Charmed was renewed for Season 5 at the 11th hour, showrunner Brad Kern was left without a clear direction for the show, post-"Witch Way Now." To try to fill up the season, he pretty much threw everything--fairy tales, stalker!Cole, superheroes, Freebie, etc--at the show, hoping it would stick. The results, predictably, weren't pretty. While Season 5's ratings did improve from Season 4's, it was still a far cry from the success the show enjoyed in the first 3 seasons. Long-time viewers were clearly getting bored and frustrated with the show and the laughing joke it was quickly becoming.

Then, come the Season 5 finale, we get a glimmer of hope for the show--a mysterious young man from the future who goes by the name of "Chris Perry" (Played by Drew Fuller). While the actual episode, "Oh My Goddess," was nothing great--the whole idea of the sisters becoming Greek goddesses was ridiculous and turned off a lot of fans--many viewers were interested in Chris' character almost as soon as he showed up. Was he evil? Was he a Halliwell? Why did he come back to the past? Those were some of the questions viewers asked upon his arrival.

Fans became even more interested in Chris by the time Season 6 started, and they saw Drew in the show's opening credits. While the season's writing, overall, was more of the same old fluff from Season 5, Chris and the mystery that surrounded his character actually gave fans a reason to watch. Chris' storyline would reach a powerful climax with the episode, "Chris-Crossed," where viewers got to literally see the future Chris came from, including an evil dictator Wyatt, and get a clear look at his motivations for coming back. With 6 million viewers, "Chris-Crossed" was the highest rated non-finale episode the show had seen since Season 3, and Season 6 would go on to be the highest rated season since Shannen’s firing.

After "Chris-Crossed," fans were even more drawn to Chris' character, especially after he dropped the little bomb in "The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell" that he was Wyatt's brother. Many people began to think that Chris and his brother, Wyatt, had great spinoff potential and began planning out a hypothetical series and writing Chris & Wyatt fanfiction, among other things.

Then, the Season 6 finale, "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World," aired, and the hopes of many a Chris fan were crushed. Since Kern decided to fire Drew for unknown reasons at the end of Season 6, Chris' character was killed off in the finale, and in Season 7, the Chris & Wyatt storyline was completely dropped in favor of Nick Lachey, Brody, and Avatars. As you can expect, the ratings went back into the toilet during Season 7 (the show would get cancelled at the end of the season), and the fans who had followed Chris throughout Season 6 were completely pissed off.

Many bitter fans started channeling their anger into a Chris & Wyatt spinoff campaign, called "The Charmed Sons" (or, TCS, for short). They started a site, wrote letters, bought ads, and discussed spinoff ideas, among other things, hoping that someone would listen to them and give the Chris & Wyatt storyline the treatment it deserved.

Kern, however, had other plans. He had zero interest in doing anything else with Chris & Wyatt and wanted to do a spinoff about mermaids instead. He even managed to get a pilot episode written and filmed, although it was obviously rejected (Gee, I wonder why?). When the mermaid idea failed, he turned to Plan B, two blonde teenage witch sisters who go by the name of Billie and Christy Jenkins (or, Swillie & Biousty, as their many detractors called them). They and their storyline (which, as many have observed, was basically ripped off from Chris & Wyatt) would become the main focus of Charmed after the, then, dying WB un-cancelled the show for Season 8. Luckily, the death of the WB, as well as Kaley Cuoco's (ie. Billie) refusal to do a spinoff, would forever kill the Billie & Christy spinoff idea.

Unfortunately, the Chris & Wyatt spinoff idea would eventually die, as well. While Kern did give TCS fans table scraps in the form of "Someone to Witch Over Me," "Imaginary Friends" and a few Chris & Wyatt scenes in the 2nd series finale, "Forever Charmed," nothing would ultimately come out of the TCS spinoff campaign. No TV or movie spinoff would ever get greenlit, the Charmed novels would discontinue without ever spinning off into a TCS series, and no TCS comic book series would ever be drawn up (It's very telling that Zenescope found it more profitable to do a comic continuation of Charmed rather than a spinoff with Chris & Wyatt). It probably doesn't help that the flash-forward at the end of "Forever Charmed" effectively shut off any means of doing a TCS spinoff (aka. "Mystery Girl") and that the main TCS campaign site would eventually close for good in 2009, with only a now-abandoned replacement on ProBoards as a remnant of its past glory.

