History Trivia / Charmed1998

** Creator/ShannenDoherty had an infamous amount of tension with Alyssa Milano during filming. Reportedly during season 3, the actresses would only speak to each other to say their lines. It's unknown the reasons for her departure after the third season; some say she was fired for the on set tension, but she herself has said she was actually pushing for Prue to be killed off, feeling she'd run her course as a character. Whatever the reason, she was McLeaned between seasons, and the show could never use her image again. Similar issues with that led to the first three seasons taking longer to come out on DVD. Holly Marie Combs initially was ready to leave with her, but was convinced to stay with a hefty pay rise and promotion to AndStarring in the credits (Alyssa Milano now taking first billing).

* McLeaned: Prue, due to a conflict with the actresses and several people working on the show, Alyssa Milano in particular. Notably, Doherty directed the episode in which Prue was killed off. Granted, the writers no doubt had options to bring Prue back, but by the point of filming, it was quite likely she wasn't coming back for Season 4. She never appeared on the show again (except for a clip of her from behind and one from when she was turned into a dog).

** Network executives kept requesting for "more skin". This is notable in the change from Season 2 to Season 3 - the latter featuring much more form-flattering outfits for the actresses. In Seasons 5 and 6 this went UpToEleven, and the three lead actresses protested about this before Season 8 went into production.

** Kaley Cuoco hated the black leather outfit and wig Billie wore in her introduction episodes. She also burst into tears when she saw the costume Billie would wear in "Battle of the Hexes", refusing to wear a cape as part of it.

** Ellen Geer was cast as the elderly Piper because her RapunzelHair gave her a distinct resemblance to Holly Marie Combs. They also gave her contact lenses and shaped her eyebrows to resemble Holly's.

* DuelingShows: With ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' - both supernatural dramas about ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl heroines fighting demons. ''Buffy'' tended to be more comedic and high school-oriented (at first anyway), while ''Charmed'' was more melodrama. The two shows shared many guest stars, Creator/CharismaCarpenter being the most notable. None other than a pre-fame Creator/AmyAdams guest starred on both as well.

** The FoeYay between Prue and Cole in Season 3's "The Good, the Bad & the Cursed" makes a lot of sense when you realise their actors were dating at the time.

--> "I hope we didn't make something that was 'bad for the world' for eight years. I think we gave permission to a generation of women to be themselves and to be strong and own their sexuality. I'm so proud of what this show meant to so many.”

--> "She became really exhausting around like season five, and so she mellowed out more by design and my needs ... But she was growing,"

--> "Only one female director was hired in the entire five years I was there, and the crew sank her. This was a show about three young women, and they had not in all the time I was there had a female director...I feel horribly about not fighting for her more, but I didn't fully understand the dynamics of what was happening. My character was too busy talking to leprechauns to have the time."

** Most of the skimpy outfits the sisters had to wear when transformed into various magical creatures. Alyssa Milano got the worst of it and said she hated dressing up in them - saying in 2021 that the skimpiness was the only way to keep the show on the air. The exception is the genie outfit (which she used a picture of for her official website). Likewise Creator/RoseMcGowan said "Nymphs Just Want To Have Fun" was her least favourite episode because of the nymph costume she had to wear.

** [=McGowan=] really hated Paige's ReallyGetsAround behaviour in Season 5 - where she would be seen with a different guy every week. The main reason being that she disliked having to film these raunchy scenes with actors she had literally just met. This resulted in long term love interests like Richard Montana, Kyle Brody and Henry Mitchell. She later took the time to complain in her autobiography about the lack of female crew members compared to males, on a show about female empowerment.

** At the beginning of the series, Phoebe moves back to California from New York. Creator/AlyssaMilano was originally from New York and had to move to California when she became an actress. This makes Piper's line "you've been spending too much time in New York" rather amusing.

* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/BrianKrause, Creator/JulianMcMahon and Creator/KerrSmith all originally auditioned for Andy in Season 1. Krause got the last laugh, staying on as Leo for eight seasons, while Andy was written out at the end of the first (Leo had been written as a recurring character first, and didn't become a series regular until Season 3).

