All language subtitles for A Charmed Experience.eng

Come on, we get this together.

The power of three
will set us free.

The power of three
will set us free.

The power of three
will set us free.

The power of three
will set us free.

| met Aaron spelling 1982 when |
first went to work on "Matt Houston”.

| was brought in as a story editor
and quickly was directing the show,

and producing the show, and ended
up running the show by the third season.

And | was in awe of
Aaron when | first met him.

It was Aaron and Duke Vincent.

Duke Vincent was his partner for
27 years, and Duke was the one

who had hands, daily
stuff on "Matt Houston".

So he was the one | was
involved with all the time,

but Aaron was always
involved in the casting.

In fact, the first season, "Matt
Houston" was a guest star show.

You would have it was a
murder mystery, and then

all these Hollywood
stars were the suspects,

much like "Burke's Law". He
did "Burke's Law" in the sixties,

and that was his
idea for "Burke's Law".

And Aaron and |
got along right away.

And when Aaron likes
somebody, he keeps hiring you.

| ended up working
on and off with Aaron,

like | did "Star
Trek" for 26 years,

right up until 2006 when
"Charmed" went off the air.

| had done a bunch of TV series
for him as a writer, producer,

director, depending
on, movies of the week.

And | would come and go,
but whenever he had something

that he needed me for, and | was
available, | would be coming back.

And that's why they hired me to
be executive vice president in 1996,

because they wanted
to make sure | was there

and always available for them.

And it was a great relationship.

| mean, he was around producing
television from the mid sixties,

and | got him the first time
in '82. So he'd been doing

it for 20 years by the time
| started to work for him,

and then we did
another 25 years.

And the shows that
he did, and his instincts

for what the audience
was looking for

was quite remarkable. And
it was while | was at Spelling

that we developed, and |
started doing "Charmed".

| had six years as
executive vice president,

and then | moved from that job where
| was supervising "Charmed", among all

our other shows, over to
"Charmed" as producer director.

Book of Shadows.

Connie Burge created it. Connie
had created "Savannah" for us,

which was a big hit for
a short period of time

on the WB, when the
WB was first starting.

And she came in with this idea
about a show with witches, sisters,

and we developed it, and
she wrote the pilot script.

And here's a fantastic
story about "Charmed".

We originally sold the
show, and went to pilot,

it was Shannen Doherty,
Holly Marie Combs,

who was Shannen's best
friend at the time, and still is,

and then Lori Rom.
Alyssa Milano, wasn't in it.

Lori Rom was this
third star of the show.

So Shannen was the only
real star. We shoot the pilot.

The pilot is bought.

We're two weeks from starting to shoot
the series, Lori Rom calls us and says,

"| can't do the show.
| just can't do it."

So two weeks from starting to
shoot, we don't have a third star.

We had just worked with
Alyssa on "Melrose Place".

So Aaron calls Alyssa, she was
on vacation in Hawaii, and said,

"We have an opening on 'Charmed™

"Can | send you the
script? Will you consider it?"

Sent her the script.
She read it, she loved it.

She said, "I'll do it."

So suddenly we have Shannen,
and Alyssa, and Holly, and the show

became a big hit
immediately out of the gate.

And | don't know that it
would have without Alyssa,

because she was a big name,
Shannen was a big name.

You needed both of those,
| think, to supercharge it.

So as it turned out, we
got lucky when Lori left,

but that's an
amazing story to me.

I've never heard of anyone
ever doing that before or since.

We re-shot every
scene she was in

when we started production,
because we never aired her...

| don't even know where
that film is. It's somewhere.

But we never aired it.

So every scene that she had
been in was re-shot with Alyssa

when we started
production that season.

Everything looks the same.

You're right.

What if the house
still needs work?

Everything feels the same,
so nothing's changed, right?

When it aired, it was
a huge hit immediately.

| think it was the
highest rated pilot

airing they'd ever had.

And we were picked up that
week, | think, or the next week.

We were picked up instantly
for the rest of the season,

because you do 13,

and then your picked
up for the back nine.

And we got picked up immediately.
Yeah, it was a hit right away.