In short, there was a ton of potential in Chris & Wyatt, and Kern blew it. Big time.

In the end, the greatest enemy to a Charmed Sons spinoff was probably Kern himself.

[tim66]

Yeah, Kern was no friend to the TCS Campaign.

Anyway, here is another idea I had, not too long ago

How About A Charmed Sons Comic?

Most of us here were, at one point or another, part of the campaign to get a Charmed Sons TV spin-off. Of course, that didn't happen, but that doesn't mean the TCS concept has to die. I was thinking that perhaps a Charmed Sons Comic is a feasible idea. A comic series would not have to worry about the following.

Actor Availability: Both Wes Ramsey (Wyatt) and Drew Fuller (Chris) have long since gone on to other projects. It is very unlikely that they will play Wyatt and Chris Halliwell again. Plus, both actors have gotten older in the years since Charmed finished. A comic would not have either of these problems (assuming Wes and Drew allow them to use their likenesses).

Budget: One of the major issues that derailed the final season of Charmed was the nuked budget. This really hurt the show. For a comic book, this would be a non-issue. For one thing, they could take the boys out of San Francisco had let them have adventures in any location they chose.

If you ask me, THIS is the comic book series Paul Ruditis should be writing. I loved his novel that feature Wyatt and Chris, Leo Rising. He would be perfect to write a Charmed Sons comic.

I still can't believe the comics chose to continue the tired story of the sisters, which was for all intents and purposes, over. TCS would have been, IMHO, a much better alternative.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Jun 26, 2015 18:47:54 GMT -5 tim66 said:

Budget: One of the major issues that derailed the final season of Charmed was the nuked budget. This really hurt the show. For a comic book, this would be a non-issue. For one thing, they could take the boys out of San Francisco had let them have adventures in any location they chose.

Provided it wouldn't be too much like 'Supernatural' where the Winchester boys road trip fighting evil which I love but has been done already doing that might be okay then.

Shame that didn't happen more often on the show with the Charmed Ones except episodes like 'How To Make An American Quilt' for e.g. I mean did evil only frequent San Francisco all the time or actual other cities around the world? And I'm not including rubbish episodea.s like 'Valhalley Of The Dolls' either.

[tim66]

Shame that didn't happen more often on the show with the Charmed Ones except episodes like 'How To Make An American Quilt' for e.g. I mean did evil only frequent San Francisco all the time or actual other cities around the world? And I'm not including rubbish episodea.s like 'Valhalley Of The Dolls' either.

I know.  It was silly that it all happened in S.F.  Of course, it was for budget reasons.

At least I don't have to worry about that in the Rex and Hannah Chronicles.  They've even left the Earth a couple of times.  In The Dark Planet, they journeyed to dark Yuggoth, beyond the orbit of Pluto, for example. 

[BettyN]

Jun 27, 2015 1:22:26 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Provided it wouldn't be too much like 'Supernatural' where the Winchester boys road trip fighting evil which I love but has been done already doing that might be okay then.

Well, they could always do what Destined did and have the boys live in Boston, yet travel around for individual stories. They could also do something else Destined did and throw in the half-Manticore baby from "Little Monsters" as a third lead. That, combined with all of them having magical powers, would probably be enough to keep it different from Supernatural.

