The End of a Less-than-Charming Era

The term “peer pressure” doesn’t always have to carry a negative connotation. I became a fan of quite a few good urban fantasy novels, obscure wines, and fabulous indie rock bands on the recommendation of friends and loved ones who possess tastes and preferences akin to my own. Believing your confidantes when they gush about a film or DVD is hard not to do. How many times have you added something to your Netflix queue because a pal expressed affinity for it?

Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t listened to my friends, because they’re the reason I got sucked into becoming a member of that most misunderstood and maligned genre TV afficianado.

That’s right, folks. Peer pressure turned me into a Charmed fan.

This isn’t something likely to cause too much more continued damage to my brain cells, since the Aaron Spelling-produced occult sudser's eighth season was the show’s last.

Part of me was relieved when the end came, but part of me still wistfully pines for the approximately 60% of episodes that actually didn’t suck. There used to be more of them than was evident the last season, particularly back in the Shannen Doherty era. And while Charmed would never have been an Emmy contender, it wasn’t always nearly so crammed with plotlines shamelessly swiped from movies or guest actors with delivery so flat they might as well be asleep.

Shannen Doherty was a big part of the quality in the early days, with co-star Holly Marie Combs also providing ample acting chops. When Doherty left the series, her replacement was the wonderfully quirky Rose McGowan. Even though Alyssa Milano has, throughout the show’s run, seemed best suited merely to wear head-scratchingly bad clothes, the regular cast was never the problem (save a few lackluster supporting characters, most of whom didn’t last longer than a single season). Some of the special effects were dated and lame, but lack of budget alone does not a bad show make.

The problem has always been that Charmed never knew what it wanted to be. A series that had leather-clad demons tossing off vaguely clever bon mots as they shrink the trio of heroines and imprison them in a dollhouse one week might do well not to try to have heartwarming family drama the next week. Was the show about girl power, sisterhood, and the use of witchcraft as a symbolic analogy of inner strength? Or was it about spoofing reality shows and stuntcasting D-listers like Jenny McCarthy in sleazy guest spots?

There was a great deal of appeal to shows like Hercules and Xena that reveled in their own cheesiness. If Charmed consistently took that tactic and made it clear it wasn’t taking itself too seriously, it would have been infinitely more enjoyable on that level. It was the moments of sincerity that made you realize it could’ve been so much better. When you saw sparks of creativity that stood up to the best of television’s small catalogue of fantasy programs, when the dialogue actually clicked, when realistic relationships were depicted, it was even more disappointing when compelling elements were discarded in favor of an extra special episode featuring Nick Lachey and/or blondes in gladiator costumes.

I love the people who got me hooked on Charmed, really, I do. In fact, I’m getting them all copies of V.I.P. season one on DVD as revenge.