Julian McMahon 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

Guided by Whitelighter Leo (Brian Krause), Paige (Rose McGowan) journeys back to her high school days, hoping to confront and overcome her guilt over the accident that killed her adoptive parents. In the process, Paige recalls her first awareness of her special powers. Meanwhile, back in the present, Piper (Holly Marie Combs) must stop the marriage between Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Cole (Julian McMahon) -- or rather, the marriage between the evil spirits presently possessing Phoebe's and Cole's bodies! ~ All Movie Guide

As season five of Charmed gets under way, there is no shortage of activity in the San Francisco manor occupied by the Charmed Ones. Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano) is now gainfully employed as an advice columnist for "The Bay Mirror"; Phoebe's sister Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and her guardian-angel husband, Leo (Brian Krause), anxiously await the birth of their baby; and the Halliwell girls' half sister, Paige (Rose McGowan), has two vocations, as a social worker and full-time demon hunter. In the first half of the fifth-season opener (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), the girls use their bewitching powers on behalf of Mylie (Jaime Pressly), a former mermaid in danger of losing her immortality to a Sea Hag (Diane Salinger) -- who in turn is in league with Necron (Judson Scott), a demon forsworn to destroy the Charmed Ones. Meanwhile,Phoebe's ex-demon husband, Cole (Julian McMahon), escapes from his exile in limbo, hoping to win back Phoebe's confidence and save their marriage. ~ All Movie Guide

Piper and Leo's baby has been born, and has been brought back to the manor. Although Piper (Holly Marie Combs) is the mother, the maternal bug has bitten her sisters, Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs), who talks about nothing other than the baby, and Paige (Rose McGowan), who has become fiercely overprotective. It is in fact Paige who pursues two demons bent upon stealing the baby's powers to an unholy marketplace -- where she becomes a new "magic source" which all the demons hope to bleed dry. Elsewhere, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) is both frightened and terrified by her new boss, Jason Dean (Eric Dane); and while the Charmed Ones bicker over a choice of names for the baby, the infant himself proves to be a constant source of amazement. ~ 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

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

While mourning the death of their sister Prue, Charmed Ones Piper and Phoebe Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano) are surprised by a visit from their mother, Patty (Finola Hughes) -- and even more surprising by the news Patty has brought them. It seems the girls have a half sister whom they have never met: Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), the daughter of Patty and her Whitelighter (guardian angel) Sam. Now, explains, Patty, the "Power of Three" remains intact, with Paige joining the Halliwell household for more benevolent witchery. This opening episode of Charmed's fourth season was originally telecast as a single two-hour program; it has since been divided into a pair of one-hour shows for syndication. ~ All Movie Guide

Debbi Morgan makes her first series appearance as The Seer, who foresees the death of The Source of All Evil (Peter Woodward) at the hands of the Charmed Ones. To prevent this, The Source breaks a centuries-old agreement between good and evil, unleashing an ancient vapor called the Hollow that has the capability of destroying the girls and their magic. Reformed demon Cole (Julian McMahon) wants to help the Charmed Ones in their efforts to stave off The Source, but Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) has a premonition that Cole's gallantry will destroy him as well! ~ All Movie Guide

Having escaped from a magic mirror stored in a safe haven for fairy-tale artifacts, an evil witch (Natalija Nogulich) schemes to vanquish her present "good witch" competition -- namely, Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and Paige (Rose McGowan). The witch utilizes the other fairy-tale props in a twisted, perverted fashion, exposing the Charmed Ones to such perils as the Big Bad Wolf and the inevitable poisoned apple. In other developments, Piper receives angelic advice about her unborn child, and Phoebe faces the possibility of unemployment when her newspaper is put up for sale. Danny Woodburn, the diminutive Mickey Abbott of Seinfeld fame, is typecast in this episode as one of the Seven Dwarfs. ~ All Movie Guide

The Charmed Ones summon a witch doctor (Richard Gant) to rid their manor of troublesome ghosts. Through a misunderstanding, the doctor concludes that the girls are bad witches, whereupon he places a hex on them, imbuing all three of them with potentially dangerous obsessions. The result: Paige (Rose McGowan) goes into "Fatal Attraction" mode to break up the engagement of her ex-boyfriend Glen (Jesse Woodrow) and his current sweetie, Jessica (Erin Bartlett); Piper (Holly Marie Combs) becomes the "neat freak" to end all neat freaks; and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) is willing to commit mayhem to force her newspaper-columnist rival to treat her with respect. ~ All Movie Guide

The Charmed Ones come to the aid of Tyler (Alex Black), a ten-year-old runaway orphan with pyrokinetic powers. Unless the girls can act quickly, Tyler will be forced to enroll in an academy controlled by The Source of All Evil, which will channel the boy's talents for evil rather than good. Meanwhile, Cole (Julian McMahon) gives Gram's wedding ring to Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) -- who is immediately transformed into a 1950s-era "June Cleaver" housewife. (Oh, the horror!) ~ All Movie Guide

Unaware that Cole (Julian McMahon) is now possessed by The Source of All Evil, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) proceeds with her plans to marry Cole. At the goading of The Seer (Debbi Morgan), The Source agrees to utilize "dark powers" at the wedding to ensure that Phoebe and Cole's son will one day rule the Underworld. The trick is to prevent Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Paige (Rose McGowan) from catching on that the marriage ceremony is -- to say the least -- an unholy occasion. ~ All Movie Guide