#brad kern
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2002 Charmed S4 finale Kern interview
"I am very tired," says "Charmed" executive producer Brad Kern. "I masochistically wrote and directed the season finale. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm actually in the editing room right now, looking at it. We're almost there."
The Thursday-night drama about the Halliwell sisters, good witches in San Francisco, has been in a rebuilding phase all year. Last season's finale set up the death of eldest sibling Prue, played by Shannen Doherty, who left the show. To fill the gap, Kern introduced indie-film actress Rose McGowan as Paige, the long-lost half-sister of surviving witches Piper and Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano).
Much of the season focused on the integration of Paige into her new family -- and her efforts to cope with her newfound magical powers -- along with the romantic and supernatural complications of Phoebe and her half-demon lover, Cole (McMahon). At the same time, Piper has been dealing with the travails of married life with Leo (Brian Krause), the sisters' "Whitelighter," or supernatural guide.
Despite all the ups and downs, Kern promises the family remains intact through the final episode.
"I think it's safe to say that this season ends on a positive note," he says. "I think we owe that to the fans. It was pretty dark last year, so all the sisters survive this year."
Near as Kern can tell, the audience likes the new addition. "The audience seems to be reacting favorably to Paige. I feel like, with all the darkness we've had to deal with through the middle and end of this season, with the Cole-Phoebe saga, Rose's wacky, fun, bright-light personality helps keep the show in balance."
"I've been very happy with her. I think she's integrated very well with Alyssa and Holly, both on and off the set."
Off-camera, McGowan had to adjust to the demands of series television, including working more hours per day for more months out of the year. "She was limping and spewing oil and crawling last November," Kern says. "She and I had a long conversation when we hired her. I told her it's a marathon, not a sprint, and that's the biggest difference."
"I was a little concerned about her in November, because she was exhausted, beat. But she found a way to figure it out. I think one of the reasons why her performance has improved steadily each and every episode is because of her pacing herself emotionally and physically."
"She ends the season no more tired or exhausted than the other two girls, so she's done a miraculous job."
As far as the Cole-Phoebe romance goes, the witch and the demon have faced almost every kind of natural and supernatural challenge over the course of the season, including facing down (or giving in to) ultimate evil. "We've honored the Cole-Phoebe love story," Kern says. "Our mantra is always the same -- no matter what happens between the two of them or separately, their love shines through everything. Love, we hope, will conquer all, and that's that we've held true to."
"I'm a big romantic. The Cole-Phoebe story is one of my favorite parts of the show. It's a tragic love story, but love stories are. It's sad that he's got this evil DNA that keeps him from being able to shed it completely to fully realize and have a normal love life with Phoebe, but that's the tragedy."
"He loves her, and she loves him, and they keep trying to find a way, and they will keep trying to find a way. They'll just have to be a different way."
Despite the big wedding episode, don't expect happily ever afters. "You can't stay married to a demon for very long," Kern says. "There will be a parting of the ways. That doesn't mean that they love each other any less, and that's the tragedy."
"As we move toward the end of the season, Phoebe will have tried it every way possible. She will have tried it with him not having [demon] powers, tried it with him having powers, tried it on the good side, and tried it on the dark side. There won't be another way to try it. She's going to have to move on with her life, and that means without Cole."
"Cole's going to have other ideas about that."
As to whether this means supernatural divorce proceedings, Kern says, "Without giving too much away, Cole won't be coming from that place next year, but that's where the surprise will be. He will be coming from a different place, a new place. There's good, there's evil and then there's a third way."
After last year's cliffhanger finale, Kern decided to call on an old friend for a little help in getting through this year's closer. As a former supervising producer on the short-lived FOX cult series "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." he turned to that show's star -- also the star of the "Evil Dead" feature films -- to play an FBI agent in the May 16 episode.
"I called Bruce Campbell up to guest-star in the episode I wrote and directed. He's great. Bruce rocks. We're going to let him direct an episode next year as well. Alyssa and he did a movie together several years ago, so they knew each other. It was just a riot on the set. We all had a lot of fun."
Regarding next year, Kern says, "With Paige having been fully embraced by her sisters, and with a whole year of being a witch under her belt, and with Cole and Phoebe's relationship being somewhat resolved, [and now that] Piper and Leo have something to look forward to, we look at next year as a rebirth."
"Though there are some looming questions and looming evils, I really wanted to end the season on a positive note. It was time to get back to the light and use that as a springboard for next year."
https://www.antoniogenna.net/streghe/stampa/estera/zap2it-s4.htm
#Charmed#charmed season 4#piper halliwell#phoebe halliwell#paige matthews#alyssa milano#holly marie combs#rose mcgowan#brad kern
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Getting to Know You
tagged by @dear-massacre
Three ships: Sterek (Teen Wolf), RebelCaptain (Star Wars), Stucky (MCU)
First Ship: Piper/Leo from Charmed. I was in middle school and I had investment. I never forgave Brad Kern for him breaking them up at the end of s5 and for putting Leo on ice in s8 (season 8 was a mistake).
Last Song: Colder Weather by Zac Brown Band
Last Movie: I don't really watch movies very often so I think it's Rogue One from a few months ago.
Currently Reading: The Dawn of Yangchen
Currently Watching: Teen Wolf, always and Ashoka.
The Last Thing I Wrote: Working slowly on a Paige and Stiles post but I'm deep in Baldur's Gate so eventually I'll get there.
low key tagging: @lunapascal @youhavereachedtheendofpie @sterek-unhinged @eevylynn @staticwaffles @jynersq
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I really HATE Phoebe. And man do I hate her more with each season. I often wonder how this show would’ve turned out if Alyssa Milano (and Brad Kern tbh) was the one who left. I really love the growth Piper had and how she adapted to being the eldest, but I’m really curious how a Prue Piper Paige P3 would’ve been. What would’ve become of Cole? (Tbh he probably would’ve gotten a better arc without Phoebe). How would Prue react to a long lost younger half-sister? Would Piper be more accepting of Paige in this timeline while Prue is the aloof angry one? What do you think?
I definitely think Paige and Prue would clash because they have the same qualities but it would also be wrapped up in Phoebe, like I could absolutely see a scene where Paige takes the book of shadows and causes the havoc with it and Prue getting on her case and being like, "How could you be so irresponsible, Phoebe??" and then realizing what she's done and then there's tension and awkwardness and grief around that and either Leo or Piper telling her that Paige doesn't remind her of Phoebe, she reminds her of herself. I could also see them getting close later on because again, they have the same qualities and the same desire to learn as much about magic as they can and protecting innocents.
I think Piper could still act as the bridge while also dealing with the fact that it's a new sister she has to do this for and I think Phoebe's death could've still had a similar influence on her development as Prue's in that I could see her being the quiet strength, keeping Prue together and also being there for Paige.
Cole's storyline is conceptually interesting, like trying so hard to be good and trying to fight the forces that make him evil and it could be interesting navigating that without the Phoebe's obsession.
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Quinn Lemley
Through Rita Hayworth - The Heat is On, Singer/Performer Transforms Into the Legendary Star
by Brad Balfour
On Nov 20, 2023, the singer/style queen Quinn Lemley will present her last NYC performance of The Heat Is On! – Rita Hayworth at Don’t Tell Mama (343 W 46th St.), the long-established cabaret center in midtown Manhattan, before going on the road. Hayworth, known as “The Love Goddess,” is iconic for her indelible performance in Gilda, the film noir classic – performing the sexiest striptease on celluloid, “Put The Blame On Mame.” The hottest sex symbol of the 1940s, Hayworth’s pin-up on the Atomic Bomb gave her the international title of “The Atomic Star.” Courted by the world’s most powerful men – Orson Welles, Prince Aly Khan, and Howard Hughes among others – Hayworth was a legend until she had early onset Alzheimer’s Disease which led to her death.
Fire-haired performer Lemley brings the star to life in her sold-out shows. Having headlined various performing arts centers and casinos across North America, she received The Bistro Award and two MAC award nominations. Lemley’s jazz quintet performs internationally and she’s the iconic face of the Half Note in Athens, Greece. The New York Times defines her performances as "Dazzling... with one show-stopping number after another!"