Of course, there are a few other things a TCS series would need to do to work:

- No token younger sister. Wyatt and Chris MUST be Piper's only kids. The little girl from the lunchbox scene (aka. Mystery Girl) could easily be handwaved away as a visiting cousin or friend. (Since she was never identified in the actual episode as a sister.)
- No cousins. I honestly don't care what becomes of Phoebe and Paige's kids, or as Tim and I call them, Brad's Brood of Brats.
- No Charmed Ones appearing all the time. Wyatt and Chris are grown men, they don't need help from their mother and aunts. Besides, this series would need to establish itself on its own away from Charmed, and having the sisters around all the time would prevent that from happening. It's supposed to be a spinoff, not Charmed: 20 Years Later.

Jun 27, 2015 1:22:26 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Shame that didn't happen more often on the show with the Charmed Ones except episodes like 'How To Make An American Quilt' for e.g. I mean did evil only frequent San Francisco all the time or actual other cities around the world? And I'm not including rubbish episodea.s like 'Valhalley Of The Dolls' either./quote]

I know. In this sense, even the novels had far more creative freedom than the show. For example, "Mystic Knoll" had the sisters travel to New Hampshire, while "Hurricane Hex" (which, as an aside, came out not long after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) put them in Florida. This was one of many ways that the novels were actually superior to the show in its later seasons, IMO.

[BettyN]

Jun 27, 2015 1:22:26 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Provided it wouldn't be too much like 'Supernatural' where the Winchester boys road trip fighting evil which I love but has been done already doing that might be okay then.

Well, they could always do what Destined did and have the boys live in Boston, yet travel around for individual stories. They could also do something else Destined did and throw in the half-Manticore baby from "Little Monsters" as a third lead. That, combined with all of them having magical powers, would probably be enough to keep it different from Supernatural.

Of course, there are a few other things a TCS series would need to do to work:

- No token younger sister. Wyatt and Chris MUST be Piper's only kids. The little girl from the lunchbox scene (aka. Mystery Girl) could easily be handwaved away as a visiting cousin or friend. (Since she was never identified in the actual episode as a sister.)
- No cousins. I honestly don't care what becomes of Phoebe and Paige's kids, or as Tim and I call them, Brad's Brood of Brats.
- No Charmed Ones appearing all the time. Wyatt and Chris are grown men, they don't need help from their mother and aunts. Besides, this series would need to establish itself on its own away from Charmed, and having the sisters around all the time would prevent that from happening. It's supposed to be a spinoff, not Charmed: 20 Years Later.

Jun 27, 2015 1:22:26 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Shame that didn't happen more often on the show with the Charmed Ones except episodes like 'How To Make An American Quilt' for e.g. I mean did evil only frequent San Francisco all the time or actual other cities around the world? And I'm not including rubbish episodea.s like 'Valhalley Of The Dolls' either.

I know. In this sense, even the novels had far more creative freedom than the show. For example, "Mystic Knoll" had the sisters travel to New Hampshire, while "Hurricane Hex" (which, as an aside, came out not long after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) put them in Florida. This was one of many ways that the novels were actually superior to the show in its later seasons, IMO.

[tim66]

- No token younger sister. Wyatt and Chris MUST be Piper's only kids. The little girl from the lunchbox scene (aka. Mystery Girl) could easily be handwaved away as a visiting cousin or friend. (Since she was never identified in the actual episode as a sister.)

Yes, that's true.  And I know the comics have made her that sister.  However, they're not canon, and thus it doesn't count.   The comics are only one Fan Fiction's interpretation of this character.  Of course, if it weren't for that damned flash forward, we wouldn't have this issue to begin with.

- No cousins. I honestly don't care what becomes of Phoebe and Paige's kids, or as Tim and I call them, Brad's Brood of Brats.

That damned flash forward again.  Hard to believe how much havoc it has reeked.  Saddled with the Brood Of Brats.  No thank you.  I can see why many just say "f*ck it" and go the AU route. 

As I said, I'm lucky that my spin off focuses on Rex and Hannah, two characters that exist outside the Halliwell mainstream, and that gives me much more wiggle room here.  Namely, the Brood Of Brats have no affect on me.  And I don't plan on R&H having any rugrats anytime soon.  When you're going up against the likes of Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth, the last thing you want is to bring a kid along. 

