When it was originally on: 1998-2006

Original network: The WB

Where you can stream it now: Amazon Prime or Peacock

Had I seen it before: Nope! Somehow we made it to Day 7 before reaching a show I have basically no familiarity with, but I’m excited to get into it.

What IMDb says: Three sisters discover that they are descendants of a line of good female witches and are destined to fight against the forces of evil.

Why I picked it: The short answer is I didn’t have a ton of fantasy on the list without it.

The longer answer is I’m always fascinated by the dichotomy between a show’s popularity when it was on vs. the legacy it leaves later. Yesterday, I reviewed Freaks and Geeks, a show that was under-appreciated when it aired but became a sensation later. Charmed feels like the opposite. It’s certainly not a flop, I mean hell, they made eight seasons of this thing. But it also doesn’t have the lasting legacy that say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer does. Is it a product of its time that just didn’t age all that well? Or was it just not streamable at the right time and thus never got discovered by younger generations?


What I liked: I think for the most part the show does a pretty good job of introducing its core cast and setting up conflicts that can pay off over and over again. I understand where all three sisters stand and why they don’t always gel with each other, yet none of them feel like villains. I get why Pru is resentful of Phoebe; I understand Phoebe’s frustrations with Pru’s inability to get over the past; I empathize with Piper, the poor middle child just trying be a peacemaker.

I also like the mythology of them each being witches, but having a distinct power that the other two don’t have. One can see the future, one can move objects with her mind, one can freeze time. That helps set it apart from other witch-based media I’ve seen before, where all the witches can do everything. We also learn that the “power of 3” is a big deal in this universe, which is sure to pay dividends later. There’s always going to be a magical reason why the sisters have to stick together despite any other interpersonal conflicts. It’s a great story engine.

I also like the dynamic between the two cops. They have an X-Files type deal with one skeptic and one believer, and I can see how watching the cops interact with the sisters would be entertaining, though we don’t get much of that in the pilot.

What I didn’t like: I think the biggest problem I had with this one is it’s a little easy to figure out who the killer is going to be. Maybe that part of the episode had to suffer because of all the extra table setting that needs to happen in a pilot, and it gets better later.
Unfortunately, if you’re going to do a procedural case-of-the-week show, I need to have faith that you can reliably deliver a case I’ll find interesting. When the first episode is this predictable, it’s hard to establish that faith.

I also think that while all three actresses are good at their jobs in a vacuum, I’m not quite sure they have sister chemistry. Some of that might be a little too much expository dialog that isn’t indicative of how siblings talk to each other, and it may very well get better as the series progresses. But in this, I still feel like I’m watching actresses look at each other and say “hello sister, we are sisters.”

Do I want to watch Ep. 2?: Not really. I can see the bones of an interesting idea here, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone told me this is a masterpiece that just needed its first half dozen episodes to figure itself out before it got good. But there’s just soooo much tv out there. If anything, this just made me want to give Buffy another chance more than it made me want to watch more Charmed.