Besides this show, Lemley has directed and co-produced Rebel Rebel, The Many Lives of David Bowie, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Wall and The Ultimate Queen Celebration. She’s had a presence on national TV through appearances on Good Morning America, Oprah and as a finalist on Shark Tank. Lemley also has five CDs available, and her music is on Spotify and Apple Music. She’s hosting the locally produced TV show, Secrets of the Stage on MNN.org with a monthly virtual concert on Zoom -- “Up Close & Personal.” A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she's a Distinguished Toastmaster at Toastmasters International and a member of National Speakers Association as well as SAG, AFTRA, AEA, DTM, NSA NY, APAP, and IEBA.
This critically acclaimed concert about Hayworth's life — the star who built Columbia Pictures — is a humorous, heartfelt and heartbreaking look at The Golden Age of Hollywood, the MeToo movement and the price of fame — especially in light of Hayworth's tumultuous relationship with the head of Columbia, the infamous Harry Cohn. The show reflects the price of fame, celebrating a remarkable life with humor, wit and impeccable storytelling. It’s all woven together with tunes from The Great American Songbook and the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Written and directed by Carter Inskeep (“Always Patsy Cline”), Lemley’s performance is either backed by a quartet or by an 11-piece big band. The show includes hits from such legendary composers and lyricists as Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern. It includes “Bewitched,” “Zip,” and “The Lady is A Tramp” from such iconic films as “Gilda,” “Pal Joey,” “Cover Girl” and more.
The following Q&A was conducted online in advance of the upcoming show.
When did you know you wanted to be a performer?
I came out of the womb entertaining. I’ve always known that I wanted to perform. Singing and acting have always been my passion. Even as a young girl from Indiana I was always producing puppet shows, carnivals and musicals for our neighborhood. Luckily, my parents were incredibly supportive and made sure I took lessons and classes. I’m so grateful today!
Talk about the first time you performed. Can you describe the moment?
My first show was when I was in fifth grade. I played a Far-Out Foxy Lady from A Foreign Land in Whitecloud and the Seven Dwarfs. I guess I was bound to be a glamour gal from the get-go!
Have you focused on cabaret because of the intimacy of the experience?
I love cabaret. I love its intimacy. It’s taught me to connect to each and every person in the room. It provides an opportunity to try things out and to take a chance, to take risks.
Although it’s been a big part of my life, I haven’t focused on cabaret. My late husband -– producer, manager and best friend, Paul Horton -- expanded my shows by putting them with 9- to 12-piece big bands. That opened up the scope of our shows. For the past 15 years, I’ve been headlining casinos and performing arts centers like The Kravis Center, Naples Philharmonic, Thousand Oaks Civic Center and BB Kings in NYC. After Covid, Paul suggested I go back to the club where I started my career -- Don’t Tell Mama in NYC -- before going back on the road in theaters. We won the Bistro Award, a MAC Nomination, rave reviews and have enjoyed a 17-month residency. I’m grateful Paul booked these dates leading up to going back to theaters starting in North Carolina at the Tryon Center Nov. 4, The Pheasantry in London on Feb 16 & 17th, and a one-week run at The Cape May Playhouse in July. We have our last NYC date on Monday, Nov. 20 at Don’t Tell Mama. It’s given me a chance to heal and put myself into the performance on another level.
How do you choose the songs you do?
First, it’s the lyrics. What am I trying to say? How do I want to say it? Where does it fit into the show? Secondly, it’s about melody and structure. How does the melody make me and the audience feel? How do I want it arranged to tell the story? Finally, does it fit me as an artist? I love all kinds of music. But like clothing, not everything fits with my voice and personality or belongs in the arc of the story that I’m telling. I have to try the songs out and see how they feel and sound in my voice.
How did you develop this show?
Rita Hayworth – The Heat Is On! has had three stages of development. The first stage was when I got out of NYU. I was starring in a show off Broadway. A reviewer saw me and said, “You look like Rita Hayworth. You should meet Carter Inskeep and do the story of her life.” That was pre-internet, so we read every biography, watched her films on tape and went to the library. We also read every article we could find on microfiche. The question we kept asking was, “Who is Rita Hayworth – the public persona? But more importantly, who is Margarita Cansino? The girl who has hopes and dreams and just wants to be loved?” Just like me, like all of us. We had tremendous success, got rave reviews, were on Oprah, Geraldo, Good Morning America. I was in my mid 20s then. In my 30s, I met Paul Horton. He changed my life. He had us rewrite the show, using the songs from the Great American Songbook during the Golden Age of Hollywood to help tell the story instead of limiting it to songs from Rita’s films. He had it orchestrated for both a big band and a quartet. Now we can play intimate theaters as well as large ones like The Kravis Center, Naples Philharmonic and BB King’s. We toured throughout North America. During Covid, Carter rewrote the book to make the story about resilience, accepting our choices with topics like the “Me Too” movement, women’s empowerment and the price of fame. He had us return to Don't Tell Mama’s in NYC where we started the show after COVID, before going back on tour in theaters. Our residency was so successful that we got extended from four to 17 months, had rave reviews, won the Bistro Award and got a MAC Nomination.
Besides this one performance left in NYC on Monday, Nov. 20, I’m going to London in February at The Pheasantry. I am so grateful that Paul put this in motion. It's been a lifesaver since he unexpectedly passed in March. It was his vision to do this residency. The story is so rich, deep, funny and moving. I’ve been able to tap into Rita’s story on a deeper level than I ever could have when I was younger. I’ve been able to put myself into the role in a way I never dreamed was possible. And the audiences are responding.
Do you try to make your shows thematic, or sometimes just a simple revue?
All of my shows are thematic. The Heat is On – Rita Hayworth is about Rita and The Golden Age of Hollywood. Burlesque to Broadway is about the women who went from Burlesque to Broadway and Beyond. As a director and producer, I've done these shows: The Ultimate Queen Celebration, Rebel Rebel: The Many Lives of David Bowie and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Wall. My TV Talk show on MNN, Secrets of the Stage is where I pull back the curtains and explore the creative process. My speaking keynote is about resilience through the lens of my relationship with my shows Rita and Burlesque to Broadway.
You did have a burlesque moment. Did it feel liberating, powerful or what?
I did a show called Burlesque To Broadway. It was so liberating. I was onstage with four beautiful and talented women who celebrated their talent, beauty and humor. It was powerful to claim and own my femininity and fun to tease. As the great poet Mel Brooks said, “When You Got It, Flaunt It.” Every woman should step into her power and “Be”!
Besides the songs you're already playing, what are your benchmark tunes?
My heroine is Julia Child. I got to have lunch with her at her house in Cambridge with her husband Paul. Her spirit was incredible. She was a woman who took massive action and didn’t let anyone or anything stop her. Other icons of mine are Cher, Ann-Margret, Lady GaGa and Diana Ross. I’m putting a list of songs from '70s and '80s rock, so my benchmark songs are "The Show Must Go On," "You Take My Breath Away" and "Rock and Roll Suicide." I perform Queen and Bowie plus others to celebrate my late husband, Paul’s genius and talent. Plus, “Don’t Fret World” from his Rock Opera which was his anthem.
Who would you like to perform with or what show would like to be in?
My dream is to work with the French artist, arranger and producer Benjamin Biolay. And, of course, I’d love to work with David Foster.
What goals do you have for this show and for yourself?
We are going back on the road in theaters. I’m on a plane now headed to Tryon Arts Center in North Carolina. Going to London. I’m hoping to find producers and promoters who will help us tour and produce a run on the West End of London. I’d like to do a national tour. We’d also like to do a NetFlix special filming of the show for broadcast. Paul was my agent as well as producer, so I need to find an agent that can help me internationally. I am also looking to get my TV show, Secrets of the Stage, picked up by a major network with sponsorship. As a director and producer, I’m working on our tour of The Ultimate Queen Celebration with Yvan Pedneault and MiG Ayessa, both endorsed by Queen. It’s the best Queen tribute band on the market. We will be at The Egg in Albany, May 11th, and are routing around that. The audiences are on their feet. It's a Queen party.
Starting next month, I’m working on a new show with ’70s and ‘80s rock that’s a tribute to Paul and our incredible 20-year journey together through music. I’m grateful to have so many talented colleagues with me on my journey.