** Patty is conspicuously absent from many episodes in Seasons 5 and 6 that would otherwise make sense to include her for - especially Wyatt's Wiccaning ceremony. This is because of Finola Hughes's schedule for ''Series/GeneralHospital''. She finished up on there right before Season 7, allowing her to reappear for "Cheaper By the Coven". Patty also doesn't reappear until the finale, because Finola Hughes became a presenter of the show ''How Do I Look?'' She also alluded to possibly being able to make more appearances, but she had to move to New York to film ''Series/AllMyChildren''.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Shortly before the release of the season 8 DVD production lost the rights to Love Spit Love's cover of "How Soon is Now" forcing them to replace the theme song with a similar-sounding generic rock instrumental. For a long time the replacement theme tune was the only one available for streaming, even on episodes produced before they lost the rights. Thankfully the situation was resolved in time for the HD remaster which debuted in late 2018 where "How Soon Is Now" was finally restored.

** Creator/ShannenDoherty had an infamous amount of tension with Alyssa Milano during filming. Reportedly during season 3, the actresses would only speak to each other to say their lines. Reportedly Doherty said something along the lines of "either she goes or I do", though she fully intended to stay when Season 3 wrapped. She was fired while the show was on hiatus. As she owned the rights to her image, the show could not use any images or archive footage of her again.

** Holly Marie Combs, who was good friends with Creator/ShannenDoherty, was rumored to want to leave as well after she did - but was forced to stay by contract.

** Although she had difficulties with several people, the biggest reason Creator/ShannenDoherty left according to most sources was due to several disagreements with Alyssa Milano, apparently saying something to the effect of "either she goes or I do". How different would the show have been had it been Alyssa who left instead?

** Peter Woodward plays the Source in "Charmed & Dangerous" and another demon in "Someone To Witch Over Me", though he wears prosthetic make-up in the former.

** In August of 2020, Creator/RoseMcGowan [[https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1181329/rose-mcgowan-claims-alyssa-milano-made-the-charmed-set-toxic-af went on a tirade on Twitter]], accusing Alyssa Milano of making the set "toxic af" - allegedly one day throwing a fit on the set screaming "they aren't paying me enough to do this s***". At the point when Paige was introduced, Alyssa was also acting as an on-set producer (see below), adding to their hectic schedule.

** Shannen Doherty is still best known as Prue Halliwell, or else Brenda Walsh on ''90210'' depending on how old the fan is. Most of her work after she left ''Charmed'' was below the radar and she is usually touted as "''Charmed'' star Shannen Doherty".

** After Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano were made Producers for season 5, Creator/RoseMcGowan was offered the position too. She declined, saying that the only thing that changed was her name appearing twice in the credits.

** Patty is conspicuously absent from many episodes in Seasons 5 and 6 that would otherwise make sense to include her for - especially Wyatt's Wiccaning ceremony. This is because of Finola Hughes's schedule for ''Series/GeneralHospital''. She finished up on there right before Season 7, allowing her to reappear for "Cheaper By the Coven". Patty also doesn't reappear until the finale, because Finola Hughes became a presenter of the show ''How Do I Look?''

** Most of the skimpy outfits the sisters had to wear when transformed into various magical creatures. Alyssa Milano got the worst of it and said she hated dressing up in them. The exception is the genie outfit (which she used a picture of for her official website). Likewise Creator/RoseMcGowan said "Nymphs Just Want To Have Fun" was her least favourite episode because of the nymph costume she had to wear.

* GodNeverSaidThat: A persistent rumour was that Chris was originally intended to be Phoebe and Cole's KidFromTheFuture - a highly unlikely scenario, considering both characters' lack of whitelighter powers (Phoebe's literally the only sister he definitely ''couldn't'' be descended from). Brad Kern denied it in TheNewTens and insisted that he always was intended to be Piper's son, calling Holly Marie Combs's pregnancy "convenient timing".

** [=McGowan=] really hated Paige's ReallyGetsAround behaviour in Season 5 - where she would be seen with a different guy every week. The main reason being that she disliked having to film these raunchy scenes with actors she had literally just met. This resulted in long term love interests like Richard Montana, Kyle Brody and Henry Mitchell.

** Rose herself admitted in her autobiography that her own mental health was at an all-time low due to PTSD from her sexual assault, long shooting hours and frequent clashes with the execs (recalling one incident where producers threatened to destroy her career if she were caught smoking pot on the set).

