Dorian Gregory Movies

Three of the most gorgeous TV witches since the days of Elizabeth Montgomery were the heroines of the hour-long WB fantasy series Charmed, which first materialized on October 7, 1998. Reunited in their ancestral San Francisco mansion, the Halliwell sisters -- Prudence (aka Prue, played by Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and came upon a dusty tome titled the "Book of Shadows," which by and by revealed a secret that had long been withheld from them: the sisters were witches known as the "Charmed Ones," blessed with extraordinary powers which they were expected to use in the never-ending fight of good against evil. Prue, the oldest, had the gift of telekinesis, enabling her to move objects at will; middle child Piper was able to stop time; and Phoebe, the baby of the family, was able to see the future. The ritual enabling them to combine their powers involved the linking of hands and chanting in unison, "The power of three will set us free." Of course, now that the girls knew they were witches, they were immediately targeted for destruction by all manner of warlocks, sorceresses, and malevolent spirits, many of these hoping to steal the Halliwells' powers for themselves. Also, in their efforts to lead "normal" lives and not give away their secrets, the ladies encountered a great deal of difficulty in the romance department -- not to mention the holding and maintaining of regular employment.

During season one, Prue worked for the Buckland Auction House, whose owner turned out to be a warlock; she also lost her policeman boyfriend, Andy Trudeau (T.W. King), who was killed in an effort to save the Halliwells from a demon. Phoebe's private life was not quite so tempestuous, though she had a bad habit of losing jobs due to the bad things happening around her. The impressionable Piper, who managed to find work as a caterer and later as the owner of the "P3 Club" nightspot, thought she had found true love in the form of hunky handyman Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), until learning that Leo was a "Whitelighter," a guardian angel fated to protect all good witches from harm -- and as such, was off limits. In later seasons, however, Leo was demoted to "mortality" and was able to marry Piper, with whom he had a "bewitched" son named Wyatt. By the time Leo's powers were back to full steam in season five, he'd been appointed an "Elder" Whitelighter; his former job of protecting the sisters was taken over by another Whitelighter named Chris Perry (Drew Fuller), who turned out to have a hidden agenda.

Season three saw quite a few upheavals in the lives of the sisters, with Phoebe falling for Assistant DA Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) -- who turned out to be the demon Belthazor, and whose mission was to kill the sisters. Cole managed to purge himself of evil, only to revert to wickedness -- a cycle that continued to repeat itself until, in season four, the "bad" Cole married and impregnated Phoebe with his evil seed. Eventually the baby was stolen by a demon called The Seer (Debbi Morgan), and poor, mixed-up Cole wound up trapped in another dimension before being "vanquished" permanently. (At least Phoebe landed a permanent job as a newspaper advice columnist once the dust had settled!) As for Prue, season three of Charmed turned out to be her last when she was killed during a "demon assault." Her place in the Halliwell household was taken in season four by the girls' half sister, Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who like the late Prue possessed telekinetic powers. Paige would eventually find "civilian" employment as a social worker, enabling her to emulate the other girls by applying her powers for the forces of good on a full-time basis.

There were scores of additional plot complications and story arcs occurring in and out of the "real world" and back and forth in time (at one point, for example, the heroines were converted into Greek goddesses). "Charmed" though the Halliwell girls may have been, it didn't mean that they exactly led charmed lives. Perhaps it was the unstable nature of the world in which our heroines dwelled that made Charmed one of the WB's most successful offerings; viewers literally never knew what to expect from one week to the next! ~ All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Charmed's fourth-season opener (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Charmed Ones Piper and Phoebe Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano) adjust to the presence of the half sister they never knew they had: Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who like Piper and Phoebe possesses peculiar powers of benevolent witchcraft. But with Paige's arrival comes more trouble for the Halliwell girls, who have not entirely overcome the death of their sister Prue at the hands of a demon -- especially since Phoebe has had a vision of Paige being killed by that selfsame demon. This episode introduces a new and formidable Charmed villain, The Source of All Evil (personified by actor Bennet Guillory). ~ All Movie Guide

Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) must do some serious thinking when "reformed" demon Cole (Julian McMahon) proposes marriage. The same goes for Cole himself, who while trying to help Phoebe and Paige (Rose McGowan) track down a malevolent mystical murderer is forced to face down the demon still lurking within him -- once and for all. Observing the drama from the sidelines are Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Leo (Brian Krause), uncertain whether or not to take a hand in matters. ~ All Movie Guide

Still waging an internal battle between his good and evil sides, Cole (Julian McMahon) becomes convinced that a malevolent outside force is rechannelling him into committing murder. That "force" turns out to be Barbas (Billy Drago), the Demon of Fear, and an old nemesis of the Charmed Ones. Although Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs) and Piper (Alyssa Milano) steer clear of Cole's plight for fear of further strengthening Barbas, Paige (Rose McGowan) has no qualms about trying to vanquish the Demon of Fear, who in retaliation launches a campaign of psychological terror that turns the girls against one another in an extremely violent fashion. ~ All Movie Guide