Now, R&H are destined to have children, because of Jenkalu Hannah Buckland, their 34th Century descendent I've had in a few of my stories.  However, that is not going to happen until I finally decide to call it a day with the R&H Chronicles.  My final story, whenever that will be, will probably end with Hannah announcing she's pregnant. 

- No Charmed Ones appearing all the time. Wyatt and Chris are grown men, they don't need help from their mother and aunts. Besides, this series would need to establish itself on its own away from Charmed, and having the sisters around all the time would prevent that from happening. It's supposed to be a spinoff, not Charmed: 20 Years Later.

Unfortunately, many TCS storylines fall into this trap.  They have Piper and Leo has major characters.  It is helpful by moving Wyatt and Chris to another city.  However, it's hard to get around that Mom and Dad are just an orb away.

[Chrisaholic]

Okay, I admit: I mainly let them stay in San Francisco but also in other US towns if necessary. Depending on the story I want to write. And big thank to the orbing power!

[BettyN]

Jun 28, 2015 6:28:31 GMT -5 tim66 said:

Yes, that's true. And I know the comics have made her that sister. However, they're not canon, and thus it doesn't count. The comics are only one Fan Fiction's interpretation of this character. Of course, if it weren't for that damned flash forward, we wouldn't have this issue to begin with.

While it can be said that Kern intended Mystery Girl to be a sister, the fact remains that it was never explicitly stated in the aired episode. Piper never referred to her as a daughter, or anything like that, so a TCS series can still write her out and stay within canon. Destined, for example, wrote her off as one of Phoebe's kids. (Which actually has grounding in show canon, since we saw Phoebe picking up Ladybug from school with Wyatt and Chris in her vision from "Witchness Protection.")

Jun 28, 2015 6:28:31 GMT -5 tim66 said:

That damned flash forward again. Hard to believe how much havoc it has reeked. Saddled with the Brood Of Brats. No thank you. I can see why many just say "f*ck it" and go the AU route.

Yeah, the cousins would be harder to work around. I guess you could write off Henry Jr. and the twins as adopted (since I could see both Paige and Henry as the types who would adopt kids, having both been adopted, themselves), so they would all just be plain, non-magical mortals and not part of any destiny. Phoebe's brats, however, would be harder, especially since they're both part-Cupid (and thus, able to teleport themselves) and a trio of girls (although, we only saw her pregnant with the third, so it's possible that it may have been a miscarriage, thus leaving her with only two).

Jun 28, 2015 6:28:31 GMT -5 tim66 said:

As I said, I'm lucky that my spin off focuses on Rex and Hannah, two characters that exist outside the Halliwell mainstream, and that gives me much more wiggle room here. Namely, the Brood Of Brats have no affect on me. And I don't plan on R&H having any rugrats anytime soon. When you're going up against the likes of Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth, the last thing you want is to bring a kid along.

Now, R&H are destined to have children, because of Jenkalu Hannah Buckland, their 34th Century descendent I've had in a few of my stories. However, that is not going to happen until I finally decide to call it a day with the R&H Chronicles. My final story, whenever that will be, will probably end with Hannah announcing she's pregnant.

However, the Brood of Brats did force you to eventually retire the Charmed Ones as guest stars, as it got to a point where you could no longer realistically write Phoebe and Paige as childless, and you refused to acknowledge Phoebe and Paige's kids.

Jun 28, 2015 6:28:31 GMT -5 tim66 said:

Unfortunately, many TCS storylines fall into this trap. They have Piper and Leo has major characters. It is helpful by moving Wyatt and Chris to another city. However, it's hard to get around that Mom and Dad are just an orb away.

Unfortunately, the only hard solution to that may be, as harsh as it sounds, to permanently kill off one or more of the sisters. It can't be Piper since we saw her as an old lady in the flash-forward, but the same isn't true for Phoebe and Paige. We never saw them as old, so it's possible that either of them could be dead by the time Wyatt and Chris were in their 20s.

