Charmed Vs Buffy

I hated the show forever. It just bugged me, because the few episodes I had seen were almost remakes of Buffy (The first one I saw was "Brain Drain", hello, totally the same storyline!)

But, I ended up buying the first season for my sister (she loves it), and I watched an episode and then discovered I had watched the whole freakin season. While I do not absolutely love it, it's kind of grown on me. Just entertainment. And plus now that I've seen the first and most of the fourth/fifth, I've just got to find out what happens. Darn Charmed.
 
I like Charmed and yes there are many similarities to Buffy. I think most shows do the same thing and it does get annoying. I also have to say that for as much as I do like Charmed, this definitely needs to be the last season. Most will disagree that its not possible, but they need to bow out gracefully. This season has turned into a shamble, killing off Leo and bringing in Billie. Charmed is supposed to be about the Power of Three, not 3+ a blond witch.
:complain:
 
I hated the show forever. It just bugged me, because the few episodes I had seen were almost remakes of Buffy (The first one I saw was "Brain Drain", hello, totally the same storyline!)

But, I ended up buying the first season for my sister (she loves it), and I watched an episode and then discovered I had watched the whole freakin season. While I do not absolutely love it, it's kind of grown on me. Just entertainment. And plus now that I've seen the first and most of the fourth/fifth, I've just got to find out what happens. Darn Charmed.

Actually i'd agree that the first two seasons (and even some of the third, although by that point both i and Shannon Doherty had come to the same conclusion that the show was heading downhill and chose to jump ship, lol) were actually pretty good. The show began with an interesting premise and good characters and, whilst not even near the quality of Buffy or Angel, it made for an enjoyable hour's viewing.

Season four and onwards became painful for me to watch though. Seriously, i have rarely cringed more when watching television! And i've watched some seriously bad television!!! 😀
 
I like Charmed and yes there are many similarities to Buffy. I think most shows do the same thing and it does get annoying. I also have to say that for as much as I do like Charmed, this definitely needs to be the last season. Most will disagree that its not possible, but they need to bow out gracefully. This season has turned into a shamble, killing off Leo and bringing in Billie. Charmed is supposed to be about the Power of Three, not 3+ a blond witch.

I totally agree with you about the show being about the charmed ones (power of three) and all they have done is had season 8 all about Billie... and the fact daryll and leo like arent even in it.... so lame...
 
Hmmm, how about practically every storyline since the end of season three when the gorgeous Shannon Doherty jumped ship and the show sank to the murky depths it currently resides at.

Hehe, sorry Charmed_slayer, you are obviously a fan and so i'm not going to rip into the series too much but i really cannot understand why it is still on the air. The writers have consistenly taken plots from Buffy and Angel, mixed them around a little and called them shiny and new stories for the Charmed Ones. The biggest example of this was, i believe, Piper's son, rapidly aged in a time travelly way, turning up with a grudge against his parents. How they got away with that Angel/Connor ripoff i will never understand.

Using Charisma on the show (as a character who got visions, no less) was just the last straw, as far as i was concerned.

Nope, again i'm really sorry to any Charmed fans here for saying this, but Charmed deserved the axe a long time ago.

The son thing: CHris came from the future to stop Wyatt from becoming evil!!! He was only on that season
 
been a member of TS3 a charmed forum


I just realised, I'm a member of that forum...I only made like 14 posts though 🙁 I started the 'what if' game and a moderator closed it. He said there was a thread similiar to it, even though it wasn't...

They have a Big Brother game going - that looks cool.
 
+Matt+ said:
I just realised, I'm a member of that forum...I only made like 14 posts though I started the 'what if' game and a moderator closed it. He said there was a thread similiar to it, even though it wasn't...

They have a Big Brother game going - that looks cool.

Really! I love TS3, although i'm in the Big Brother game at the moment. I've been stuck in that forum for 93 days now! There are only 5 of us left! It's not as cool as it looks! Bit boring to be honest.