Even in the womb, Phoebe's (Alyssa Milano) baby is showing signs of demonic powers. Anxious to rule the Underworld, The Seer (Debbi Morgan) schemes to steal the baby and plant it in her own body. Meanwhile, the malevolent infant is slowly but surely taking over the rest of Phoebe's body, with the intention of killing Phoebe's half sister, Paige (Rose McGowan). Has the time come at last to enact the all-too-rare "Power of Three" spell? ~ All Movie Guide

While serving on a jury in a murder trial, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) senses that the defendant is innocent. Unfortunately, to sway the rest of the jurors to her side, she must convince them that magic exists -- and she'd better do it before she is thrown off the jury, which action will seriously imperil everyone in the courtroom. Meanwhile, on the "outside," Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Paige (Rose McGowan), and Leo (Brian Krause) battle a frightening array of demons in their efforts to capture the real murderer. ~ All Movie Guide

Three men discover that meddling in their sister-in-law's love life only makes their own lives more complicated in this romantic comedy. Eva Dandridge (Gabrielle Union) developed a sense of responsibility early on in life, when after the death of her parents she was left to care for her three younger sisters, Kareenah (Essence Atkins), Bethany (Robinne Lee), and Jacqui (Meagan Good). All four of the Dandridge sisters have grown up to be attractive, intelligent, and successful; Kareenah is happily married to Tim (Mel Jackson), while Bethany is engaged to Michael (Duane Martin), and Jacqui is going steady with Darrell (Dartanyan Edmonds). However, Eva still watches over her siblings like a hawk, and while her sisters love Eva dearly, Tim, Michael, and Darrell wish their sister-in-law would stay out of their business. The guys decide that if Eva had a boyfriend, she might be less interested in running other people's lives, and they turn to Ray (LL Cool J), a notorious ladies' man, for help. Ray is short on cash, so the guys make him a deal -- they'll give him 5,000 dollars to romance Eva, sweep her off her feet, and then dump her a few weeks later. Ray agrees, and while getting past her no-nonsense demeanor takes some doing, before long she's head over heels for him. However, Ray unexpectedly finds himself falling in love with Eva, and Eva, when offered a job in another town, decides to stay on to be with Ray. Even worse, the other Dandridge sisters are so impressed with the romantic Ray that they start demanding a bit more TLC from their own men. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The love Paige (Rose McGowan) expresses for her new sweetie, Richard Montana (Balthazar Getty), embroils the Charmed Ones in a deadly "magic feud" between the Montanas and the Callaways. Things reach the crisis stage when Richard's dead lover Olivia Callaway (Rachelle Lefevre) takes over Paige's (Rose McGowan) body. Elsewhere, Leo (Brian Krause) is suspicious when Chris (Drew Fuller) embarks on a secret Whitelighter mission to the Underworld; and Phoebe's (Alyssa Milano) empath powers cause her to obsess over her sisters' innermost feelings -- and to talk about them at great and tiresome length! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wyatt, the son of "Charmed One" Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Whitelighter Leo (Brian Krause), is kidnapped by the Cleaners, emissaries of a neutral power force that "cleans up" the mess caused when mortals are accidentally exposed to magic. In their efforts to erase Wyatt's existence, the Cleaners also wipe out the short-term memories of Piper and her sisters, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Paige (Rose McGowan). Elsewhere, Phoebe continues to have problems with her new empath powers; Paige doesn't know what she's unleashing when she uses magic as a defense mechanism against sexual harassment at the workplace; and Leo sends novice Whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) on an intriguing new assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Emerging from the mansion's plumbing system, the legendary Lady of the Lake (Danielle Bisutti) solicits the aid of the Charmed Ones to protect the enchanted sword Excalibur. As a result, innumerable strange characters -- possessing powers ranging from evil to really evil -- show up at mansion, hoping to pull the fabled sword from the fabled stone. As it turns out, the only one capable of pulling it off (or should that be "pulling it out"?) is Piper (Holly Marie Combs), who now must locate Excalibur's rightful owner before the sword's power overwhelms and destroys her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Charmed Ones discover to their amazement that all of their secret desires are coming true. Actually, this is all part of a scheme hatched by Chris (Drew Fuller) to teach the girls to be careful what they wish for -- a scheme that relies upon the unwitting assistance of the dangerous demon Gith (Desmond Askew). With Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Paige (Rose McGowan) preoccupied with their new "dream" jobs in show business, Piper (Holly Marie Combs) must try to vanquish Gith all by herself. Meanwhile, Leo (Brian Krause) is so upset over recent events that he demands that his fellow Elders take away Chris' Whitelighter powers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beset by domestic problems, Piper (Holly Marie Combs) finds herself unable to control her magical powers. In an effort to help her sister, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) consults a marriage counselor -- but when the counseling session proves to be too slow and laborious for Piper, she impulsively casts a spell to speed up the proceedings. The result: Phoebe and Paige (Rose McGowan) are hurtled back in time, where they are forced to experience all the memories, both good and bad, of Piper and her husband, Leo (Brian Krause) -- enabling the series' producers to superimpose new footage upon clips from previous episodes! Complications ensue when a malevolent warlock hitches a ride on Phoebe and Paige's foray into the past. ~ All Movie Guide