I Miss Charmed

I miss Charmed. Yes, I admit, I watched Charmed. I totally got into the show, and recorded it when my husband was around so that he wouldn’t have to watch it. And even when they got rid of one sister, brought in another; introduced the Avatars; brought back the beings that were previously vanquished; and even when they came back from the dead and solved problems super-easily because they were so powerful, I watched. They fought with Greek gods; they were possessed by ghosts, demons, Hindu gods, and even one another; they traveled through time; they conspired with leprechauns and all other sorts of mystical creatures.

It was awesome. In the eight seasons of the show, they came up with stories including every magical or mythical creature imaginable. And Alyssa Milano had probably every hairstyle imaginable.

My husband hated the show, and didn’t understand why I liked it. And I’m sure he’s relieved now that it’s gone. I hadn’t really paid much notice, I suppose, until today. I was talking to a friend who bemoaned the fact that she hadn’t found a replacement for Charmed. Heroes, she thought, would do the trick, but somehow she hasn’t gotten into it. I have, and maybe that’s why I’m okay. I’ve actually been kind of happy that my husband and I can get a whole week’s worth of television viewing out of one night’s programming, which means we’ve cut down our TV addiction considerably. Seriously, Monday is our night, though it often (as mentioned) takes a week to watch all our shows. To be complete, we watch “How I Met Your Mother”, “The Class”, “Heroes”, and “Studio 60”. I’m now tired of “Lost”, whose writing has not been good this year, and is pretty lame for having starting their season in October, ending in November, and not starting again until February. Instead, when my husband’s working during the evening, I’ll catch up on my “Guiding Light” (except now, because our DVR is busted and I can’t hear anything, so I have to go get the box replaced, and that is why I’m actually posting to my blog).

But anyhow, now that my friend mentioned it, I feel the void. I didn’t start watching Charmed at the beginning; I don’t remember when I started, perhaps the second or third season. But I’ve watched for so long that I felt like I knew the characters well. And maybe part of me felt like I could write about anything because there is a market out there for crazy imaginative writing. I mean, how many times can you get shrunken and trapped inside a miniature model of your own house? And how many different adventures can you have with leprechauns? Did they ever meet the tooth fairy? Or Santa? What if I met Santa?

The Charmed Ones made it acceptable to have strange encounters without blaming drugs. They balanced work and home life, showed how strong women can be, and showed that aside from home and work, you need to fight for what’s right. Each of these women had to figure out what was important to them. They were all working women, looking for love, and supporting the strong bonds of family. According to TheCharmedOnes.com, Charmed was the longest running series in television history featuring female leads. On the flip side, their wardrobe used less and less fabric each year, but I suppose that would be how they stayed on the air. And now, I wonder how many people read the Charmed novels (yes, they are out there) or buy the Charmed CDs (featuring all the musical guests – including The Flaming Lips, whom my husband was disappointed in upon seeing them on the show – at P3, the night club that Piper owned) now that they can’t watch the show. I wonder if those are any good. I can’t see them being any worse than the show.
Well, there’s always the re-runs on TNT. Maybe they’ll help me write my novel. (When I was 32 or 33, I had made a resolution to write a novel by the time I turn 35. I’m now down to 5 months. Crap).