Anyway, I watched the first episode of Season 8 on thursday and I really enjoyed it which is saying something as I have been getting bored of Charmed for ages.

I thought that Phoebe looked great!
 
Ahh the ever so popular debate topic. I think the Charmed writers seemed to be heavily influenced by Buffy sometimes but some episodes that are similar are just popular ones that every show does.

BUt the people on Charmed dont seem to be as invested in it like everyone who worked on Buffy was. Charmed has major continuity errors and the writers dont really care about the past that much, they just like to write up new rules for ones already made and act as if we arent suppose to notice.

BUt on C:TP board, there have been some people who like to insist that Buffy rip-offed Xenas charecters, storylines etc.. which ofcourse I heavily disagreed with since its farthest from the truth.
 
S
Summers Blood
Yep continuity isn't one of their forte's
I agree with all the points against Charmed, although I do watch the show, I don't follow it, Like I could miss a episode and not care.

But just on the topic of Chris/Connor, they were actually very different storylines, I mean Chris kinda turned up and for ages we had no idea that he was their son, and it did take ages to find out. But he did have that father hatred going on, so it was taken from Angel.

The worst rip off of Buffy I have ever seen, is an episode in the last season (I think) an ep where The guardian of Pandora's Box comes into it. Ok listen to this for the mythology of the Guardian of Pandora's Box:
"NINA": Back to the box?

PIPER: Right. Okay. Let me guess. A demon took it.

"NINA": No. But we better find the next Guardian before one does.

PHOEBE: Guardian?

"NINA": Like you, we're chosen beings, part of a magical lineage, one in which
every generation a girl is born, meant to guard Pandora's Box.

I actually could not believe they like completely took the whole idea of Buffy!! I literally stood up from my chair and my mouth dropped open!!
 
VisionGuy
VisionGuy
WTF?! They stole the whole idea from Buffy!!!!
E
Edmund Blackadder
Just for standing open mouthed you get Karma....i'd double it too, for admitting it...lol
But just on the topic of Chris/Connor, they were actually very different storylines, I mean Chris kinda turned up and for ages we had no idea that he was their son, and it did take ages to find out. But he did have that father hatred going on, so it was taken from Angel.

So instead of just ripping off the Angel/Connor idea the writers chose to steal from the Cyclops/Cable storyline in X-Men as well and mix the two ideas together.

Those whacky Charmed writers! Never short of a new story idea ... to borrow! 😉
 
Black Eye Guy
Black Eye Guy
lol, Now I feel bad about defending Charmed, God they don't own an original idea, do they! lol
The only things Connor and Chris have in common are:
-Both were annoying
-Both were trouble makers
-Names started with C
-Werent fond of their fathers.
-both were supernatural
-both sent their dads somewhere else(Angel into the sea, Leo to Valhalla)

ok so those are a couple but I dont think their was any intention on copying one another on this. Just another popular theme of shows.
 
Okay, people. I have watched Charmed since the VERY beginning, and have not turned away from it yet, even though Shannon left WAY back in Season 3. Here is my defense:

Also on Charmed they had an episode called Brain Drain, basically piper was made to believe by the Source that she wasn't a witch and that she was in fact in a mental hospital. Sound familiar
And if you would actually look BOTH episodes up, you would see the air dates as followed:
Brain Drain: First aired: 11/8/2001
Normal Again: First aired: 3/12/2002

The biggest example of this was, i believe, Piper's son, rapidly aged in a time travelly way, turning up with a grudge against his parents. How they got away with that Angel/Connor ripoff i will never understand.
Are you, and i'm probably right in thinking you are, talking about the show's 6th season? Because, you have that ALL wrong. Chris came back to save his older brother, Wyatt, from becoming evil. WAY different than the Angel/Conner thing.
Leo: Why do you hate me so much?
Chris: You were always there for everyone else - Mom, Wyatt, half the world, but you were never there for me.
Okay, it seems similar to the Conner/Angel thing, but Chris was never taken to a hell dimension and taught that his father was a murderer. He had a whole different grudge. Sorta like your father leaving your family.

