FANZINE: HOW I CAME TO (BE) CHARMED

[vandergraafk]

Many fans have their own favorite season or seasons of Charmed, as well as their own favorite character or characters. Charmed boy put forth the thesis that whether you like Paige or not depended on when you came to Charmed. Do you agree with this thesis?

In answering the question, give a little background information about how you came to Charmed. You might include your favorite season or seasons, as well as your favorite character or characters. It's up to you. EXTRA, EXTRA read all about it.

Here is charmed boys's thesis:

oh ok i understand your point of view. You found charmed when it was really agitated, although not better than the first seasons. You see, when you start watching from paige, you prefer her, when you start with prue, you prefer her. I'm not blaming you for liking her more than prue i just think that shannen should never have left the show, cos alyssa got the chance to ruin it with her personal love problem...

[vandergraafk]

Well, that's not quite right. When I first started watching Charmed, I watched Season 6 on TNT on Tuesday nights. I didn't know it was Season 6 at the time. I also watched other reruns of the show. Thus, I was exposed to both Prue and Paige at the same time. My choice of Paige as my favorite took a long time to emerge. Probably Season 5 (when I understood what Season 5 meant) convinced me that Paige was the one. That continued with me after I became a WB regular during Season 7.

For other fans, your thesis could be correct. Whomever you were exposed to first may have gained the upper hand. I suppose it depends on how you watched the shows. I didn't even know about the WB's airing of Charmed (if you can believe that) until I saw a showing of Oh My Goddess Part 1 (in May). The scene I most remember is the scene where Leo discovers all of the dead Elders. Since I hadn't seen the whole episode, but had seen other episodes, I was absolutely baffled. What did any of this have to do with the manor? Can you imagine watching Charmed at random and seeing lots of Cole, some dude named the Source, the first episode, Andy Trudeau and not having any clue how this hung together? Well, that was me for quite some time.

[pruehalliwell88]

ive watched the show since the beginning. i love the original power of three and current power of three, but it is a tough choice to choose between prue and paige. i like both power of three's. but..... season 8 already came out on DVD in the UK, so i guess we're gunna have to wait a while.

[spiritsas]

I recall when Charmed first aired. I think I even watch an episode or two, but it was my son who was into the show at the time. Somewhere around season three I started getting interested in it as I was drawn in by HMC. I liked the way she looked and carried herself in her performances. Admittedly, she definitely falls into "my type" of what I like in a woman, but it was the interaction with the other sisters which kept me watching. I think I lost the bubble on the show for a year or two, after the third season ended, and then picked it up again in season six. I've since caught up on all the episodes, via the TNT reruns, and have followed it through it's end, in May of last year and until now, via the books and continued reruns.

Although the Wiccan themes of the show slowly desolved (worried sponsors, I suppose) and the last season suffered from horrible budget cuts, it still kept to many of the main underlying messages of family, loyalty, protecting those who can't protect themselves, and honesty. I think that's what keeps me as a fan and hoping the CW will have the sense to do a spinoff before it's too late and they've lost their ready made audience. With 7th Heaven, Veronica Mars and other CW shows ending this season; and new shows, like Supernatural not getting the ratings Charmed got in it's worst years, you'd like to think by now the CW execs realize that they screwed up by dumping Charmed.

[vandergraafk]

The comments have been great so far. What do you think of charmed boy's thesis? And, does anyone have any thoughts on how well music was integrated into Charmed? I find that a strong selling point. It was not just the theme music, it was also the episode music. For example, the vanquish of the Source will always be associated in my mind with Natalie Imbruglia's Goodbye.

[elenarae]

I watched Charmed from the beginning, then lost touch with it somewhere in Season 2, picked it back up when Phoebe was pregnant with demon child. I was able to watch the shows that I missed. I am definitely a Paige fan. I felt that the show concentrated too much on Prue, especially in the 3rd season. I think she is a wonderful actress and all, but just preferred Paige. Piper is my favorite. Love Leo. I really enjoy the music that is in the show. The music at Prue's funeral and the different acts at P3 were always a nice ending. I really wish that they could somehow do that spin off. I don't watch the new network at all now. Lost has taken over as my favorite show for the moment.

[vandergraafk]

You know, the Edie Reader piece that you refer to - the second verse of this wonderful song by the former lead singer from Fairground Attraction - is somewhat odd. After so many listenings, I am still trying to decipher the meaning of the lyrics. On the surface, the song seems an ironic choice. After all, the lyricist claims she needs a bell, book and a candle to keep the ghosts at bay. Yet, Piper has bemoaned the fact that she cannot make contact at all with Prue. It would seem more intelligible if a bell, book and candle were used to touch a ghost today. Still, the haunting lyrics and music create a wonderful ambiance to the episode and - like Natalie Imbruglia's amazing Goodbye - will forever be associated with Charmed Again. Michelle Branch's Goodbye to You I will also remember as the episode when Cole is vanquished in Centennial Charmed.

