Charmed Cast Blasts WBNow that they're wrapping up the eighth and final season of The WB's Charmed, the show's cast and crew blasted the network's handling of the long-running supernatural series in interviews with SCI FI Wire. "We were never treated that well," star Holly Marie Combs, who plays Piper and became producer after the fourth season, said in an interview on the show's set in Los Angeles. "We were never promoted properly by the network. The only way we ever got a billboard on Sunset Boulevard was when Shannen [Doherty] called up and insisted." (Doherty, who played Prue Halliwell, left the show after three seasons.)
"Then, the network dishonors us by saying we were canceled, axed, cut," star Rose McGowan said. She replaced Doherty and stayed on for five seasons as Paige. "They asked me if I wanted to be a producer, too, and I asked if there was more money attached to that, and they said, 'No,' and I said, 'Forget it.' ... This last thing about being canceled seems like the last annoying pissing match going on with the show. It was extremely rude."
Both Combs and McGowan said that their contracts run out after the eighth season, and none of them had planned on returning anyway. "There was nothing to cancel," McGowan said. "They didn't have us. ... Instead, we continue to get treated like the ugly stepchild of the network. Anyway, I'm proud of what we accomplished."
Charmed made history as the longest-running TV series featuring multiple female leads, surpassing Laverne & Shirley by half a season. "No one expected us to last more than three episodes, and here we had ratings that were higher than Buffy [the Vampire Slayer] at times," executive producer Brad Kern said. "We had no lead-in show. We were moved around a lot, and it still lasted as long as it did."
Brian Krause, whose character, Leo, was cut last season due to budgetary concerns, will return for the finale. "I can't guess what Paramount and The WB were doing, whether it was money or whether they brought other characters in or whatever," Krause said. "I don't know if they were trying to groom talent to go on to something else. I don't know. For me, honestly, it turned out to be a blessing, really, to go out and work on my short movie and work on a couple of other projects. So they kind of did me a favor by being able to get out there and get into pilot season."
The final two-part episode will be shot through April 17 and will air on May 21. Mike Szymanski
Charmed Spinoffs Possible?Cast and crew of The WB's Charmed, which ends its eight-season run this spring, told SCI FI Wire that various ideas for spinoff series were tossed around, but most think the prospects are unlikely. Producers pitched the idea of a spinoff series centered on Brian Krause's character, Leo Wyatt. "I'd love to do it," Krause said in an interview during a visit to the show's set at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles this week. "I'd jump at the chance. ...The greatest thing about the character that I play is that my character has integrity, and ... I think that my character brought up the idea and emotions of right and wrong."
Series executive producer Brad Kern said The WB network wanted the eight-year series to end with the possibility of characters going off on their own series. "We started this season with a mandate to come up with a way to keep the show going or have some spinoff characters. That's the way that The WB picked up the show," Kern said. "But I have to say ... the show has had an amazing run, and we don't want to end the show a year too late, a year after when it should've been canceled, and there is always that possibility. We feel good about the way that we're ending, and again, you don't get that opportunity in television to end the show on your own terms."
One of the most likely spinoffs would center on the new character of Billie, played by Kaley Cuoco (ABC's 8 Simple Rules). But Cuoco said it's not going to happen. "No," she said. "There is not going to be a spinoff, not for me, not for my character. I think I want to go back to a sitcom."
Don't count on Charmed stars Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs or Rose McGowan to recreate their Halliwell sister characters in another series anytime soon. Milano and Combs have been on the show for eight years, and McGowan joined after five. "There won't be a spinoff with us or our characters," said Combs, who is also a producer. "That's for sure." The Charmed finale airs May 21. Mike Szymanski
Doherty Didn't Charm KernBrad Kern, executive producer of The WB's Charmed, told SCI FI Wire that he didn't ask original cast member Shannen Doherty to join a host of returning actors for the series' upcoming finale and added that he had his reasons. Doherty's character, Prue Halliwell, was killed off in 2001; though the series' magical storylines would have allowed the return of the character, Kern said: "There are a lot of issues, mostly internal and financial, as to why we didn't ask Shannen back." He added in an interview on the show's set on March 28: "Prue's memory will be kept [alive] and be honored, but we didn't ask Shannen to come back. ... The show is more about the sisters who are here, not the one who's not." Indeed, the character of Paige (played by Rose McGowan starting in 2001) has been on the series longer than Doherty's Prue.
Kern added that another high-profile cast member won't return: Julian McMahon, whose character, Cole Turner, lasted until 2003. "He did return for the 150th episode, and that was very cool," said cast member Holly Marie Combs, who plays Piper Halliwell and is also one of the show's producers. "We all enjoyed it." She added that McMahon, who went on to play Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four movie and to star in the F/X TV series Nip/Tuck, is quite busy. "He told us that he would love to come back for the 200th episode, but we never quite got there." As far as Doherty, Combs rolled her eyes and said: "Well, that's a whole other show."
Kern said during the set visit that many of the fans' favorite characters from the past will be returning. The three sisters' grandmother and mom (Penny and Patty), the "future Chris" and others will be joining the end of the show for the wedding of Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). "In one scene we will have 12 characters," Kern said. "The director is going crazy trying to figure out how to shoot it." Kern wrote the final episode only two weeks ago, but has been planning elements of the end of the series for five years.
Brian Krause, who plays Leo, is also returning after budget cuts forced his role to be scaled back last season. "I don't really understand the reasoning about cutting my character, when they put other characters in that cost just as much or more, but I'm glad to be here for the end," Krause said.
The last episode will be completed in mid-April. "I get teary-eyed just talking about it," Milano said. "We're all pretty emotional. It's been such a big part of our lives." Kern said the actresses have all played a part in writing how their characters will end up in the finale.
Kern said that he doesn't plan a spinoff show and added that he hopes fans will be satisfied that many of the loose ends will be tied up. "It's a valentine to the fans that we will get all of the favorite characters we could afford to come back for the last episode," Kern said. "It will include family from the past and also future generations to show that the life of Charmed will go on, even if it's not on TV." Mike Szymanski
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SciFi Wire