Charmed Introduction

[leoloverchloe]

Hello ;D

I've noticed that on the charmed introduction, HCM has her name then as 'piper'

I don't find this very fair on AM or RM, as they were also main characters, or on the other characters.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind it?

Thank you
Chloe

[Hansemand]

It happened after Alyssa "took charge" when Shannen left, notice the seasons how they got listed:

Season 1: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, T.W King and Alyssa Milano.
There she was more downgraded than T.W King (Andy Trudeau)

Season 2: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano, Greg Vaughan

Season 3: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano, Brian Krause, Julian McMahon

Season 4-8: Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs as Piper + other listed actors & actresses over time.

Considering their powers, then yes, Alyssa is listed wrong, since she is the most weak one of the 3.
But since they had to still keep selling Charmed, they chose to sell it as "The Alyssa Milano Show", so to speak, so they still could make money on Charmed.

But originally, Charmed was actually created because of Shannen, Aaron Spelling already had made up his mind that it should be Shannen who was going to be the lead of the show.
Shannen then brought Holly Marie along because she thought that Holly Marie would be perfect as Piper.
Alyssa is actually only the second choice to be Phoebe, Phoebe was originally planed to be played by Lori Rom, but after the pilot was shot, Lori left.
First then Alyssa Milano was hired as Phoebe.

In real life, thats also how it looks.
Shannen & Holly Marie are real close friends, neither Alyssa or Rose is part of that close friendship they have.

[vandergraafk]

Brad Kern was asked this question and answered precisely in a recent issue of Charmed magazine. Hansemand is more or less correct as far as she goes. However, Mr. Kern explained that in terms of "contract status", after Shannen was kicked off of the show, Alyssa was next in line. Most likely this had to do with her track record as a juvenile. Her Who's the Boss (I believe) lasted far longer than Holly's Picket Fences. And, Alyssa had more movie credits to her name than Holly.

The irony of course is that Holly had technically been with the show longer than Alyssa. Holly had shot the original pilot, whereas Alyssa was brought on month's later to tidy it up and replace Lori Rom. To appease Holly, she was given the credit "as Piper" in order to deal with this contract related nonsense. Appearances, though, are quite important. As a result, though I view this as a trivial matter, I'm certain that neither Holly nor her agent viewed this as trivial. That's why I'm not an actor and she is!

In the event, the effect is achieved. Whether Alyssa comes on first (and by the way, she was dead last in Season 1), or second, the fact that Holly has "as Piper" always distinguishes her and has worked to lend an air of importance to her as both an actress and an actress portraying an important character. I'm glad everyone was satisfied.

I just wish the WB had treated a) the fans with as much circumspection and b) the actresses with much, much more appreciation. Always used, never appreciated, but definitively the best that the WB had to offer! Charmed longa, vita brevis!

[whitelightertony]

However, Mr. Kern explained that in terms of "contract status", after Shannen was kicked off of the show, Alyssa was next in line. Most likely this had to do with her track record as a juvenile. Her Who's the Boss (I believe) lasted far longer than Holly's Picket Fences. And, Alyssa had more movie credits to her name than Holly.

The irony of course is that Holly had technically been with the show longer than Alyssa. Holly had shot the original pilot, whereas Alyssa was brought on month's later to tidy it up and replace Lori Rom. To appease Holly, she was given the credit "as Piper" in order to deal with this contract related nonsense. Appearances, though, are quite important. As a result, though I view this as a trivial matter, I'm certain that neither Holly nor her agent viewed this as trivial. That's why I'm not an actor and she is!

In the event, the effect is achieved. Whether Alyssa comes on first (and by the way, she was dead last in Season 1), or second, the fact that Holly has "as Piper" always distinguishes her and has worked to lend an air of importance to her as both an actress and an actress portraying an important character. I'm glad everyone was satisfied.

I suspect that who had top billing probably meant more to Alyssa than it did to Holly, and Alyssa really wanted to be listed first.

Holly was probably sufficiently satisfied with the "and...as Piper" credit.

If it hadn't been such a big deal to Alyssa, she would have let them list Holly's name first and kept her "and Alyssa Milano" credit from the first three seasons.

[harpo]

I still haven't seen all the Charmed series, but I did notice that Phoebe became part of producer when was that and what season did Piper die. I am a late on catching up w/ all this?

Thanks harpo

[Rebecca Malfoy]

Piper never died. It was Prue who stayed dead at the end of season 3's
All Hell Breaks Loose.

Both Holly (Piper) and Alyssa (Phoebe) became producers in season 5 because by then both of them would appear in 100 episodes which I've noticed is when most actors can choose to become a producers.

[The Original P3]

harpo said:

I still haven't seen all the Charmed series, but I did notice that Phoebe became part of producer when was that and what season did Piper die. I am a late on catching up w/ all this?

Thanks harpo

Not Phoebe, Alyssa. As did Holly.

Piper never fully died. But all the sisters died multiple times. Prue's was just the only one that ever stuck in season 3.

rebeccamalfoy said:

Piper never died. It was Prue who stayed dead at the end of season 3's
All Hell Breaks Loose.

Both Holly (Piper) and Alyssa (Phoebe) became producers in season 5 because by then both of them would appear in 100 episodes which I've noticed is when most actors can choose to become a producers.

They became Producers in season 5 because they had been with the show 4 years. It was asked once if Rose would become a Producer, and I can't recall who said it, but I think it was Holly who said that she would be offered the chance to become one after she had been on the show for 4 years, just like Alyssa and herself. 4 years came and went, and Rose turned down the offer to get a producer credit.

As for the credits, it does go in billing order usually. However, the second highest billed one is usually last. In the case of 2-3 when Alyssa was third, she was last of the sisters which meant she got the second highest pay. Notice how it says "and Alyssa Milano" in 1-3. Take the Buffy credits for example. SMG was obviously the highest paid and last for the first 5 seasons was "and Anthony Stewart Head as 'Giles' ". After he left the show, Alyson Hannigan was moved to last and received the "and Alyson Hannigan as 'Willow'" credit. Thereby being the second highest paid on the show.