Who: Quinn Lemley
What: "Rita Hayworth - The Heat is On!"
When: November 20th, 2023
Where: Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St. – New York, NY – (212)-757-0788
For more info go to: www.QuinnLemley.com
Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: November 15, 2023.
Photos ©2023. Courtesy of Quinn Lemley. All rights reserved.
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ok here's a run down of every issue i own of film threat. all scattered about and with some annotation/notes/etc... maybe one day i'll have every issue to fill in these blanks, they put out issues six times a year when they were at it
1992
#3 April Oscars Issue, Scorsese cover, Brad Pit
#4 June "Roadside Prophets," John Doe/Ad Rock
#5 Richard Kern cover, "Return to New York," Is Transgression Dead? [1992 would easily be the hallmark year for the end of that specific era methinks. maybe. when kern got sober. and zedd died before he could mail me my copy of geek maggot bingo, god dammit! burn him down!]
#6 October Dale Cooper cover, Sam Raimi, Alison Anders
1991
#1 Winter "When Good Directors Start to Suck!," David Lynch cover
#2 Spring, Jim Morrison cover by Rick Morris, not much to note, the doors have always been and remain annoying and even more so boring to talk about.
1989
#22 Collector's Edition 5 Year Anniversary
#20 Karen Carpenter cover, Lydia Lunch, Dr. Caligari [women's issue, it says. very nice.]
#13 Glenn Barr cover, Charles Bukowski [grotesque], Sam Raimi
#18 Joker cover by Dave Higgins, Tom Waits, Mink Stole
#19 Clive Barker cover by JK Potter, Nick Cave, at-the-time unseen clive barker art of cenobites, etc...
1988
#14 Kenneth Anger, Jello Biafra, Hairspray review, DW Higgs cover
#15 Jello Biafra, Nick Zedd, Divine, NY Film Fest, Glenn Barr cover
#16 Rockets Redglare, Fassbinder, Rick Morris cover
#17 James Dean issue, Glenn Barr cover, Elvira, Fassbinder
1987
#12 Alan Moore, Harlan Ellison, Lung Leg, Rick Morris cover
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I do really love Prue but she got too overpowered in season 3, especially considering she has the most offensive active power- all of a sudden she can walk up walls and levitate (despite saying earlier she can't use telekinesis to move herself) and do these insane high-powered leaps and overtakes Phoebe in martial arts with much less training. I try not to buy into behind the scenes drama since the real villain is Brad Kern but I do have to wonder if Shannen requested more action scenes. The martial arts thing especially bugs because Phoebe started training early on to make up for her lack of an offensive (or defensive) active power. Kind of ruins the vibe if Prue can do everything when the sisters are supposed to be supporting each other and working together to cover each other's weak spots and be stronger together.
i get that i actually kinda have the opposite opinions i really wish we all saw the sisters get more into hand to hand combat ik shannen was definitely into all that esp considering she did a lot of her own stunts so that probably wasn't sure intentional as they set off with prue's character but honestly its still very in character and quite frankly i loved that prue and phoebe went to martial arts classes together i just wished they would have dragged piper w them!! i would have love to see her throw a couple hands you know like uh oh it's and upper level demon so her freezing power doesn't work! oh no he's threatening her POP! knuckles to the nose baby! woulda loved to see it. and while i'm in the process of not answering the ask really i'd also love to bitch that we didn't do enough with phoebe's fighting!! the levitation was a really nice touch, sure, and we saw it added well in early s4, but like. like. you have an entire genre of film (kung fu movies) where if the fighting gets cool enough the people literally gain like levitation you know?? not to mention her premonition power! like!! that is literally so useful in a fight and i wish we would have seen her use it like a spidey sense or alternately win a fistfight while blindfolded just to emphasize how much control she gained over her power
and still not really answering your question but kinda it really bugged me how in the reboot in s2 when they did the power swap and all that how macy kinda just ended up parrotting mel's freezing power w her telekinesis?? like, granted, when mel was doing it in s1, she was freezing time (unlike piper who froze molecules) and honestly i liked that distinction and the development of the power but then once they switched to molecular acceleration/deceleration for mel (boooooooooo such a downgrade time powers were So Fucking Cool and now it's like. she can make things hot or cold. like. no!! they should have just gone full molecular immobilization + combustion and then in a moment of her honing her skills ideally aided by science macy macy's like you're not stopping time anymore some holding particles in place, so, instead of stoppping them, just slow them down, and idk maybe maggie adds something w her emotional placement power idk what they dubbed it they shot themselves in the foot calling telepathy empathy bc what she was doing earlier was clearly telepathy and what she was doing later was an extention of empathy) BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!! the point is, macy, using her telekinesis, could just hold a victim in place, using telekinesis. which is fine and all if ur like a telekinetic or whatever but like so annoying when one sister could already (used to) do that!!
but no to your ask specifically honestly i don't think prue was overpowered per se,, she did develop powers more quickly than her sisters so it would maybe be nice to see her plateau for a while, but all in all i really liked her powers and the way she used them (i also don't remember her establishing that she couldn't use telekinesis on herself??) i mean like if anyone was really ""overpowered"" it'd have to be piper as she's the only one with instant kill but um also she's sexy so it's a pass... but i think in general like piper with freezing still has the best defensive power (and honestly with explosivity has the best offensive power) so i don't think prue is taking that from her and then phoebe still has the psychic elements which yes astral projection is theoretically as "psychic power" but prue was clearly so severed from that she was just prue two: she's still corporeal! like it's not like rex who was invisible and was able to speak to the subconscious and manipulate people like hell that form was so Body Only it didn't even bring her magic with her. and then i also think it's kinda funny how in the end phoebe kinda gets her revenge in the sense that through empathy she gains deflection which was like one of prue's signature moves
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Wow. The person/s who wrote the YMMV of NCIS New Orleans in TV Tropes hates the show, huh?
Also, I just found out why my favorite CGIS agent is no longer invited back to NCIS NOLA, it's because the actress Diane Neal complained about the dangerous work set. She retracted but considering the Brad Kern of it all, I won't be surprised if it's true.
NCIS lose she's not around but man do I miss Agent Borin.
And also, I'm surprised NCIS Hawai'i still doesn't have a page.
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By Brad Plumer
Brad Plumer spent time in the oil fields of California, where many communities are built on fossil fuels.
Photographs by Alisha Jucevic
The New York Times
July 7, 2022
TAFT, Calif. — Every five years, this city of 7,000 hosts a rollicking, Old West-themed festival known as Oildorado. High schoolers decorate parade floats with derricks and pump jacks. Young women vie for the crown in a “Maids of Petroleum” beauty pageant. It’s a celebration of an industry that has sustained the local economy for the past century.
This is oil country, in a state that leads the country in environmental regulation. With wildfires and drought ravaging California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wants to end oil drilling in the state by 2045. That has provoked angst and fierce resistance here in Kern County, where oil and gas tax revenues help to pay for everything from elementary schools to firefighters to mosquito control.
“Nowhere else in California is tied to oil and gas the way we are, and we can’t replace what that brings overnight,” said Ryan Alsop, chief administrative officer in Kern County, a region north of Los Angeles. “It’s not just tens of thousands of jobs. It’s also hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue that we rely on to fund our schools, parks, libraries, public safety, public health.”
Across the United States, dozens of states and communities rely on fossil fuels to fund aspects of daily life. In Wyoming, more than half of state and local tax revenues comes from fossil fuels. In New Mexico, an oil boom has bankrolled free college for residents and expanded medical care for new mothers. Oil and gas money is so embedded in many local budgets, it’s difficult to imagine a future without it.
Disentangling communities from fossil-fuel income poses a major obstacle in the fight against climate change. One study found that if nations followed the urging of scientists and cut emissions from oil, gas and coal deeply enough to avert catastrophic warming, United States tax revenues from oil and gas production, currently about $34 billion per year, could fall by two-thirds by 2050.
While Kern County produces 70 percent of California’s oil, it is also the state’s largest supplier of wind and solar power. But renewable energy doesn’t generate as much tax revenue as fossil fuels, partly because California exempts solar panels from property taxes to spur construction. And jobs in the wind and solar industries generally don’t pay as much or last as long as those in the oil fields.
