Charmed, the supernatural drama that starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty and later Rose McGowan in Doherty’s place, was something of a stealth hit. Never a favorite in the halls of the WB or the CW, it somehow persevered. It also never garnered massive ratings, though a couple of the networks today might kill for the numbers and demographics Charmed drew back in the day. Still, Charmed spun off novels, a licensed magazine, posters, episode guides, the whole nine yards. And it lasted, magically, eight years.
By the time it ended in 2006, Charmed had aired 178 episodes and concluded its run as television history’s longest-running show with female leads. And for all that, it failed to garner the respect it deserved. Critics for the most part dismissed it. It never received the level of publicity and/or advertising other similarly or even less successful shows did. And fans couldn’t get their hands on DVD sets until near the conclusion of the show’s run, and even then the threadbare DVD sets featured pretty much the individual episodes and nothing more. Finally, however, Charmed fans and fans of The Charmed Ones can gorge on Charmed: The Complete Series, the ultimate DVD set ? or make that sets: there’s a basic version, with the discs sheathed on the pages of a mock Book of Shadows, and a deluxe edition with a far fancier and larger replica Book of Shadows.
While it’s nice to have all eight seasons in one place, the centerpiece of this set is the bonus disc, which features two hours of extra material. There’s the original pilot, with Lori Rom playing Phoebe rather than Milano; for the record, Rom was fine, a strong actress who apparently just lacked Milano’s sex appeal. “The Power of Three” segment runs 16-plus minutes and features executive producer Brad Kern, other writers and producers, as well as Milano, Combs and McGowan reminiscing about the show, their experiences, etc. Kern makes the point that he considered Charmed to be about three sisters who happen to be witches rather than three witches who happen to be sisters, and from that premise the stories could explore love, loss, jobs, relationships, female empowerment and so on. Other segments include “The Demons of Charmed,” “Charmed Effects,” “The Men of Charmed,” “The Book of Shadows,” “Directing Charmed” and “The Making of a Monster.”
These aren’t throwaway featurettes; in fact, the shortest runs nine minutes and all the others are 10 minutes in length in more. Would it have been nice if anyone had specifically addressed the early exits of Rom, series creator Constance Burge and/or Doherty, or made it sound like Charmed was anything other than eight years of pure bliss? Sure, but that’s just not way these things work. The only question is: if you already have all eight seasons on DVD, is either of these complete-series sets worth the steep cost of adding this to your shelf? And that depends solely on how badly you desire to have each and every episode in one collection, along with the aforementioned disc of extras. For those Charmed fans who’ve not purchased the individual season packs and instead waited for a comprehensive set with bonus features, then Charmed: The Complete Series is the perfect holiday gift to yourself.