From what i've read they have introduced a new character who just happens to be a blonde teenage girl who just happens to be in high school and it just so happens she kills demons in her spare time ... now where have we heard of a character like that before ...
Okay, Billie, the blonde girl, could have been anyone. She could have been a redhead, a brunette, etc. But, they chose Kaley Cuoco for the role, whose hair happened to be blonde.

The problem i have with Charmed is that it does it so blatently. It makes little or no attempt to hide the fact that it is using ideas previously seen on Buffy or Angel despite the fact that the show is constantly criticised for doing so. It's one thing to take a basic idea and rework it to suit your own characters, that has been done for as long as fiction has been written, but at the very least you should try and make it seem original. That is something Charmed never does.
Besides, Joss using a Charmed episode title as a single line in one of his episodes is a far cry from them copying the plot of an entire season of one of his shows!
Just curious, but how many episodes have you actually watched? Cuz I wanna know which season of Charmed was a rip-off of Buffy, cuz not seeing it.

Which was taken from the manga "Ah My Goddess" I'd suspect.
Actually, I believe it was taken from the common phrase "Oh My God" they just changed it to goddess, to fit the characters.

Yeah it was season 7 polexia. It was called Chaarrmed! Not a very original episode name either!
Okay, you said you do watch charmed. If you had noticed, all episode titles were taken from common phrases or popular movies.

Also Principal Snyder was the wizard in the episode called :we're off to see the wizard" (i think thats it) and also Ben off buffy was the handsome prince in th epsiode when paige bought the prince into their world and the episode when buffy can hear what everyones thinking is similuar to the epsiode primose empath when prue can feel everyones emotions/feelings and starts getting ill (too much emotions) and the canteen lady out of buffy was in this episode and she was the mental ward nurse (weird same sorta episodes with the same actor!) yeah there are sooo many similuar episodes and as someone said above charisma carpenter was the oracle in charmed and cordy in buffy... there are other similuar epidoes just too much too write!!
Okay, I'm going to tell you about these people that are called actors. They read for a role. They land the role. They act the role. They get money. It's their job. J-O-B. They do it to get paid. Hello! Where are you brains?

I totally agree with you about the show being about the charmed ones (power of three) and all they have done is had season 8 all about Billie... and the fact daryll and leo like arent even in it.... so lame...
Okay, here's the only Season 8 dig I'm going to discuss. The budget was cut for this season. This is why Darryl and Leo are out. The Billie plot is to give the girls less time. TV Shows can't just go off and do their own thing without word from the Network. The WB tells them the rules, and they stick to them while making a season.

BUt the people on Charmed dont seem to be as invested in it like everyone who worked on Buffy was. Charmed has major continuity errors and the writers dont really care about the past that much, they just like to write up new rules for ones already made and act as if we arent suppose to notice.
I might not say they arent as "invested", but there are continuity errors. I've noticed that, I ignore them. Except one that really bothered me. It was one about the Source coming back, or something, and Paige says "How did you guys vaquish him last time?" When the ONLY times the Source was vanquished were in season 4. When Paige was there.

The worst rip off of Buffy I have ever seen, is an episode in the last season (I think) an ep where The guardian of Pandora's Box comes into it. Ok listen to this for the mythology of the Guardian of Pandora's Box:

"NINA": Back to the box?

PIPER: Right. Okay. Let me guess. A demon took it.

"NINA": No. But we better find the next Guardian before one does.

PHOEBE: Guardian?

"NINA": Like you, we're chosen beings, part of a magical lineage, one in which
every generation a girl is born, meant to guard Pandora's Box.


I actually could not believe they like completely took the whole idea of Buffy!! I literally stood up from my chair and my mouth dropped open!!
I've heard many story lines in which there is "one girl in every generation" that has some magickal gift. Tru Calling for example.

Now, feel free to debate my defense.
 
