"Something Wicca This Way Comes" | |
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Charmed episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
Directed by | John T. Kretchmer |
Written by | Constance M. Burge |
Production code | 1498704 |
Original air date | October 7, 1998 |
Guest appearances | |
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"Something Wicca This Way Comes" is the first episode of the television series Charmed . Written by series creator and executive producer Constance M. Burge and directed by John T. Kretchmer, it was first broadcast in the United States on The WB on October 7, 1998. "Something Wicca This Way Comes" was the highest-rated episode of Charmed in the entire series. It was watched by 7.7 million viewers and broke the record for the highest-rated premiere episode in The WB's history, [1] being later surpassed by the pilot episode of Smallville .
The series focuses on the lives of three Halliwell sisters, known as the Charmed Ones: Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano), as they deal with their grandmother's death and learn that they inherited a little more than the house they grew up in. All three of them have inherited magic powers; Prue has the power of telekinesis, Piper has the power to freeze time, and Phoebe has the power of premonition. Together they try to live everyday normal lives in San Francisco, while battling demons and warlocks, and keeping their supernatural identities a secret.
The name of this episode is a play on words from Shakespeare's Macbeth : "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
In San Francisco, witch Serena Fredrick (Lonnie Partridge) is murdered in her apartment by an unidentified man. Homicide Inspectors Darryl Morris (Dorian Gregory) and Andy Trudeau (T.W. King) investigate her murder. Andy tells Darryl that he suspects that witchcraft is involved, but Darryl dismisses the idea.
Piper (Holly Marie Combs) arrives late at Halliwell Manor, which she and her sisters Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) inherited from their recently deceased grandmother. Prue states that Piper's boyfriend Jeremy (Eric Scott Woods) has sent some flowers and a bottle of Port, the ingredient she needs for her showpiece recipe in the morning. Piper sees an old spirit board that Prue found in the basement while she was looking for a circuit tester. She turns it over to see the inscription on the back: "To my three beautiful girls, may this give you the light to find the shadows the power of three will set you free. Love, Mom."
The pair then begin to wonder about Phoebe, who is living in New York. Prue suggests that they should rent out the spare room at a reduced rate in exchange for fixing things around the house. Piper suggests that Phoebe could move in before admitting that two weeks earlier she had agreed to allow their unemployed, penniless sister to move back in. Prue is not happy with this since she and Phoebe had fallen out over Prue's former fiancé, Roger (Matthew Ashford). Months earlier, Prue had broken off the engagement because she believes he and Phoebe slept together.
After a tense reunion with Prue, Phoebe joins Piper in playing with the spirit board. As Piper goes into the kitchen, the pointer on the spirit board starts to spell a word. Frightened, Phoebe tries to convince her sisters that the pointer is moving, but they do not believe her. Piper then sees the pointer move briefly and then the spirit board finally spells out the word "attic" as Phoebe writes it down. As the storm continues, the power goes out. Piper and Prue head off to the fuse panel, but Phoebe follows the spirit board's prompt and heads to the attic. The door opens and Phoebe is guided to a wooden chest, in which she discovers a large, ancient book called the Book of Shadows. Overcome with curiosity, she reads a page aloud, which mentions the "power of three" having the active powers of an ancestor named Melinda Warren. The spell bestows Phoebe with premonitions, Piper with molecular immobilization, and Prue with telekinesis.
Prue tells Phoebe that the book is witchcraft, but they do not believe it. In the morning Prue is confronted by Roger, who is also her boss. He removes her from the project that she had been looking after. Prue quits her job, but her anger unwittingly causes her to make his pen explode and his necktie to nearly strangle him. Piper runs out of time and can't complete her dish until she accidentally freezes the chef of the restaurant, which allows her to finish the sauce and get the job. Whilst Phoebe is riding her bike, she sees a premonition of two boys on roller skates getting hit by a car, but she saves them by crashing her bike into the car.
Prue sees her power in action for the first time when putting cream in her drink. While Prue is in a pharmacy looking for aspirin, Phoebe observes that Prue uses her power when she is angry. Phoebe winds her sister up over Roger and their father, which causes Prue to knock most of the stock off the shelves. Meanwhile, Piper is on a date with Jeremy, who is actually a warlock who steals the powers of good witches. Jeremy says that he has always known that Piper and her sisters are witches, which is why he started dating Piper six months earlier. He then shows Piper Serena's powers, revealing himself as her murderer. While Jeremy attempts to stab Piper with an athame, she freezes him and escapes before telling Prue and Phoebe what happened. The trio then create a potion which injures Jeremy, and Phoebe has a premonition that he has been wounded but not defeated. After trying to blockade themselves from Jeremy, Prue remembers the inscription on the spirit board and begin chanting, "The power of three will set us free", which destroys Jeremy.