And it was fun to do.

| love doing scifi, and |
love doing supernatural stuff.

And what the show really
was was three sisters

who happened to be witches.
It wasn't about three witches.

So the fact that every episode
was about them, and their lives,

and how it interconnected
to each other, and

interconnected with
boyfriends and stuff,

made it relatable. And that's
why we got such a big fan base.

And it's still on two or
three times a day on TNT,

and it's running on Netflix.

| mean, the show has
got a huge, huge fan base.

Are you okay?

No, I'm not okay. You've
turned me into a witch.

You were born one. We all were.

And | think we better start
learning to deal with that.

When we're developing "Charmed",
the movie "The Craft" came up,

as did other movies
about witches.

And it had been out
a few years before.

It was a much darker version
of what we wanted to do,

and this was more a push about
being sisters, but it was a good

reference point in terms of a hip
show about women being witches.

When you're developing a show,
you look at everything that's like it.

And "Hocus Pocus" is
one, "The Craft" was one.

There weren't a lot.

| mean, it was a rich
area that hadn't really

been explored on television.

People had tried
and failed with pilots,

but Connie hit it just
right. WB, its network was,

who they went after, their
audience was young women,

young teenage girls,
young girls in their 20s.

That's exactly who
"Charmed" was aimed for.

Cool parlor trick, bitch.

Yeah, you were always the
tough one, weren't you, Prue?

| think everybody was happy
with Shannen as the star.

| mean, | think one star in the
network's mind was going to be enough.

They never raised the
idea of a bigger star.

| mean, they never pushed for

either Holly or for Lori's
role to be a bigger star.

Our powers are growing.

Let's put as many things
against the door as we can.

You can't keep me out, Prue.
My powers are stronger than yours.

- Okay.
- You got to look out.

Shannen was nice
to almost everybody.

She would have some script problems
sometimes, and she could be difficult,

but everybody
could be sometimes.

She always delivered performance-wise,
and she was always nice to the cast.

Yeah. | mean, she was the
heart and soul of "Charmed"

when we first started, that's for sure.

Nothing can keep me away.

What do we do? We're trapped.

Alyssa was always sweet,
always friendly to everybody.

She was a pleasure to be
around, as was Holly, as was Rose.

| mean, but Alyssa was really one of
the warmest, most welcoming people.

At one point, | remember
she said to the producer,

this was year six or
seven, and she said,

"I've given you the
best years of my life."

But it's true, as an actress,
that sweet spot from 25 until 32,

she was on the same
show for eight years.

So it's tough, they get paid a
lot of money for that, but | mean,

frankly, what's tough about a
show like that for these actresses

is you get tired of
dodging fireballs.

| mean, after four or five, six,
seven, eight years of that kind of stuff,

you yearn for something
more. And | get that.

Why?

It was the only way
to get their powers.

And now | want yours.

Holly came into the show because
when Shannen was the first person

we brought in and cast, and
she had been fired from "90210",

same company, but
she was perfect for this.

So she came in, and she
sat down with Aaron and Duke,

and said, "I learned my lesson.

I'll be a good girl.
| love the script.

And | think that the character,
the perfect actress for Piper

is my best friend,
Holly Marie Combs."

Holly Marie had a
reputation, a good one.

| mean, she had been on
David Kelley's show before that.

And so we brought her in, and we
auditioned her, and we loved her.

So we brought her to
the network, she gets cast.

And then Lori Rom,
we told you that story.

So Holly became
very popular right away.

And in fact, and this was in the
days of fan mail, we would get fan mail,

and the mail would go either
to the studio or to the network,

and then get shipped over to us.

And Holly always got more fan
mail than either Shannen or Alyssa.

And it's because,
| think, she was

the most relatable,
she was the most

like the audience, the
person, and her character

also had a baby, and was married,
and so there's a lot of things about her

that made her more
normal, but she was,

in terms of a lot of the fans, in my
opinion, the most popular of the people.

Dear god.

No.

Shannen left after
three seasons.

There was tension between
some of the actors on set,

and it was time for Shannen to
go off and try some other things.