So Kern County is feuding with the governor. Local officials, who have unsuccessfully sued to block Governor Newsom’s restrictions on drilling, are backing a plan for up to 43,000 new wells and have threatened to halt solar projects in response to the state’s oil crackdown.
Whether Kern County can transition to cleaner energy could offer a model, or a cautionary tale, to the rest of the nation.
“California is about 10 years ahead of other places on climate policy, but I expect we’ll see similar issues pop up across the United States,” said Kyle Meng, an economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “When you look at how deeply oil and gas is woven into the fabric of many communities, providing money for schools and hospitals and roads, the shift to clean energy can get really complicated, really fast.”
Read more.
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Type 2 - Week 8
This week’s reading left me cold and pale but aligned well with everything on my plate this week. It was interesting how all the older technology around typography is framed as past tense while this technology is still alive, well, and thriving. Thanks to visiting artists like Brad Vetter, letterpress will never die; the world will be better for it. I couldn’t help but think about how type has evolved with tech and devolved. Many typefaces would never see the light of day if an artisan had to carve it out of wood or cast it out of metal. I’m torn about whether or not the advances are net positive for the world.
We have a “week off” coming up, but I don’t think I can take more than the weekend off. There is plenty of work to do; while I have something ready for the zine project, there’s always the backside to work on. I want to push this around how Massimo talked about how Helvetica could set the mood and understanding based on weight, kerning, and leading.
Also, I need to find some electric pink tabloid paper. Where does one pick up Astrobright papers in Columbia? This order is not big enough for Mac Papers.
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Portrait of Aliza Nisenbaum (b. 1977, Mexico City). Photo credit to Brad Ogbonna/ Courtesy of Vogue.
Aliza Nisenbaum, "Tumbao de Omambo" (2020). Oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery.
source & more HERE
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Charmed drama Mega-Post
Mid 2000:
Per Jason Priestley
Shannen talks Charmed and the joy she gets from working with Holly/Alyssa:
2001:
2.6.01 - Wanda at E!Online reports that there is definitely something a-brewin' regarding the rumors about Alyssa Milano leaving the show. A source close to the set has told her that there is some not-so-charming tension between Alyssa and her onscreen sibs. Apparently it's stemming from jealousy over better storylines and Shannen's more expensive wardrobe, which is full of Chloe and Versace and has created a few budget problems. Link
2.28.01 - E! Online's Wanda reports that things are getting really ugly on the set of "Charmed." Doherty acts like a primadonna all the time, demanding the best clothes and to be in the middle of all the publicity shots, and Milano is sick of it and threatening to leave. Meanwhile, Combs has managed to pretty much stay out of it.
5.10.01 - This week's Soap Opera Weekly interviews Executive Producer Brad Kern in an effort to confirm the rumors behind Alyssa's said departure from the series in her on-the-set battles with co-star Shannen Doherty. "Nothing I've been told from the people that I work for indicates whatsoever that anybody's leaving the show," Kern says of the rumor that Milano wants off and that her character will be killed. "Alyssa and Shannen are professionals. Are they best friends? No. Do they have to be? No. Do they work well together? Yeah. They're sisters in character only. They come in and do their job well. That's all that matters to us."
TVGO: After all the rumors about why you leftCharmed— including backstage feuding with covenmateAlyssa Milano— would you like to take this chance to clarify things for the record?
Doherty: You know, I don't really want to be given the opportunity to clear the record. I have absolutely nothing to say. Details magazine will be out in August — that's probably the most honest interview that you'll ever read with me. I picked one magazine to tell the true story in and... if somebody wants to read it, then great. My opinion is, it really doesn't matter. I moved on, they moved on and who cares? You know, everything gets so blown out of proportion by the press that after awhile, you just gotta bury your head in the sand and go, 'I'm done talkin' about it.'
TVGO: Any parting advice for your replacement, Rose McGowan?
Doherty: [grinning mischievously] No, I think Rose will do a fine job, actually. I think Rose can hold her own and she's very sexy and beautiful — and I think it's actually going to make for a very interesting show, to be honest with you. I wish them all the luck.
"I think my passion for my work was too overwhelming," says Doherty of the fur-fly that became the Charmed set. Doherty claims the issue was one colleague's work ethic. "I mean, what do we do?" she continues. "Say a few lines, sit in our trailers, and get paid a fortune. That's really rough. And yet there was a person there that bitched about her job, day in, day out." According to Doherty, a "mediator" was brought in to diffuse all the poisonous estrogen. To this diplomat she said, "Are you supposed to be my shrink? Because I've already got one." Exchanges like these apparently so riled Milano, Doherty says, that the comely newcomer announced that she would not return to the show if Doherty stayed on. Doherty insists that she was the more politic star; to settle things, she took the matter up with the serge suits at Paramount, threatening to quit unless "changes" were made, though she says she wanted Milano to stay. "I would never wish another actor out of a job," she adds. "I think it's terrible karma." (Milano's reps did not return phone calls.) Six months later, at the end of the season, came a frilly pink slip. Though Doherty claims that she actually wanted to leave the show, she remains bitter that she's yet to hear from Spelling and that no one sat down with her to explain what happened. "You know what?" she says. "The lack of appreciation he's showing for me as a human being and as an actor is overwhelming." (Spelling's office issued a terse "No comment.") Others believe Doherty has her charms. "I worked with her for three years," says Charmed witch No.3, Holly Marie Combs. "I don't think she's difficult at all."
But trouble was undeniably brewing between Doherty and Milano by the time production started on the third season last summer. The fawning quotes to the press had stopped, as had the costars' time together away from the set. As Milano puts it, "I wasn't going to call [Shannen] on the weekend to go hand out." Rumors quickly swirled that Doherty was resentful of Milano's growing popularity, which had translated into several endorsement deals, including one with MCI. But those close to the situation claim it was more complicated than that. "There were no angels," Combs says. "We all had our bad days. We all [got] stressed out."
That's hardly surprising, says executive producer Kern. "People on a TV set work together 12 to 14 hours a day, five days a week. Rarely have I seen cast members stay, or even become, best friends." Adding to the friction, says Combs, was the stars' growing frustration with the show's direction. "We were in [a] rut, where we felt like we were doing the same episodes over and over again," she says. Doherty, in particular, "wanted to make the show bigger and better and stretch her boundaries," says Combs, who has been friends with the actress for eight years, and still speaks frequently with her. "I'd see her in the morning and she'd be like, 'OK, how are we going to fix this scene?' She was really dedicated and she didn't have a lot of patience for anyone [she felt] wasn't."
Whatever broke the spell, "we definitely didn't get along," admits Milano. "Shannen and I are very different people, and I think it's almost like a roommate. If you spend that much time with someone and there are differences anyway, you're not always going to get along.
Both Milano and Combs deny tabloid reports that Doherty would only speak to them when the cameras were rolling. But Milano acknowledges that she and her former costar could get downright witchy: "There were times when I'd come in and say 'Good morning, Shannen,' and she didn't say anything to me. And there wer times when she'd come in and say 'Good morning, Ayssa,' and I wouldn't say anything to her."
"The problems we had weren't things some big company mediator could fix," Combs adds quietly. "They needed to be fixed between us [by] going into [each other's] trailers and saying, 'All right, I don't like it when you do this.' Or 'I didn't like it when you said this.'"
That apparently never happened. Doherty has contended that Milano eventually got fed up and issued producers an ultimatum--either Doherty walked or she would--but Milano insists that isn't truel "I never even thought about doing that," she says. "I couldn't sleep knowing I backed out of something I'd committed to."
Doherty's eventual dismissal, then, came as a surprise. And the form Combs says it took--a phone call to Doherty's lawyer after the embattled actress had flown to Winnipeg, Canada, to start shooting Another Day, USA's upcoming Francis Ford Coppola TV-movie--still clearly angers her. "How do you go from directing the season finale to being [given] a pink slip over the phone, when [you're] in another country, at eight at night?" Combs says. "it was really a tacky way to go about it.
