Phoebe Halliwell
In The Witch Family (see Oct. 16), Eleanor Estes writes, “Witches do not like to be good. They hate it.” The white witch Belladonna in Which Witch? (see Oct. 17) would surely agree: her intractable goodness is a source of constant embarrassment and frustration for her. In contrast, the sisters Halliwell of the WB series Charmed (1998–2006) are hellbent on using their respective powers—whenever they permit themselves to use them—only for good. Thankfully, “goodness” in the Charmed universe doesn’t demand chastity, or all three would be pitchfork fodder—with kid sister Phoebe, the “wild” one, getting the lion’s share of the pokes. Wink.
Much like the crime-fighting lovelies of Charlie’s Angels (1976–81), to which Charmed is often compared, the witches three (see Oct. 14) expend a good deal of supernatural energy neutralizing baddies. This “monster of the week” formula, as it’s known, harks back to The Night Stalker series of the mid-1970s. I loved Darrin McGavin’s bluster in A Christmas Story (1983), but watching craggy Carl Kolchak dog specters—and bark at everyone else—is not my idea of appointment TV. Evidently, the rest of America agreed.
Not a crag in sight in Charmed, lemme tell ya, whose San Francisco is magically populated solely by catalog models. No complaints there. Really, my only quibble with the show, not counting big sis Prue being too much of a wet blanket, is that The Charmed Ones look nothing alike. To make my point, here’s a picture of three actual sisters I clipped from the paper. The fact that these three look kinda witchy is unimportant.
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| The Charmed Ones: Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Prue (Shannon Doherty), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). |
Much like the crime-fighting lovelies of Charlie’s Angels (1976–81), to which Charmed is often compared, the witches three (see Oct. 14) expend a good deal of supernatural energy neutralizing baddies. This “monster of the week” formula, as it’s known, harks back to The Night Stalker series of the mid-1970s. I loved Darrin McGavin’s bluster in A Christmas Story (1983), but watching craggy Carl Kolchak dog specters—and bark at everyone else—is not my idea of appointment TV. Evidently, the rest of America agreed.
Not a crag in sight in Charmed, lemme tell ya, whose San Francisco is magically populated solely by catalog models. No complaints there. Really, my only quibble with the show, not counting big sis Prue being too much of a wet blanket, is that The Charmed Ones look nothing alike. To make my point, here’s a picture of three actual sisters I clipped from the paper. The fact that these three look kinda witchy is unimportant.
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