And as much as I'd hate to do it, I vote for Paige. She's the only one of the three who can orb, and she's the only one who would probably still be living a magical life and saving innocents by her 40s and 50s. Get rid of her, and the Power of Three is done for good. Piper and Phoebe would inevitably be too obsessed with themselves and their "normal" lives to give a crap anymore. Poop Cardboard could also even give up his immortality and become human for Phoebe. (He could even do it before they have any brats, so none of them would have Cupid powers.)

Yes, it does "ruin" the Happily Ever After of "Forever Charmed," but let's face it, you can't have a spinoff, especially not one about Wyatt and Chris, without "ruining" that happy ending. You have to clear a path for Wyatt and Chris to have their story.

[tim66]

While it can be said that Kern intended Mystery Girl to be a sister, the fact remains that it was never explicitly stated in the aired episode. Piper never referred to her as a daughter, or anything like that, so a TCS series can still write her out and stay within canon. Destined, for example, wrote her off as one of Phoebe's kids. (Which actually has grounding in show canon, since we saw Phoebe picking up Ladybug from school with Wyatt and Chris in her vision from "Witchness Protection.")

Nice catch, Betty.  No, Wyatt and Chris must have no younger sister.  If they did, she's be a Smurfette, always needing to be rescued by her big brothers.

Yeah, the cousins would be harder to work around. I guess you could write off Henry Jr. and the twins as adopted (since I could see both Paige and Henry as the types who would adopt kids, having both been adopted, themselves), so they would all just be plain, non-magical mortals and not part of any destiny. Phoebe's brats, however, would be harder, especially since they're both part-Cupid (and thus, able to teleport themselves) and a trio of girls (although, we only saw her pregnant with the third, so it's possible that it may have been a miscarriage, thus leaving her with only two).

I can see Henry and Paige giving orphaned kids the same chance they both got.  Thus, said kids would be fully human, no powers, and thus no need to have them in the TCS spin-off.

Phoebe and Poop Cardboard's brats, yeah, one is pretty much screwed there.

However, the Brood of Brats did force you to eventually retire the Charmed Ones as guest stars, as it got to a point where you could no longer realistically write Phoebe and Paige as childless, and you refused to acknowledge Phoebe and Paige's kids.

Yeah, that's true.  I kind of time locked the Charmed Ones in 2006 without actually realizing I was doing it.  It was not until after my anniversary R&H story, Future Imperfect, in 2013, that I realized what I had done.  It was then I decided that Future Imperfect would be the last appearance of the Charmed Ones in the R&H Chronicles.

My subsequent story, Last Mission Of The U-28, would be the final R&H story set in San Francisco.  The two that came after, The Black Stone and The Emperor's Legacy, both took R&H away from S.F., before I relocated them to Lovecraft Country for good in the story New Frontiers. 

Unfortunately, the only hard solution to that may be, as harsh as it sounds, to permanently kill off one or more of the sisters. It can't be Piper since we saw her as an old lady in the flash-forward, but the same isn't true for Phoebe and Paige. We never saw them as old, so it's possible that either of them could be dead by the time Wyatt and Chris were in their 20s.

And as much as I'd hate to do it, I vote for Paige. She's the only one of the three who can orb, and she's the only one who would probably still be living a magical life and saving innocents by her 40s and 50s. Get rid of her, and the Power of Three is done for good. Piper and Phoebe would inevitably be too obsessed with themselves and their "normal" lives to give a crap anymore. Poop Cardboard could also even give up his immortality and become human for Phoebe. (He could even do it before they have any brats, so none of them would have Cupid powers.)

Yes, it does "ruin" the Happily Ever After of "Forever Charmed," but let's face it, you can't have a spinoff, especially not one about Wyatt and Chris, without "ruining" that happy ending. You have to clear a path for Wyatt and Chris to have their story.

Yes, but in Charmed, death never stopped a relative from showing up (hello Mom and Grams).  Summoning them was like making a phone call.