VisionGuy
VisionGuy
You make very good points.
C
Cordelia Chase*
Nice!!! I totally agree! Glad to have a Charmer on my side!!!
oh, and about the Cole thing in season 3 being similar to the Angel thing in buffy. Come on. Angel and Cole were different. Angel already was good. Cole was sent to destroy the Charmed Ones, and he did that by seducing Phoebe. And even if you say "Well, what about Angelus in season 2?". Angelus was getting revenge on Buffy for making him(Angel) feel like a man. Different. Similar, but different.
 
i think Cole resembles Spike a lot more than Anegl...both came to kill the main characters, but turned good (ok, Spike was kinda forced into that) and both fell in love with one of the leads.
 
i think Cole resembles Spike a lot more than Anegl...both came to kill the main characters, but turned good (ok, Spike was kinda forced into that) and both fell in love with one of the leads.
But, Cole fell in love with Phoebe before Spike fell in love with Buffy...i think...unless something happened in Buffy s4 im not aware of...
 
Okay, Billie, the blonde girl, could have been anyone. She could have been a redhead, a brunette, etc. But, they chose Kaley Cuoco for the role, whose hair happened to be blonde.

Just curious, but how many episodes have you actually watched? Cuz I wanna know which season of Charmed was a rip-off of Buffy, cuz not seeing it.

Well, i'm only going to debate these two points as they were the only ones regarding comments i had previously made.

Firstly, if the blonde hair was the only similarity then nobody would be noticing. As it is, the similarities are so great between Billie and Buffy (even down to similar sounding names, apparently) that everybody and their dog, from tv viewers to reviewers in scifi magazines, are picking up on this. Billie is just too close a carbon copy of Buffy for people not to acknowledge it.

As for how many episodes of Charmed i've seen, well, all of seasons one through three, the majority of season four and sporadically since then, although during season four my patience with the show's lack of originality and quality had run out. I find it very hard to sit through a full episode from the later seasons without seriously cringing or falling asleep, whichever comes first.

I never said there was a specific season that ripped off Buffy. I said that Charmed had far too many episodes throughout it's entire run that reused ideas taken from other series and sources, including Buffy and Angel most obviously.

Ultimately though, ripping off ideas is not the major problem the show has. Taking those ideas and then using them in such bland, uninteresting ways is the real issue that most Charmed critics have. The writing just did not have the necessary flare to hide the show's flaws. If you are always going to use other peoples ideas for your show then at least have the ability to use them well and add a new spin.
 
How would you know if the lack of originality had run out if you barely watch the show?? Im sorry, I love Buffy but I got to back up my Charmed here!
 
Cohen
Cohen
Can I just say "Hellz yeah"?
Ok but u cant say Angel hasnt copied off of Charmed!! VISIONS!!!!!! Higher Powers------Elders! Elder goes bad, PTB goes bad!!!!

Well, neither of those two concepts were original to either Buffy, Angel or Charmed. They are commonly used themes in fantasy tales. You only need read Lord of the Rings to see Tolkien's versions of said concepts.

We are talking about copying more specific details and storylines than basic fantasy elements such as that. Or next we will be debating whether Buffy or Charmed stole the idea of witches off the other series. 😉

How would you know if the lack of originality had run out if you barely watch the show?? Im sorry, I love Buffy but I got to back up my Charmed here!

You missed my point, CC*. The originality had run out a long, long time before i stopped watching. Season three of Charmed was painful, but i stuck it out for a weekly dose of the lovely Shannon Doherty. I even tried to give the show the benefit of the doubt for the majority of season four and it constantly let me down, week after week.

Since then i have probably seen around ten to twenty episodes (maybe a few more) of the later seasons and if anything the show has become even more ludicrous and cringeworthy. Basically i have watched more than enough to say that i gave the series a fair go and that i'm entitled to comment on it's quality, or lack thereof.

That fair enough for you, CC*?
 
Cohen
Cohen
Haha, yeh. Buffy and Charmed BOTH stole the witches idea from Bewitched..no, not Bewitched, the Salem and Europe witch trials!(Salem and Europe used because they are the most common that i kno of)
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