GrhmLz

No problem, Jackie! I'm glad there are still some of us around that still really admire season 1 and the foundation it set for the rest of the series! I use to post on spoilerfix forum while season 8 was airing and alot of the fans seemed to have preferred the latter seasons with Paige. I was one of the few who did not... b/c i'm a bigger fan of "classic" Charmed (the beginning)! Also, i think there were many Shannen/Prue fans that lost interest and stopped watching shortly after she was killed off in the series so CHARMED lost a part of its fanbase. And alot of the new fans started watching the series when Paige was on it so they grew fond/attached to Paige first and watched the earlier seasons after that.

Yes, you and i are definitely coming at this from the same perspective. I had the same exact thoughts you did regarding magic school and the "Harry Potter comparison." And the overuse of the demon figures cloaked in black was my bigggest pet peeve. It became soooooooo boring! That was why i was so grateful for the Billie/Christy theme introduced in season 8 because it presented something completely different into the storyline.

The overuse of the "source" storyline wasn't as bad and it was definitely used at it's best in season 4! Although, my only "pet peeve" so to speak, regarding the Source was how they drasticly changed his persona from big, scarey, and intimidating from the end of season 3 to this weak, puney, looking figure in season 4!

See, like you stated, i think the show moved too far away from its "wiccan origins" presented to us in season 1. I liked the foundation established in the first season. The "wiccan origin" theme presented us with a story about the "craft" and how it was a female tradition passed on to each generation. It introduced the Melinda Warren/Salem connection. The girls fought to vanquish evil that threatened THEIR world/innocents but the latter seasons became too focused on what was happening in the UNDERWORLD vs. their world.

I suppose the contrast that i'm trying to make is that most of the recent seasons shifted too much focus away from the wiccan origins to Elder/whitelighter/magic school themes and the continuity that season 1 established was broken. I mean don't get me wrong, Wyatt and Chris were cute and all (as babies and adults ) but wasn't it Prue that told Andy in season 1 that their powers/tradition would be passed down to girls? And Piper also made mention that the "craft" was a "chic thing" passed down in the female line? Melinda Warren makes reference to all her "beautiful daughters" of the future. Then, season 2 established that Piper would have a daughter in the future and they totally shifted away from that premise in season 5 when Piper had a boy instead of the girl. What, little Melinda, couldn't have been a "Twice-blessed child"? Afterall, Piper and Leo were still the parents in the alternate future when Prue was alive. It's not like Piper went and had a child with someone else to change who her child would be!!! With all the elder/whitelighter focus on the next generation, it became easy to forget that the whole show had a wiccan premise established in season one. There was nothing wrong with introducing those concepts, it's just that i think it should have remained a subplot in the story and not a dominating theme. The "wiccan premise" appeared to take a backseat alot of the time and if it weren't for the BOOK OF SHADOWS and the reference to the witches as the Charmed Ones, i would have forgotten that CHARMED was suppose to be about three sister "wiccan" witches and their journey to vanquish the evil from their world.

Yes, the conflict/angst angle was definitely more compelling in the earlier seasons. Prue/Andy, Darryl/Andy, and even Piper/Leo with their struggles to remain together as a couple were dramatic. I don't know, but i got the feeling that seasons 5-8 shifted its direction to attract a much younger audience (child-age). Seasons 1-4 were drama-based with a touch of humor added to the mix while seasons 5-8 appeared to shift into a humor-centered genre with a bit of drama. I didn't like that shift as an older viewer! I prefered the dramatic form of story-telling from the earlier seasons. Season 1's portrayal of Andy/Darryl and the law enforcement connection to the sisters was much more dramatic and interesting whereas the latter seasons with the homeland security theme, inspector sheridan etc... just made me want to laugh and shake my head. I thought the way it was presented to the audience was just absurd and i didn't take it seriously at all.

You know what's ashame? I know i mentioned this before but i heard that they planned on bringing Andy back as some form of a magical being! There was another shannen/prue fan i posted with a spoilerfix and she read alot of articles around the time Shannen was let go from the show. Contrary to what people have come to believe, Paige was not planned for the show! The creation of her character was a last minute "save" for the story because when they filmed/aired the episode All Hell Breaks Loose they weren't even sure whether or not Prue was going to be killed off. They left it open and it wasn't until the summertime that Shannen got word, while filming a movie, she was being let go b/c word came down that either Shannen or Alyssa had to go (due to the growing conflict/tension between the girls). Holly was very upset and was refusing to come back but was made to because of her contract. And what sucks is i heard that if Prue wasn't going to be killed off, Andy was suppose to be reintroduced off of the All Hell Breaks Loose plotline. He was suppose to help in preventing their deaths and their exposure to the world.

And i'm with you all the way! There was no replacement for Prue that compared to Andy. I would have loved to have him brought back from the afterlife.