While no one's officially saying why doherty was ultimately cut loose, a series insider says, "It eventually became clear that [either Doherty or Milano] had to go." And Doherty may have been the safer choice, according to Stacey Lynn Koerner, an industry analyst with Initiative Media: "Alyssa is just as popular, if no more so, than Shannen. And when Shannen left 90210, the series did just fine."
While answering questions at the TCA press gathering in Los Angeles, a number of WB's own addressed what happened this last year on CHARMED regarding Shannen Doherty's exit. The network's Jordan Levin spoke of the matter, saying, "We knew last year that there were some decisions that probably had to be made in the best interest of Aaron Spelling and his company, our company and Shannen. And everybody came to the decision that they felt was mutually beneficial for all parties involved."
When asked if the season finale was geared crafted in order to set up the entrance of a replacement for Doherty, Levin says, "We had an idea that we wanted to give ourselves some flexibility."
More specifically regarding the addition of Rose McGowan to the cast, Levin adds, "There's a history within the mythology that there could be another sister because of the Lighter. We're still sort of hammering that out, and we haven't heard the full pitch yet and how that's going to work. But we're looking to bring in someone who could provide some conflict within the group and someone who could bring a younger audience into the show. We feel like Rose does that for us."
”I think it’s hard when you put…[long pause]…two very different people together. I’m very laid-back and passive. I have my Buddha,” Milano says, gesturing to a small shrine at the back of her trailer. ”I come in here and meditate. [Shannen’s] got a lot of energy, she’s very headstrong, she wants to get the job done…. I think it’s unfortunate that she left, and that she needed to bad-mouth everyone involved and the audience,” continues Milano, alluding to the former 90210 star’s recent dismissal of Charmed as ”a show for 12-year-olds.” (Doherty declined to comment for this story.) ”She sounds really angry. I just hope I didn’t contribute to that anger.”Shannen’s not the only one who’s miffed. ”It was done very poorly, in my opinion,” says Holly Marie Combs (Piper) of the producers’ postseason decision to allow Doherty to leave the coven. ”We should have had an opportunity to have her character, Prue, make a graceful exit and have our story writers properly plan for that.” Instead, writers were compelled to turn last season’s standard-issue cliff-hanger — Prue and Piper get thrown through a wall by a cranky demon — into a makeshift tragic send-off. ”Now,” adds Combs, ”we’re scrambling to explain why I live and she doesn’t.”
That stuff's hard to wash out. You're even more famous for those MCI commercials. Oh, yeah. Little kids only know me from those spots. They don't know from Who's the Boss? and aren't allowed to watch Charmed. It's a great night job, especially if Charmed doesn't last.
Speaking of which... Shannen Doherty? You know, if you remember the way Shannen left Beverly Hills, 90210, it's almost exactly the way it happened on Charmed. She left for personal reasons, then it started coming out that she didn;t get along with the other cast members. It seemed she was so angry and upset over leaving another hit show that she had to lash out at me. Suddenly it's my fault. I think she did the right thing by leaving, but once she left she attacked many people—not only me, our audience, too, and almost everyone on the show. She lost credibility. She was like a bad roommate. There was a lot of tension on the set. I have a fear of confrontation, and she can be aggressive, so I was afraid of her.
Shannen doesn't hate you—she hates herself. I haven't been able to figure it out, and I might die not knowing. And that's OK.
OK. You and Shannen Doherty in a celebrity death match: Who wins? Sarah Michelle Gellar.
2021:
While Milano said she's still so very proud of Charmed, she didn't always have the easiest time on set, especially when it came to her co-star, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Shannen Doherty. After years of tension between the two during the show's eight seasons, Milano said she and Doherty are now "cordial."
"I would say we are cordial," she shared. "You know, I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had. I think a lot of our struggle came from feeling that I was in competition rather than it being that sisterhood that the show was so much about. And I have some guilt about my part in that."
While the 48-year-old actress admitted that she still has some guilt for her part in their feud, their decades-old spat didn't stop her from reaching out to Doherty when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
2022/2023:
Shannen speaks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHisM0QLPEw&t=85s&ab_channel=Let%27sBeClearwithShannenDohertyPods
So it was interesting that when I had a problem after this all transpired and I wanted to discuss leaving the show and all my reasons why they put me in a room with Jonathan Levin, which I don't know that I had seen since we went to network, and you had told me about your background with him, which is varied and interesting, and he obviously has a very fond spot, shall we say, for you, And I don't know why they chose him to do this meeting, but I can tell you that during the meeting where I said this is not the show I signed on to do, I hear that you're looking for other people. And it's not about the list of names. It's about this was not a show that I wanted to do without Shannon. She didn't want to do it without me. Therefore I don't want to do it without her, and that should be fairly clear. And he hadars in his eyes already because he could see I was getting upset. As you can hear me getting upset, And I said, why would you hire her again just to fire her? And he said, we didn't mean to, And he said, but we've been backed into this corner. He said, you know, we're basically in a position where it's one or the other. We were told that it's her me and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment, which because she went to the therapist or the mediator or the corporate mediator, whatever the heck his title is, she built a case for herself where she was documenting every time she felt uncomfortable on set and for whatever reason, whereas you and I refused to speak to him. So that's where the deck was stacked
There was no either even like harsh words exchanged. It was all behind the scenes, it was all in the trailer. It was nothing that anybody or any of our guest stars ever noticed or noted. And you know, there's not a director that would not work with you. Again, there's not any one of our crew members that did not have a great time working with you. So by today's standards, it wouldn't fucking fly, right, And I don't think being laid as a teenager on a set called nine O two one zero would fly for being fired either. Like it's just it's just doesn't make any sense anymore. There are people that actually behave badly and get away with it, and there are men that you know, abuse people, throw things, screaming fits and get away with it.
Alyssa/Holly Speak:
Guest stars speak throughout the years:
Michael Bailey Smith aka Belthazor/Shax/Grimlock I did 14 episodes on “Charmed” and had a great time. Whenever I showed up to the set as Belthazor, Alyssa Milano would always give me a kiss on the cheek and say, “You’re not scary.” Holly was really nice too, really down to earth. And I know the rumors about Shannen Doherty, but for me, she was always nice and very professional. I would always see her doing extra work off the set with the stunt people just to make sure her fight scenes looked good. I remember one time when we were preparing for a scene, she got a box of roses from someone. When she opened them, they were dead roses. People can be so cruel. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157836541399125&set=a.404883944124&type=3&theater
Brian Krause (leo)“ I can just tell you that she was the hardest working person on the set. Yes, she could be terse and abrupt, but she wasn’t always wrong, I’ll tell you that.”“She had everybody’s back, she was part of the family, she was the family. And when she left, we all wondered how the show was gonna last, and it’s honestly a miracle that we did and kudos to Holly and Alyssa and Rose [McGowan] that we did, they kept it together. But I have nothing but love for Shannen Doherty.”“Most of those comments come from guys, men in power with money who don’t like to be told what to do by a woman, especially a strong opinionated woman,” he said, adding: “She wasn’t always right, but she stood her ground.”https://www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/brian-krause-interview/
James L Conway (producer)"Shannen was nice to almost everyday, she had script problems, always nice to the cast, she was the HEART AND SOUL OF CHARMED" That really says it all doesn't it? She viewed Charmed as her baby.Source: Charmed blu ray special feature
Christine Rose (Claire)"It was all with Shannen, and I thought she was absolutely darling. I had worked with her years before on Life Goes on. That was about a boy with a Down’s syndrome, and I was guest-starring as the boy’s teacher. Shannen was on that episode, too, and I was setting them up to be married, for what that might be like. I was new to L.A. then because I’d mostly been on the stage, and I was relatively new to being on camera. And I remember thinking, «This girl is a pro”. So I was aware of how good Shannen was, and she was very nice when I did Charmed. I enjoyed working with her, Holly Marie Combs, I had played her biological mother on Picket Fences. We didn’t get to work together on Charmed, but it was fun just getting to see her again. Otherwise my experience was pretty straightforward.
