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Charmed (1998 - 2006)
Created by: Constance M. Burge
Starring: Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory and Julian McMahon.
The WB
Number of Episodes: 178 (8 seasons)

PIPER:	Darryl, I'm sorry, but what do you want me to say? My sister was just possessed with a supernaturally born killer and my husband is in 1994, and I do not mean in the fashion sense. He time traveled back with my other sister so the only one left to help me is you.
	-- "A Paige from the Past" (04.10)

Charmed began in 1998 as part of the WB’s effort to inject midriff halter tops and hard bodies into shows with a supernatural bent. It had a good premise: three sisters just learning about their past and coming into previously unknown powers while rekindling their relationship and kicking demon ass. Sisters Piper, Prue and Phoebe discover that they are not only witches, but the “Charmed Ones,” witches destined to be the most powerful, demon busting forces of good out there. Over the course of the series we saw relationships made, broken, and reforged. One sister left the show and was magically replaced by another. We also saw a bevy of outfits and role-playing scenarios that would make a burlesque performer blush. The outcome was often a cheesy good time.

In terms of fans, Charmed managed to span a particularly impressive range. Sure, you had your magically-inclined fantasy fans and drooling fanboys (the disappearing nature of Alyssa Milano’s clothing can attest to the latter demographic), but it was also a show happily watched in syndication by the casual TV fan looking for something at odd hours on TNT. And the ratings definitely proved its popularity. When Buffy moved to UPN after the WB couldn’t meet its asking price, one of the rallying cries of disgruntled fans was “Why are they getting rid of my show and keeping Charmed? Buffy is so much better!” Indeed it was, disgruntled fan. But the fact is that, for its timeslot, Charmed kicked the pants off shows of ostensibly higher quality with its tacky, lightweight charm and large amount of exposed skin. And Julian McMahon’s insane hotness. Finally it met the production axe, and Charmed came to an end after eight magical seasons in 2006.

And what of the stars who portrayed our Charmed Ones and friends in the years since? Well…

Holly Marie Combs

Holly Marie Combs was the only actress to appear in every single episode of Charmed (beating out Alyssa Milano by one), playing Piper Halliwell, middle child and freezer of time. Piper’s life in the series underwent every conceivable upheaval, from owning a club to dating a dead guy, from marriage, separation and motherhood to discovering that one of her kids was the Messiah and the other a time-traveler. And Combs pulled off every ridiculous storyline the writers threw at her with consummate ease and skill, and with nary a strand of her perfect hair out of place.

At the end of Charmed, Combs took a break from acting to have her second son and to “… go reconnect with my family and friends who I really had ignored for eight years.” She has one recent TV movie to her credit, the 2007 Lifetime thriller Point of Entry, in which she is married to Roark Critchlow (recently seen as Erica Evans’s FBI boss on V) and is stalked by Richard from Melrose Place (Patrick Muldoon, whom many may perhaps know better as Zander from Starship Troopers).

Combs also became invested, on both sides of the camera, in the Lifetime pilot Mistresses, based on the BBC series of the same name, but despite a lavishly filmed pilot, the show was not picked up.

However, she can currently be seen as a long-suffering Mom on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, a teen soap opera based on Sara Shepard’s YA series, which premiered June 8. The original 10-episode order has already been extended to 22, giving Pretty Little Liars a full season and Combs a return to weekly broadcast television. Joining her are a Jamaican accent-free Bianca Lawson, best-known as Buffy’s Kendra; Chad Lowe, who replaced Angel’s Alexis Denisof in the role (why, we'd like to know?); and Laura Leighton, another Melrose Place alum. Apparently they’re all stalking her.

Post Charmed Grade: C
Geek Rating: 30%

Shannen Doherty

For the first three seasons, Shannen Doherty rocked the role of Prue Halliwell, responsible eldest of the sisters three. With her constantly exasperated manner and killer wardrobe, she fought evil and tried to keep her sisters in line, all while valuing art for a living and making use of her strong, if occasionally glitchy, telekenesis. Alas, Prue was killed off when (allegedly) Doherty could not get along with Alyssa Milano (allegedly), even for a pile of money (allegedly). Doherty did get a nice redundancy package though: owning 5% of the series meant she still made out like a bandit even after she made her way out the door.

Since leaving the show, Doherty has been a fixture on the TV movie circuit, with no less than 12 to her credit, including a bunch of In Fear for Her Life! thrillers with titles like View of Terror and Encounter with Danger. Also on her resume: 2008’s Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (Sci Fi Channel original + ancient Aztec sorcery + prissy Michael Shanks = Awesome!) and the disastrous -- in more ways than one -- 2005 miniseries Category 7: The End of the World, in which the zany hodgepodge storyline is as ludicrous yet entertaining as Doherty’s casting as a brilliant scientist. (Randy Quaid, a refugee from Category 6: Day of Destruction, totally makes the three hours of your life worthwhile.)

Doherty has also made some TV series appearances, most notably with her recurring role on Hawaii resort-based North Shore (alongside Stargate Atlantis’s Jason Momoa), and her recent reprise of the role that made her famous, Brenda Walsh on the CW’s new 90210. And let’s not forget her short-lived reality show, Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty -- where she capitalized on her bad girl status to do people’s dirty work -- and her even shorter-lived stint on the latest season of Dancing with the Stars, where she was the first contestant eliminated. (Damn you, Kelly fans!)

Doherty can currently be heard voicing dual characters in FEARnet’s supernatural cartoon Mari-Kari, and October will see her in Hallmark’s confusingly-titled holiday movie Growing the Big One. (Get this: she’s a pumpkin farmer!)

Coming in November is what can only be described as a self-help book from Doherty. Entitled Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (the Right) Attitude, it will apparently aid us all in our attempt to discern the difference between being a bad girl and the badass of the title. For which we should be very grateful.

Post-Charmed Grade: B-
Geek Rating: 45%

Dorian Gregory

Dorian Gregory played Inspector (later Lieutenant) Daryl Morris, initially the Charmed Ones’ biggest detractor and later on their staunchest ally. Gregory gave tough guy Daryl a heart of gold, and from a small role as a pesky policeman in Season 1, managed to make it through to the end of Season 7, when (officially) his wife makes him leave San Francisco and the sisters’ insanity behind and (unofficially) budget cuts made him too expensive.

Some actors exiting from successful shows continue to find consistent work, while others find it harder to break free of type-casting, and Gregory’s career after Charmed has mostly involved a lot of personal appearances at sundry fan conventions. However, he has done a couple of guest spots on procedural dramas Las Vegas and Without a Trace, he showed up in The Bad Girl’s Guide and he found himself with a microscopic role in the 2008 WB TV movie Show Stoppers (“In the competitive world of College stepping, rivalries are born, tradition is honored, and winning is the only way.”). Oh, also, he played a playa playa in the 2006 Vivica A. Fox/Carmen Electra/Stacey Dash misguided nonsense Gettin’ Played, showing off some impressive upper-body definition in the process.

Coming up for Gregory is a mafia movie called The Gold Rush Boogie in 2011, which can only be a relief after his turn as a random zombie, credited as Zombie, in director Kevin Richmond’s recent indie horror One Last Sunset.

Post Charmed Grade: C-
Geek Rating: 5%

Continued...

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