So Shannen had started directing,
and wanted to explore other avenues

for her directing, so that was
one of the reasons she left.

It was a shock to
everybody, but it worked out

because Rose
did a fantastic job.

What is this thing?

We'll explain later.

Okay. Just say this spell
out loud with us. Okay?

Spell? what are
you guys, witches?

And so are you, we hope.

Well, we're about to find out.

The show stayed the same.

With Rose, | think there was
probably a little more humor put in,

her character was a little funnier
than Shannen's character was.

So the show lightened
up a little bit, maybe,

but solid episodes and
solid writing with both casts.

So | don't know that it
was much difference.

| know there's a
huge amount of people

who love Shannen from the show,

and a lot of people
love Rose from the show.

So it would be fun
if we could ever...

They keep talking
about trying to do a union.

It'd be fun to do a reunion
where all four are there.

We have tried every
magical way to bring her back,

but we can't.

She's gone.

| just...

| thank God that |
didn't lose you too.

Shannen never returned to the
show. It would have been complicated,

though not on "Charmed",
but at the end of season three,

her character was killed.

It was a cliffhanger, and all
three of the actresses theoretically

were dead at the end of act
three, the end of season three,

and then we brought our way
out of it beginning of season four.

And you could have found
a way to bring her back,

either as a ghost, or
as a this, or as a that,

because it was "Charmed". So
nobody ever really died on "Charmed",

but so they could have brought
her back, but it never came up.

The door was open.

I'm sorry, | shouldn't be here.

No, no, no, no. No, no. We
were just coming to look for you.

You were?

Yep. Come on in. Welcome.

When we brought Rose McGowan into
"Charmed", from the time she arrived,

she was a breath of fresh air
because she was excited to be there,

she had a new comic element,
and she was just a delight

to be around.

But the one thing about her past

that sort of you knew

just by being with her is

she had this huge
tattoo on her back.

It was a wonderful
tattoo, but it's something

that she became
uncomfortable with.

So over, | think it was either the first
year of the show or the second year,

she had the tattoo
removed, but it took time

to have it taken off,
because it was such a

large tattoo, but that
was kind of interesting.

From her past life, and that
kind of tattoo, and she took it off.

But all the actresses on the
show actually had a lot of tattoos.

In the beginning we
covered them with makeup,

because Aaron
didn't want to see that.

And by the third season
they just said, "Screw you.

We're going to wear
our tattoos." And they did.

And you, you're getting so
caught up with this magical kick.

| mean, look at your hair,
it's still red from the potion

you blew up last night.

Do you have any idea how
much this would cost in a salon?

| love your do, honey.

| think you look
beautiful. Okay, bye.

Thank you.

And then a funny thing, Alyssa,
beginning of season three, | think,

or season four, suddenly
shows up and she had her hair

cut into a pixie. She'd
had really long hair,

and she just shows up,
and she has a pixie cut.

She decided on her own.

Aaron had a heart attack and
freaked out, but nothing we could do,

and it looked great.
So we just went with it.

But the actresses can sort of,

at some point when
the show is successful,

the actors will drive the ship.

The certain things that
they want, they'll get.

It's time to send your
groupies away. Now.

But serving me makes
them so happy. Thank you.

Thank you, bachelor
number three.

All right. All of you,
show is over, move along.

We live to serve Phoebe.

Oh, you do, don't
you? That's so sweet.

Piper, you need to get
some followers of your own.

It's really a great
confidence builder.

If I'm looking back at the actors
who were on the show as guest stars

that later became stars,
for example, Amy Adams.

| read that, | went, "Amy
Adams was on 'Charmed'?"

| didn't remember.

So | went back,
and | looked at the

episode, and there she
is being Amy Adams.

| mean, there's absolutely
nothing different about her

wonderful performance
on "Charmed"

than there was when she blows
up into these great big movies now,

but she hadn't gotten that role

that made her a big star.

Jon Hamm was another one. Jon Hamm
was a guest star just before "Mad Men",

and he did a great job,
and he's a wonderful actor,

but you never think about these
people who become big stars

having been on your
television show as guest stars.