Actually, one other thing I remember was being at a table and another guest star was having a hard time. In between takes Shannen said something very encouraging and nurturing to her, and I thought she was very nice. So those are my memories, as sparse as they are"Source Unknown via: https://thecharmedcafe.proboards.com/thread/11658/guest-stars-working-shannen-doherty
TW King (andy) I think some of it is rumor, but a lot of it is based on truth because she was young when success hit her. The great thing about Shannen is that she is a total professional and is always prepared, and she expects everyone around her to be at the same level - and I like to think I am the same way, so I respect the way she is around the set. We get things done, things rapidly and according to the script, so I certainly can't complain.Source Unknown via: https://thecharmedcafe.proboards.com/thread/11658/guest-stars-working-shannen-doherty
Scott Steiner (Wrestling W/Demons demon) Steiner is asked about appearing on the TV show "Charmed" while working in WCW. He said that while explaining to Shannen Doherty's stunt double that he would have to put his hand in her crotch to perform a press slam, Shannen came up to him and said that she would do that and when Steiner told her that he would have to put his hand in her crotch, Shannen told him that is why she asked. Steiner says that she was cool and gets a lot of bad press.https://www.rspwfaq.net/2014/05/rf-video-shoot-interview-with-scott.html
Armin Shimerman (The Wizard) "I hated the ladies on "Bewitched"...um...uh..."Charmed!" "Charmed!" And there's a reason they were cast as witches. I...of all the shows I've ever worked, that was by far the ugliest." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zl24cHSS-w (8:10)
Danielle Harris (Aviva) First AC guy was talking to me - Shannen kept walking by, she wasn't very nice to me anyway but she kept getting mad. Wasn't sure what was going on. Wasn't a fun experience. A lot of fighting between the girls. If I pick Shannen, Holly would be mean. If I picked Holly, Shannen would be mean. Alyssa kept telling me what to do as if I didn't know anything. The AC was using me to get back at Shannen. He had been her boyfriend for 1.5 years. Thats why I was getting stink eye.
Scout Compton (Thistle the fairy) I did 7 or 8 episodes and it was interesting. I wasnt on (when Rose was on NOTE: She was only on 1 episode with Shannen. The rest with Rose)The women were always fighting in the makeup trailer.
https://talkscarytome.podbean.com/e/talk-scary-to-me-e9/ (22:00)
Geoffrey Blake (Four horseman) Alyssa was very welcoming. Most of them were except one that wasnt so nice**. (Shannen was largely absent this episode)** https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/geoffrey-blake-podcast-apocalypse-not-part-2/id1573860155?i=1000526963557
Elisabeth Hernois ( Brooke in the season 3 episode "Magic Hour"):
The dynamic on set was “interesting,” she said, as she “hadn’t really ever witnessed anything like that on a set — where people really aren’t hiding not liking each other.”
“Definitely as a young person, I sensed the tension on the set,” Harnois, 44, said, noting that her overall experience was “actually really good” as she shouted out Alyssa Milano, who she said “was a sweetheart to me.”
“She really took me under her wing, and a lot of my stuff was with her too, so that was helpful,” she recalled.
Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs, who made up the other ⅔ of the sister witches who led the show, “were nice to me but not as effusively kind as Alyssa was,” Harnois said.
“And they were always off in their own space and [Alyssa] would sit all the way on the other side of the set by herself," she continued. “There was a major divide on that set, even back then, and I don’t think that was that long into the show.”
https://people.com/charmed-guest-star-recalls-major-divide-on-set-shannen-doherty-alyssa-milano-8604809
#Charmed#Charmed season 1#charmed season 2#charmed season 3#Shannen Doherty#alyssa milano#holly marie combs#prue halliwell#piper halliwell#phoebe halliwell#celebrity feuds#thewb
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tagged by @crownofstardustandbone
a few days late lol but here we are.
1. 3 ships: sterek, percabeth and stucky. i love me some devoted, pining fools. no grave can hold my body down perfection.
2. first ever ship: it was piper/leo from charmed. brad kern deserves as much shit as jeff davis gets.
3. last song: the bones by marin morris
4. last movie: i don't watch movies too often tbh. i think the last one i really watched was rogue one.
5. currently reading: i just finished percy jackson and the chalice of the gods.
6. currently watching: teen wolf (always) and newrockstar's rebels breakdowns.
7. currently consuming: i just had a bertolli frozen pasta meal (penne with shrimp and asparagus) and a pepsi for lunch.
8. currently craving: i bought some tastee caramel apples and i want one.
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The thing that gets me about male Charmed fans pushing for a male version of the Charmed Ones is that, AFAIK, there wasn't as much of an obsession with the idea until Joey Falco came out on social media with his plans for a hypothetical fifth season of Charmed (2018) that would have introduced a "triquetra-verse" where one universe was that of the Halliwells', the second was the Vera/Vaughn/Dansos' universe, and the third was for a universe where the Charmed Ones were male witches . . . only they would be college frat dudebros and exist solely to prove Falco's point that men can't handle magic.
(Weird take, considering the reboot he was a writer on since season 1 and then showrunner for season 4 went out of its way to show that male witches don't exist in its universe, but okay. The only male magic users in the reboot are Whitelighters, demons, and whatever the hell Jordan is by the end of the show with his healing ability.)
Plus, if people are that desperate for male!Charmed Ones:
The original series already had this concept with the Rowe coven of warlocks, with each generation of the Rowe line becoming stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three brothers who would inherit an evil version of the Charmed Ones' Power of Three.
Season 5 under Brad Kern changed the sex of Piper's unborn child from a daughter to a son, and to top this all off, Wyatt was born on Imbolc (a Wiccan Sabbat) + was the never-before-mentioned prophesized Twice-Blessed Child with super-powerful magic potentially greater than that of the Charmed Ones. To make things worse, Season 6 reveals that he eventually inherits Excalibur and is basically the next King Arthur.
Fanboys wanting male Charmed Ones, to me, completely undermines and misses the whole point of why the original series (and even the 2018 reboot) has the Charmed Ones being female, and why the 1998 series based its witchcraft in Wicca.
Charmed (1998) was created by Constance M. Burge, who based the lead characters of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe on herself and her two sisters. The Craft came out two years earlier in 1996 & Practical Magic was also released in 1998: Hollywood riding on the sudden wave of popularity of Wicca in the United States now that the Satanic Panic from the previous decade was over. Teenage girls and young women were very much into exploring witchcraft / Wicca as a counterculture to the dominant mainstream religion/culture of Christianity.
Through using magic and witchcraft as an allegory, Charmed was able to explore real-life issues women face through its female leads: sexual harassment, work-life balance, mistreatment in the workplace, stalking, kidnapping, domestic violence, murder, religious & gender discrimination. It didn't shy away from the fact that women can, in fact, be abusers, murderers, and sexual predators. It also was not afraid of its female leads showing sexual interest in men and pursuing their desire on their terms, something not even Buffy the Vampire Slayer did: Buffy was punished by the narrative for having consensual sex with her vampire boyfriend Angel by him losing his soul and becoming Angelus.
All this, while having powerful female leads, and still including male characters who are powerful in their own right: Leo Wyatt, Cole Turner, Darryl Morris, Andy Trudeau, Victor Bennett, Sam Wilder. Charmed (1998) has its heroines being the most powerful good witches on Earth, saving Innocents and helping other witches, while allowing for the existence of male witches (in fact, it's stated in the pilot that all warlocks were once good witches who killed another witch to steal his/her power, making Jeremy, Rex, Nicholas, and all the other male warlocks seen on-screen former male witches--at least, those who became warlocks by killing other witches to steal their powers). The first male witch explicitly identified as such that we meet is Max, a thirteen-year-old boy who inherited his power of psychokinesis from his witch mother. (Max, his father, and his mother are all Black --- this is something not even the 2018 reboot did, by the way, despite two-thirds of that show's heroines being Afro-Latina.)
I could do without a male version of the Charmed Ones, because, frankly, men are not lacking in that sort of representation in other media: John Constantine, Doctor Strange, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Marvel Comics' take on Thor and Loki. Powerful male characters with superpowers (supernatural or scientific) are a dime a dozen. The Charmed Ones themselves are undermined in the later seasons with the introduction of Wyatt, whom one of the Whitelighter Elders conspires to kill in season 6 because they are so scared of his power level: that it's too much for one person to have. More, that he's the son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter born on a Wiccan Sabbat, and the Warren line of witches was destined to become more powerful. This is also after Brad Kern, a straight cisgender man, took over the position of showrunner and executive producer from Constance M. Burge, the woman who created the series.