An unaired pilot for the series was first shot, with some scenes filmed in the actual manor that is shown on the show, located at 1329 Carroll Avenue in Los Angeles. Lori Rom and Chris Boyd were originally cast to play Phoebe and Andy, and were later recast. After Lori Rom leaving Charmed, executive producer Aaron Spelling asked Alyssa Milano, whom he knew from Melrose Place , to be her replacement and the show moved to a sound studio.
The unaired pilot is featured in a bonus disc of some editions of the complete series DVD releases.
In 2016, Gavin Hetherington of SpoilerTV ran a series of Charmed articles in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the series finale. The first was a complete season review of season one, including the pilot episode, in which Gavin comments that the episode is a "classic", and that he "loved the episode". [2]
Charmed is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast by The WB from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The series narrative follows a trio of sisters, known as The Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches of all time, who use their combined "Power of Three" to protect innocent lives from evil beings such as demons and warlocks. Each sister possesses unique magical powers that grow and evolve, while they attempt to maintain normal lives in modern-day San Francisco. Keeping their supernatural identities separate and secret from their ordinary lives often becomes a challenge for them, with the exposure of magic having far-reaching consequences on their various relationships and resulting in a number of police and FBI investigations throughout the series. The series initially focuses on the three Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. Following Prue's death in the third-season finale, their long-lost half sister Paige Matthews assumes her place within the "Power of Three" from season four onwards.
Piper Halliwell is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Holly Marie Combs from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The character was created by Constance M. Burge, who based Piper on her second-oldest sister. Piper is introduced into the series as the middle sister to Prue and Phoebe Halliwell. She is one of the original featured leads and, more specifically, a Charmed One – one of the most powerful witches of all time. Piper's power was initially described as the ability to stop time in her surrounding environment. As the series progresses, Leo reveals that her power actually works by slowing down molecules to the point that they stop. She also receives the power to cause evil beings or objects to explode using her hands, by instead speeding up molecules to the point of combustion.
Phoebe Halliwell is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Alyssa Milano from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The character was originally played by Lori Rom in the unaired pilot episode. However, Rom quit the series, and a new pilot was filmed with Milano in the role of Phoebe. The character was created by Constance M. Burge and is based on Burge herself. Phoebe is introduced into Charmed as the youngest sister to Prue and Piper Halliwell. She is one of the original featured leads and, more specifically, a Charmed One – one of the most powerful witches of all time. Phoebe initially possesses the power of premonition, which enables her to see into the future and the past. To make up for initially only having a passive power, Phoebe develops martial arts skills in order to better assist her sisters when they fight evil beings. As the series progresses, she also gains the active powers of levitation and empathy.
Paige Matthews is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Rose McGowan from October 4, 2001, until May 21, 2006. The character was created by executive producer Brad Kern as a replacement for lead character Prue Halliwell, following the departure of actress Shannen Doherty. Paige is introduced into season four as the fiercely independent younger half-sister of the show's remaining female leads, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell. Like her sisters, Paige is a witch, and more specifically, a Charmed One—one of the most powerful witches of all time. Paige is introduced as the secret love child of the Halliwell sisters' mother Patty and her whitelighter Sam Wilder, making Paige both a witch and whitelighter. She was given up at birth and raised by her adoptive parents.
Prudence Halliwell is a fictional character from the American television series Charmed, played by Shannen Doherty from October 7, 1998, until May 17, 2001. The character was created by Constance M. Burge, who based Prue on her older sister. Prue is introduced into the series as the eldest sister to Piper Halliwell and Phoebe Halliwell. She is one of the first original featured leads and, more specifically, a Charmed One – one of the most powerful witches of all time. Prue initially possesses the power to move objects with her mind by channeling telekinesis through her eyes. As the series progresses, she learns how to channel her telekinesis through her hands and gains the power of astral projection, the ability to be in two places at once. Prue also develops martial arts skills and becomes an effective hand-to-hand fighter like Phoebe.
Kyra, also known by her title the Seer, is a fictional character from the American television supernatural drama Charmed, which aired on The WB Television Network from 1998 to 2006. Kyra was created by executive producer Brad Kern and portrayed by actress Charisma Carpenter. Her original contract was a recurring role that included three episodes in the show's season seven. TV Guide reported the WB had considered promoting her to a series regular.
"All Hell Breaks Loose" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the third season of the American television series Charmed; it is also the 66th overall episode in the series. The episode was originally broadcast in the United States on May 17, 2001, on The WB. It was written by Brad Kern and directed by Shannen Doherty. As well as being Doherty's last episode as director, it was also her last appearance on the show as the character Prue Halliwell, although the character would later return in the comic book series. In the episode, The Charmed Ones deal with their secret of being witches going global and all of the news reporters swarming them.