Who are you?

The Supremes.

She wields the
powers of the gods.

Just kill the elder.

We would always start the
season with bigger episodes,

and we'd spend the money, but it's
all a 22 or 24 season balancing act.

Some episodes are bigger
than others, and so you try

to save money on some,
and you go bigger on another.

Actually to save money, it was one of
my favorite episodes, what we did is,

this is year six or seven,
and we ended up using

green screen, which was really
just coming along at that point,

to put the girls back in
scenes from earlier episodes

in the first and second year. So
they were crouching in a scene

that they were already
in. So it was really fun,

because we were trying to
save money by doing that.

We actually instead of had
to shoot a four page scene,

it's the four page scene was
shot, we were just shooting

the inserts of the people
watching it on green screen.

So we shot a what's
normally an eight day episode

in six days or five days,
so it would save money,

but it became a very clever show
because the girls were inserted

into old episodes with a new
spin of what's happening now.

So it was very smart and clever.

Hey!

Sorry, | couldn't hold you.

Phoebe, you can't stand.
You don't have legs.

Okay, well why me?
Why did | get the tail?

We all read that spell together.

We did a lot of
two-parters to start seasons.

So we did these bigger episodes,
and | really enjoyed doing that.

Like the mermaid
episode | really enjoyed,

and then there was one where
they were Greek goddesses,

which is silly, but fun. They loved
dressing up, especially Alyssa.

We always came up with
these crazy characters for Alyssa,

and she embraced it. She loved
putting on those crazy costumes.

And | was very emotional when |
directed the finale, the last episode,

and we literally blew the
house up, and we destroyed

the sets in the making of it.

And it really breaks
your heart a little bit,

just for eight years we've
been on the air in those sets,

though we ended up moving them.

We first started
shooting out in Glendale,

there was a
problem with the air,

so then we moved the sets to
Woodland Hills to a warehouse,

which was only three miles
from my house, | loved that.

And we were there
for four or five years,

and then we finished the last
three years at Paramount Studios,

which | also loved because I'd spent
so many years there doing "MacGyver",

and doing "Star Trek". So it
was like a second home to me.

The contract was up
on all the actresses.

At the end of eight years, we
had them for six, we re-negotiated,

got two more years,
eight year it was up.

If they wanted to continue the
show, they had to renegotiate

the actresses for more, and |
think Rose was done, and | think

Alyssa was done. So it would have
been Holly who would've stayed,

but they didn't pitch
anything, the network, | mean.

They just decided
to let the show go.

If they had, we could have
crafted a show with just Holly,

and the others
visiting every so often

if we wanted to, but the
network was ready to let it go.

| don't understand.
How could this happen?

| think now the network would
like to have kept it on longer.

| Know that Holly would have
stayed. I'm not sure Alyssa.

| think Alyssa was
ready to go at that point,

but "Supernatural", which
| did, was on 15 years.

So that reset what you can
do with a supernatural show

on network television.

Don't tell me we have
to go fight a demon?

No, | don't think we'll have
to do that anytime soon.

Then what's with the book?

Well, | think we should write everything
down, everything that happened,

everything we want future generations
to know, so that we can pass it down.

Just like it was
passed down to us.

"Charmed", it's almost as popular
now as when we were doing it.

It's got a huge
following on the internet.

It's got a huge
following on Twitter.

It's been watched all the
time. The crew was very close.

We've had two big reunions,

both at Alyssa's house.

We had a reunion
about three years ago,

and we had a
reunion after 10 years.

So it was a ten-year and
a 15 year reunion, | think.

The cast and crew always
still talking, very close.

It was a great
show in that regard.

So a lot of us have
great memories.

| mean, eight years ona
series is a long, long time

with pretty much the
same crew, and that's great.

And I'm still friends
with all those people.

We're still in touch, and
because of Facebook and Twitter,

everyone is reaching
out all the time.

So you're knowing what everyone is doing,
and that's fun. So in terms of the shows

that I've worked on for a
long time, it's one of my

most emotionally touchstones,
because | was there a long time,

and I've got so many
good friends from it.