Charmed does not need a male version of the Charmed Ones, and fanboys pushing for it after coming into a female-led, female-created show, in a fandom primarily dominated by women and LGBTQ+ people (both, even!) have missed the point entirely.
#Charmed 1998#anti Charmed 2018#[ I guess? IDK how to really tag this ]#[ sorry this is so rambly but I needed to get this out ]
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"Creator's pesto: Brad Kern viewed Chris this was in Season 6, and toyed with various possibilities and backstories for the character so that many of his early episodes were written without any clue of the direction his character was to go in." Sorry, this was the quote that I thought contradicted the other. I don't see wrong that an actor doesn't necessarily know everything about the character or where it's going (unless you do it like MCU)but you don't have any idea what u r doing with them...
Well it really just depends because with Chris, it just creates awkward moments in retrospect, like him kissing pretend Phoebe or there being the hint of a possible attraction between him and Paige and they're his aunts? Backtracking that takes a lot.
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COUCH TOUR: GLEN ZALESKI with Dave Baron and Adam Aruda, MEZZROW’S, 6 OCTOBER 2023, 9 pm set
There is a way that this one is evidence that Mezzrow’s is my neighborhood bar that I can just drop into and get a nice set of music. Now I did plan to tune into this one for GLEN ZALESKI whom I have seen only occasionally before, on the recommendation of a Friday/Saturday run and, even more, Peter Washington and Willie Jones III as the rhythm section. Zaleski is a just a kid (that is, younger than Sam K by a year or two) who deserves the attention, but, as with David Vierelles the night before, the master bassist and drummer didn’t show up. Dave Baron and Adam Aruda are also youngish, but perfectly capable. Together the trio delivered a fine set.
Zaleski, I read subsequently, looks to Bill Evans which is a worthy choice. He’s been mildly called out for following too closely Brad Mehldau—or was some years ago. In the moment, my note was “Broadbent???” All this to say he is certainly tasty with a lighter touch and interesting harmonies. He is so light that he played at least a chorus on a couple of tunes with just his right hand. But consistently he would start things gently and they all would grow into it. Zaleski can swing but he never goes all out; he can play full two handed chords but sparingly. He did quite successfully manage a strong rhythm section with bassist Baron always finding interesting comments to make harmonically and drummer Aruda especially adding subtle complexities.
Zaleski’s tunes were, except for Table Talk, more restrained: for Westinghouse (for the Pittsburgh High School where Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, and Errol Garner went) I wrote “dreamy”; for Star Dreams (for his three year olds description of his dreams), it was “moody.” Table Talk was “surprising swing” after the usual low key start with Aruda’s churning accompaniment becoming a flat out solo.
The standards were Kern’s Nobody Else But Me and I Wish I Knew with Charlie Parker’s Passport and a Horace Silver blues in there too. So they were perfectly capable of upbeat jauntiness.
Washington and Jones III were known quantities going in, but the kids did just fine. It always pays to look in at Small’s Live.
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Charmed: La serie que pudo ser
No sé si dedicar dos entradas seguidas a series con temática similar y consideradas como series de culto es lo correcto, pero es mi blog y supongo que lo de la libertad creativa simplemente depende de mí. Si ayer hablamos de la Cazadora de Sunnydale (también conocida como Buffy Anne Summers), hoy hablaremos de las que intentaron ser sus sucesoras en San Francisco, y es que me estoy refiriendo a las Hermanas Halliwell, también conocidas como las Embrujadas.
Desde el inicio...
De Embrujadas se han escrito muchas cosas, desde simples resúmenes o críticas hasta textos académicos que analizan su impacto en la sociedad, su narrativa feminista o incluso la forma en la que se adaptó la narrativa clásica de los cuentos de hadas. Los expertos llaman a este género la Charmed Academia y si bien se encuentra lejos de los estudios sobre el Buffyverso, se debe admirar el impacto que llegó a tener en la vida de sus espectadores.
De todos modos, creo que no se han escrito suficientes cosas al respecto, quedándose en el tintero una gran cantidad de críticas merecidas y reconocimientos que nunca llegaron. Una entrada de blog no es ni mucho menos un texto académico ni un análisis detallado, pero me servirá para hablar de todo aquello que no se ha hecho. Y, sinceramente, creo que siempre se ha hablado poco del inicio de Embrujadas.
Debemos regresar al año 1997, año en el que llega a la pequeña pantalla Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Ya mencioné en el post anterior que Buffy marcó un antes y un después en el género de lo sobrenatural y no era para menos. Nuevas narrativas, dinámicas y personajes con personalidades y desarrollos que no acostumbrábamos a ver hasta ese momento. Podemos decir que Charmed nació de ese deseo por querer reinventar el mundo de la televisión.
En el año 1998, La cadena The WB pide que se den nuevas ideas para una serie a estrenar en el transcurso de la temporada 98-99. Buffy había demostrado ser un éxito de audiencia para la pequeña cadena, por lo que deciden que otra serie de temática sobrenatural puede ser su mejor baza. Constance M. Burge llega entonces con la idea de un show sobre 3 compañeras de piso que resulta que son brujas.
Que Burge eligiese a las brujas como figura clave de su serie no fue tampoco una decisión aleatoria. No solo eran un elemento importante en el Buffyverso, si no que también estaban gozando de un notable éxito en la gran pantalla. Por un lado, la película del 96 The Craft (tal vez te suene más como Jóvenes y Brujas) había hecho que una generación de jóvenes se interesaran por la cultura Wicca. Y por otro lado, el mundo estaba a punto de caer a los pies de Nicole Kidman y Sandra Bullock en la película Practical Magic (conocida en España como Prácticamente Magia), donde la brujería y la hermandad eran motor principal de su historia.
La cadena no buscaba algo como Buffy, Cazavampiros pero tampoco querían caer en los clichés que series como Embrujada o Sabrina, Cosas de Bruja habían transmitido. Necesitaban un drama y si bien la historia de Burge parecía adaptarse a lo que buscaban, aún faltaba algo. Para el productor Duke Vincent faltaba un elemento clave, el que hiciese que semana tras semana todo el mundo se pegara al televisor para seguir las historias de 3 brujas. Es entonces cuando propone añadir el valor familiar, convirtiendo a esas 3 compañeras de piso en hermanas. Desde ese momento, el mantra de la serie fue que debía concebirse como una serie sobre tres hermanas que además son brujas (aunque Brad Kern se encargaría de cargarse ese mantra como veremos más adelante). Y así nació el concepto de lo que posteriormente conoceríamos como Embrujadas.
Las Audiciones
La empresa encargada de producir la serie fue la dirigida por el magnate televisivo Aaron Spelling, quien había producido fenómenos como Sensación de Vivir, Dinastía o Los Ángeles de Charlie. Una de sus actrices favoritas era Shannen Doherty, quien antes de interpretar a Brenda Walsh, ya había enamorado al mundo en su papel en la serie La Casa de la Pradera.
A esa audición, Doherty no acudió sola si no que lo hizo en compañía de su mejor amiga, Holly Marie Combs (conocida principalmente hasta esa fecha por su papel en Picket Fences). Si bien Doherty audicionó para el rol de Piper y Combs para el de Prue, acabaron por intercambiarse los papeles. Y supongo que tan mala no fue la idea, después de todo. Solo faltaba un papel por cubrir, el de la hermana menor, Phoebe. Y no, Alyssa Milano no fue la primera opción, si no la actriz Lori Rom, la cual llegó a interpretar el papel en el piloto no emitido de la serie.
Está disponible en internet, por si lo queréis ver, y cuenta con diferencias sustanciales respecto al 1x01 de la serie que conocemos. Por un lado, teniendo a Lori Rom como Phoebe, pero es que Andy estuvo interpretado por Chris Boyd. Si de la primero sabemos que abandonó la serie porque su Iglesia no estaba de acuerdo con que interpretase a una bruja, la marcha de Chris Boyd nunca fue justificada. Las malas lenguas dicen que se retiró por vergüenza, pero no hay verdaderas causas reales. Otros cambios notables fueron la ausencia de Darryl o la escena en la que Jeremy es derrotado (que incluía un mayor abanico de poderes demoníacos y un CGI un poco cutre).