* ActingForTwo: Michael Bailey Smith played Belthazor, the Source and a handful of other demons on [[Series/Charmed1998 the show]].

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The series seems to have been an example of this. The most JustForFun/{{egregious}} example was probably the whole arc with Chris, a character who came from the future to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. The problem is, he kept changing the story of ''what'' went wrong and doing all sorts of morally questionable actions behind the Charmed Ones' backs. Eventually, the writers decided that he was Piper and Leo's KidFromTheFuture, here to stop his older brother Wyatt from turning evil. Approximately ''none'' of his actions before TheReveal[[note]]trapping Leo in Valhalla, killing several Valkyries, making deals with demons to trap the girls in an alternate reality, breaking up his own parents before he's conceived (the stupidity of his not checking the calendar and seeing that he was supposed to be born soon was even {{Lampshaded}})...[[/note]] make sense with that story, nor can he explain why he didn't just tell them the truth from the beginning. WordOfGod seems to admit that they didn't know what his story was, having only decided on this course of action [[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Piper's actress, Holly Marie Combs, got pregnant]]; before that, Chris was going to turn out to be future Wyatt. Even after the truth is revealed, the writers can't decide ''what'' turns Wyatt evil until near the season's end (it's Gideon trying to kill him [[SelfFulfillingProphecy because he thinks he'll turn evil]]).

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The series seems to have been an example of this. The most JustForFun/{{egregious}} example was probably the whole arc with Chris, a character who came from the future to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. The problem is, he kept changing the story of ''what'' went wrong and doing all sorts of morally questionable actions behind the Charmed Ones' backs. Eventually, the writers decided that he was Piper and Leo's KidFromTheFuture, here to stop his older brother Wyatt from turning evil. Approximately ''none'' of his actions before TheReveal[[note]]trapping Leo in Valhalla, killing several Valkyries, making deals with demons to trap the girls in an alternate reality, breaking up his own parents before he's conceived...[[/note]] make sense with that story, nor can he explain why he didn't just tell them the truth from the beginning. WordOfGod seems to admit that they didn't know what his story was, having only decided on this course of action [[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Piper's actress, Holly Marie Combs, got pregnant]]. Even after the truth is revealed, the writers can't decide ''what'' turns Wyatt evil until near the season's end.

** Creator/ArminShimerman stated at a con that the ''Charmed'' actresses were the most-difficult performers he'd ever worked with on TV. (Keep in mind that the episodes he guest-starred in were during the Alyssa Milano/Rose [=McGowan=]/Holly Marie Combs era.)[[/note]]

** Creator/ArminShimerman stated at a con that the ''Charmed'' actresses were the most-difficult performers he'd ever worked with on TV.[[note]]Keep in mind that the episodes he guest-starred in were during the Alyssa Milano/Rose [=McGowan=]/Holly Marie Combs era.[[/note]]
** In August of 2020, Creator/RoseMcGowan [[https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1181329/rose-mcgowan-claims-alyssa-milano-made-the-charmed-set-toxic-af went on a tirade on Twitter]], accusing Alyssa Milano of making the set "toxic af" - allegedly one day throwing a fit on the set screaming "they aren't paying me enough to do this s***". At the point when Paige was introduced, Alyssa was also acting as an on-set producer (see below), adding to their hectic schedule. Rose also admitted in her autobiography that her own mental health was at an all-time low due to PTSD from her sexual assault, long shooting hours and frequent clashes with the execs (recalling one incident where producers threatened to destroy her career if she were caught smoking pot on the set).

* {{Jossed}}:
** Brad Kern Jossed the rumours that Chris was originally meant to be Phoebe's KidFromTheFuture. He claims that he was always intended to be Piper's son - which is kind of obvious given that he was already a whitelighter. Other writers have said that the arc was planned beforehand, and called Holly's pregnancy "convenient timing".
** He also denies that Billie was brought in to create a spin-off. He says it was talked about casually but it wasn't the reason she was brought in (see RealitySubtext below).

** Outside the Halliwell family, Kayley Cuoco has a distinctive resemblance to Barbara Niven who guest starred as Billie's mother in a couple of episodes. Barbara Niven also looks quite like Marnette Patterson, who plays Christy.