A less drastic solution would be for Paige to be stripped of her powers. She heals someone with terminal cancer, a non-magical thing. The Elders then take away her powers. After giving the Elders specific anatomical directions on what they can go do with themselves, Paige settles down with Henry to raise their adopted children.

Then the only problem is Phoebe's brats.

[BettyN]

Jun 28, 2015 23:44:07 GMT -5 tim66 said:

Nice catch, Betty. No, Wyatt and Chris must have no younger sister. If they did, she's be a Smurfette, always needing to be rescued by her big brothers.

Yeah, pretty much, especially if someone like Kern was writing the show. Besides, since Piper almost died having Chris, I can't see her having anymore. For somebody who had been told back in Season 4 that she had a severely scarred womb and would probably never conceive, two healthy boys is pretty great for her. She doesn't need a third.

And, BTW, the scarred womb thing could also be used to explain why Paige and Henry adopted their kids. Five years of demon fighting left Paige permanently scarred and infertile, and unlike Piper and Phoebe, she didn't have a Whitelighter or Cupid husband to plant magical sperm in her and miraculously heal her. Combine that with both Paige and Henry being adopted, themselves, and it makes 100% sense for their kids to be adopted (and thus, non-magical).

As for Phoebe and Poop, well, we can have him eventually give up his immortality for Phoebe and become human, so that means no trio of part-Cupid kids. And, the girl we saw Phoebe pregnant with in the flash-forward can be miscarried, so no three girls (and thus, new Charmed Ones). And, their two kids are WAY younger than Wyatt and Chris and are still preteens.

Jun 28, 2015 23:44:07 GMT -5 tim66 said:

Yes, but in Charmed, death never stopped a relative from showing up (hello Mom and Grams). Summoning them was like making a phone call.

Unless your name is Prue, that is. Paige's death could be a situation like that.

Jun 28, 2015 23:44:07 GMT -5 tim66 said:

A less drastic solution would be for Paige to be stripped of her powers. She heals someone with terminal cancer, a non-magical thing. The Elders then take away her powers. After giving the Elders specific anatomical directions on what they can go do with themselves, Paige settles down with Henry to raise their adopted children.

That could work, too. Alternately, we could also have Piper and Phoebe permanently give up their powers (like they were offered back in "Witch Way Now"), which would end the Power of Three as well. Since they were both extremely selfish and obsessed with having a "normal life," I could see both of them doing it.

[tim66]

Unless your name is Prue, that is. Paige's death could be a situation like that.

TV Tropes has a category for this, Real Life Writes The Plot.  The only reason we didn't see Prue is because there was no way in hell that Shannen was going back to that set. 

Kern once said he'd quit before letting Shannen back on the set of Charmed.  They should have called Shannen's agent right there and then.  If that could have dislodged Kern...

we could also have Piper and Phoebe permanently give up their powers (like they were offered back in "Witch Way Now"), which would end the Power of Three as well. Since they were both extremely selfish and obsessed with having a "normal life," I could see both of them doing it.

One only has to look at the S8 sisters to see that was true.  They were so busy going shopping, Phoebe banging her latest beefcake, etc.  Whenever Billie tried to remind them of their duties as Charmed Ones, they always told her to shut her pie hole.

[BettyN]

Jun 29, 2015 16:10:25 GMT -5 tim66 said:

TV Tropes has a category for this, Real Life Writes The Plot. The only reason we didn't see Prue is because there was no way in hell that Shannen was going back to that set.

Well, the odds of Rose returning to anything Charmed are pretty slim, too.

Jun 29, 2015 16:10:25 GMT -5 tim66 said:

One only has to look at the S8 sisters to see that was true. They were so busy going shopping, Phoebe banging her latest beefcake, etc. Whenever Billie tried to remind them of their duties as Charmed Ones, they always told her to shut her pie hole.

Yeah, that was how the sisters (well, mainly Piper and Phoebe) ended the show, so that's how they'd have to be in any other canon continuation, spinoff or otherwise. At least, though, their selfishness gives us a way to kill the Power of Three and more easily clear the path for Wyatt and Chris.