[spiritsas]

V- I think you're absolutely right about the music in that it was a draw for many people. Having all those different bands, with very current sounds did increase the enjoyment of the show. You also had bands on the show who went on to be fairly big, before they had made a name for themselves. I'm sure being on or having their music on Charmed helped their careers. Then there was the use of well know artists in many episodes, not to mention an appearance by Pat Benatar and her husband. If P3 really existed, it would be a very cool nightclub.

[whitelightertony]

I've watched since the beginning, the WB premiere in October 1998. My favorite has been, and always will be, Piper.

The music selection is great!
Because of the episode "Oh My Goddess," my heart jumps with excitement everytime I hear Liz Phair's "Extraordinary."

[phoebe11]

I started watching it in 2004 but at the time the first season was on.I never really liked Shannen but Prue was awesome.but then after finding she needed to get rid of herself from the show and Paige emerged I was happy because Rose was always my fave in movies.And I think that the thesis is incorrect.Because I have seen every episode I think and i still do like them all but Paige is more a fave to me even though my fave character out of all of them is Phoebe I do agree that i like Paige more then Prue and Shannen has been known to start fights after a little while on a TV show but this is just my theory and I happen to think Shannen needed time away from TV shows like Charmed and 90210 so I think that her leaving was a good thing because Charmed defiantly would have not went on as long as it did if Shannen would have stayed.

[Piper3]

yea same here i started watching it in 2004 bcz of my cousins i seen the one with kate the little girl
but i didnt really like it then i started again in 2005 and i did like it
so i got hooked
lol
i would say i like paige beter than prue bcz i didnt like prue's charector
but my favorite is piper i just think she is awsome
then like i said i just fell in love with the show
everything about it was awsome
so i watched it every day at 4 and 5 on tnt

[p3xocharmedonexop3]

My best friend Brandi got me hooked on charmed last year. We were and still are obsessed. The first episode i saw was awakened except it was a re-run. I started watching new ones when it was in the middle of season 8. I have seen basiclly every episode. I now own seasons 1,2,3,5,6,&7!

[Clare]

I watched Charmed from when it first started and at that time I didn't like Prue because I was very young and I didn't like people who were bossy or caused arguments. When Paige came into it in Season 4 I really loved her because she was fun and she wasn't mean to people (not that Prue was ever really mean). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I don't think just because you start watching it at a certain time that you'll like the current character the most.

Now that Charmed has finished and I'm 8/9 years older than when I sat and watched my first Charmed episode and I've almost completely re-watched the whole show from Season 1 through Season 8 in a few months my opinion of Prue has changed, I see that as the oldest sister she had to be tough especially as she was the strongest - both mentally and physically - at that time as Piper was quite shy and Phoebe wasn't as mature as her sisters (being the youngest sister). So I grew to like Prue although I still love Paige because she's a free spirit but she still cares about others.

My opinion of Piper after Season 3 has also changed. I really understand why she had to become tougher and less optimistic - she lost her big sister, the one who protected and cared for her her whole life. Now she's the older sister and I don't think she could have handled it if she had still been as innocent and shy as she was in the earlier Seasons.

But my favourite right from the start is and will always be Phoebe. I don't really know why, I think it's because I'm more like her in some ways. She was quite immature for a long time (but not necessarily in a bad way - she liked to have fun and mess around which is what I'm like sometimes), even in Season 8 she wasn't always deadly serious but that's not a bad thing. I mean, it's good that she didn't take everything seriously. I think she was quite a balanced character and she was always willing to give people a chance - just think of Cole, Paige, Billie, etc. I also think that she deserved to find love and be happy but I still think that the whole Phoebe/Coop romance/wedding thing was a bit rushed (but this wasn't the characters' faults). Maybe if we had had another Season I would have grown to like him more and see whether he was the one for Phoebe.

[foxfire]

This is a very interesting topic for me. I came into Charmed in Season Four. I'd heard the rumours of the Shannen and Alyssa fight (which to me I think was untrue). I felt as if I had to pick a side and I picked Alyssa's thinking "I'm glad they picked her."

I began watching Charmed with the second Power of Three. I immediately liked Phoebe (because she was played by Alyssa Milano) and I also liked Paige.

However, I soon stopped watching the show around the beginning of season seven when CTV (the channel that aired Charmed in Canada) kept moving its night around.

This past year, I suddenly became interested in Charmed again. However, I wanted to watch it from the beginning. So at first, I started out thinking "I'm here to dislike Prue" but soon enough, Prue became my favourite and I would often get frustrated with Phoebe (namely in the Cole seasons).

Once Prue was killed off, I was extremely angry. You see, I liked Paige because I liked her powers and I thought I liked Rose McGowan. However, now comparing Paige to Prue, I see that Prue was the better sister. I can see it from both points of view and I think that the original Power of Three was better than the second.

Is it true that some people will like Paige depending on when they come in? No. Because people like the characters they like based on personality (and most often the actors who portray them). Paige and Prue have polar personalities and therefore anyone can sway either way.