The Book of Shadows, or simply the Book, is a book of witchcraft from the TV series Charmed. In the beginning, the book was created by Melinda Warren and was passed down the family to the Charmed Ones. This book contains spells, incantations, potions and information of the evil beings that their ancestors have once faced. They first find out that they were witches when Phoebe finds the Book of Shadows in their attic, at midnight on a full moon, and reads an incantation aloud. The Book of Shadows is enchanted. It can protect itself from any evil being who dares to touch it.
Billie Jenkins is a fictional character who appeared in the American television supernatural drama Charmed, which aired on The WB from 1998 to 2006. The character was created by executive producer Brad Kern and was portrayed by Kaley Cuoco. Billie was developed in response to The WB's request for a new character, and was intended to expand the show in a new direction for a possible ninth season or a spin-off series, leading to mixed opinions of media outlets.
Christy Jenkins is a fictional character from the American television supernatural drama Charmed, which aired on The WB Television Network from 1998 to 2006. The character was created by executive producer Brad Kern and was portrayed by actress Marnette Patterson. Developed in response to the WB's request for a new character, Christy was originally planned to expand the show in a new direction for a possible ninth season or spin-off. It was later confirmed that all future plans for the show were cancelled following the WB's closure to launch The CW.
"Forever Charmed" is the last episode of the American supernatural-drama television series Charmed, and the 178th overall. It is the second part of the double-episode series finale of the show's eighth season. The episode was written by Brad Kern and directed by James L. Conway. It was originally broadcast in the United States on May 21, 2006 on The WB. "Forever Charmed" involves time travel, nostalgic family visitations and a reprise of various important historical background situations, as well as a glimpse of the future to other progeny of The Charmed Ones. It was watched by 4.5 million American viewers, becoming the highest-rated episode of the season.
The second season of Charmed, an American supernatural drama television series created by Constance M. Burge, originally aired in the United States on The WB from September 30, 1999, through May 18, 2000. Airing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete second season in a six-disc box set on September 6, 2005.
The first season of Charmed, an American supernatural drama television series created by Constance M. Burge, originally aired in the United States on The WB from October 7, 1998, through May 26, 1999. Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete first season in a six-disc DVD box set on February 1, 2005, and was released as a high-definition blu-ray on October 30, 2018.
The third season of Charmed, an American supernatural drama television series created by Constance M. Burge, originally aired in the United States on The WB from October 5, 2000 through May 17, 2001. Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete third season in a six-disc box set on November 15, 2005.
The fourth season of Charmed, an American supernatural drama television series created by Constance M. Burge, originally aired in the United States on The WB from October 4, 2001, through May 16, 2002. Airs on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete fourth season in a six-disc boxed set on February 28, 2006. This season also saw the introduction of Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews half-sister to Prue, Piper and Phoebe and a slight alteration of the opening credits, due to the third season departure of Shannen Doherty as Prue.
The term "Power of Three" in the original Charmed television series (1998–2006) and its reboot series of the same name (2018–2022), refers to the bond and connection between three sisters, known as The Charmed Ones, who are said to be the most powerful trio of witches. The term is represented by the triquetra symbol, which is placed on the cover of the sisters' Book of Shadows in both shows. Each sister has individual magical powers, which is noticeably stronger when they are combined as the "Power of Three". The sisters use their powers to protect innocent lives and vanquish demons and warlocks, often invoking their joint "Power of Three" to defeat their enemies.
Charmed comics were officially licensed continuations of the popular television series of the same name, which ended its eight-year run in 2006. The comic books were published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. Charmed: Season 9 served as a continuation set eighteen months after the events of the televised show's final episode and was first released on June 16, 2010. After concluding in 2012, it was succeeded by Charmed: Season 10 which debuted on October 8, 2014 and ended on September 14, 2016. Each season comprises 22-24 issues and one story arc spans between five and seven issues which is reprinted in graphic novel form.
Charmed: Season 9 is a comic book series that was published monthly between June 2010 and October 2012 by Zenescope Entertainment, which owns the publishing rights to the Charmed comic book series. Written by Paul Ruditis and Raven Gregory, the series is an officially licensed continuation of the popular television series of the same name, which ended its eight-year run in 2006. Charmed: Season 9 is set eighteen months after the events of the television show's final episode. The first issue was released on July 21, 2010 and made its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con International. The series concluded with the season finale issue, "The Power of 300", and was succeeded by the novel The War on Witches (2015), also written by Ruditis, and Season 10 (2014–2016).
Charmed is an American fantasy drama television series developed by Jennie Snyder Urman, Jessica O'Toole, and Amy Rardin. It is a reboot of the WB series of the same name, created by Constance M. Burge, which originally aired from 1998 to 2006. Charmed premiered in the United States on October 14, 2018, on The CW. Carter Covington served as showrunner for the first season, before married duo Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro took over for the second and third seasons. Jeffrey Lieber, Joey Falco, and Nicki Renna replaced Kruger and Shapiro as showrunners for the fourth season.