Con la marcha de Rom, llega Alyssa Milano y nuevas incorporaciones como la de Ted King como Andy o la de Dorian Gregory como Darryl. Con mayor o menor presencia en la serie, todos ellos dejaron su huella, aunque en el caso de Alyssa Milano, el personaje de Phoebe merece mención aparte.
El Demonio de la Semana
Como ya he dicho, Charmed siguió los pasos de Buffy, The Vampire Slayer y una de las mayores influencias se puede apreciar en su modelo narrativo. Viendo que el modelo propuesto por Whedon atraía a masas en vez de espantarlas, decidieron implementarla en su nueva serie de temática sobrenatural. De esta forma, cada capítulo narraba una trama autoconclusiva que se enmarcaba dentro de otra historia aún mayor que duraba una temporada.
Buffy logró conectar todas las temporadas a través del Primero, un ente malévolo sin forma corpórea que resultó estar tras todos los acontecimientos de la serie. Embrujadas siguió un modelo idéntico... o lo fue por lo menos durante las 4 primeras temporadas. En cada temporada se desvelaba que aún había un poder superior al que había ejecutado las ordenes, hasta que llegamos a La Fuente de Todo Mal.
Dejando la marcha de Doherty a un lado (de verdad, sobre eso sí se ha escrito demasiado), la temporada 4 incluye a Rose McGowan como sustituta, encarnando a Paige Matthews, la medio hermana de las Halliwell. Esa trama no se la vio venir nadie y nos la colaron a todos con calzador. De todos modos, la temporada 4 no estaba destinada a tener 22 capítulos, si no únicamente 13. De hecho es en el 4x13 en el que las Hermanas conseguían derrotar a La Fuente, creando el cliff-hanger de que Cole se había convertido el siguiente en la línea de sucesión del Inframundo. A todos les pilló por sorpresa la renovación por 9 capítulos más, por lo que la trama que iba a ser desarrollada en la Temporada 5, se acortó para adaptarla en la Temporada 4.
A partir de aquí, la serie pierde esta noción de linealidad serial, haciendo que el hilo conductor fuesen demonios que no llegaron en ningún a conectar las temporadas 5 a 8. De esta forma, se sintió que Embrujadas había adquirido un carácter un tanto antológico, en el que cada temporada aparecía un nuevo Gran Villano. En la temporada 5 tuvimos a Cole hasta mitad de temporada, en la temporada 6 a Gideon, en la 7 a Zankou y los Avatares y en la 8 a las hermanas Jenkins.
La serie supo tomar el espíritu narrativo de Buffy, pero llegó a perderse en un intento por desmarcarse. Las decisiones argumentales fueron nefastas en momentos dados, llegando Brad Kern a cambiar el mantra de la serie. Ya no eran hermanas que descubrían que eran brujas, se habían convertido en mujeres (entendidas desde un punto de vista masculino) que eran hermanas y además, eran brujas. De hecho, esto queda patente con la perdida de calidad que sufrió la mitología de la serie a partir de la Temporada 5.
¿Iconos Feministas?
Si vemos la serie con una mirada actual, podríamos llegar a pensar que quién consideraría esta serie como un fenómeno feminista. Puede que lo fuese durante la estancia de Burge en la serie, pero decayó rapidamente cuando Brad Kern quedó al mando. Pero claro, para entender de qué feminismo hablamos, debemos hacer un poco de repaso a esta corriente.
El feminismo que imbuye a Embrujadas es el que se conoce como de Tercera Ola. En un intento por romper con el elitismo del feminismo de segunda ola y acercarlo a toda persona independientemente de su estatus, llega esta corriente en los 90. Tal vez el lema Girls can do it sea el mejor resumen de este movimiento. La liberación de la mujer como una luchadora que no debe renunciar a su feminidad para lograr igualdad, la liberación sexual o incluso la inclusión de la mujer trans como partícipe de este cambio. A día de hoy nos encontramos inmersos en un feminismo de cuarta ola, diferente a este y con otros objetivos. Y sí, puede sonar a un feminismo rancio, pero decir que Embrujadas no marcó un hito feminista también es faltar a la verdad.
Quizá Buffy supo representar mejor a esta tercera ola. Se nos presentaba como la típica chica girly que no debía adquirir atributos masculinos para ser respetada y considerada una persona válida. Esta había sido la tendencia hasta la época, reflejado en series como Wonder Woman. Del mismo modo, tampoco era sexualizada del modo que sí lo fueron los Ángeles de Charle. Buffy supo ser una buena representación de todo esto y la palabra sororidad alcanzó su máximo esplendor en le Temporada 7, cuando descubre que el poder compartido es más fuerte que el poder individual.
Las hermanas Halliwell bebieron de esto en sus inicios. Eran fuertes por ellas mismas y podían vivir su vida sin un hombre a su lado... bueno, no negamos que las tramas románticas como la de Piper y Leo eran necesarias, pero eran mujeres independientes con trabajos bien posicionados y que además pateaban culos demoníacos. Constance M. Burge supo añadir esta visión a su serie, pero las broncas con Kern por el rumbo de la serie llevarían a su salida como Productora y llegarían una serie de cambios que conducirían a Embrujadas a su ruina.
Quien mejor representa esta caída del feminismo es el personaje de Phoebe Halliwell. Durante las primeras temporadas se declara independiente, puede hacer lo que quiera, cuando quiera y como quiera, además es una bruja y no se va a la cama sin haber salvado antes el mundo. Los hombres pasan por su vida sin atarse a ninguno, y nadie la juzga ¿por qué? Porque ella es más que eso, sabe quién es y nadie puede decir lo contrario. Pero a partir de la temporada 3, perdemos a esa Phoebe independiente para encontrarnos con alguien que se parece a ella.
Phoebe se enamora perdidamente de Cole, hasta el punto de que lo culpa por todas las cosas que ocurren en su vida. Si el Cole de la Temporada 5 acaba hasta los cojones es porque a cada cosa que pasa en San Francisco, ella lo declara responsable de ello. Que defiendo que era un hombre que no aceptaba un no por respuesta y la relación fue de lo más tóxica, pero hay que reconocer que no todo lo demoníaco estaba causado por él.
Y bueno, tras su derrota, Phoebe se convierte en una especie de símbolo sexual dentro y fuera del mundo mágico. Lejos quedaba ya esa Phoebe que defendía su independencia. Se cruzó la línea entre al defensa de la vida sexual libre y sexualización. Phoebe lo sufrió en sus carnes, pero como ya he dicho, el mantra de la serie también cambió por completo.
Kern dejó de focalizar la atención en la vida familiar de las hermanas y poco a poco movió el foco a su vida como mujeres. Leo y Piper sufren una crisis en la temporada 6, que lleva a Piper a llevar una desenfrenada vida sexual. Phoebe se acuesta con cada tío al que conoce en la serie y si no, pensad en su jefe y su escritor fantasma ¿Qué es lo primero que hace al conocerlos? Pues eso, la justificación mágica no argumentaba la toma de según qué decisiones.
Paige, por otro lado, se sitúa como una especie de Phoebe en su llegada. También vivía sola, tenía un amigo con derechos y se la pasaba bien yendo al P3. Nada que objetar hasta que una de sus relaciones más destacadas es con un hombre que sufre una adicción a la magia (y no al estilo Willow) y en la que ella debe asumir el papel de niñera mágica. Después de eso, sus relaciones no van a mejor y en la última temporada nos regalan una relación metida con calzador que se resuelve en matrimonio poco antes del final.
En el caso de Prue, su marcha de la serie impidió que su personaje perdiese esta identidad de tercera ola, y casi se agradece. Pero como ya he dicho, el querer centrarse tanto en las tramas románticas, hizo que las hermanas casi pasaran a ser compañeras de piso y que las tramas mágicas perdiesen calidad.
Aún queda mucho de lo que hablar, pero esto extendería en exceso esta entrada. Prefiero que digiráis esta información y expreséis vuestra opinión en comentarios o en la sección de preguntas.
Y sin nada más que añadir, nos vemos en la próxima temporada.
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