‘Charmed’ Behind-the-Scenes Drama Over the Years: A Timeline

The power of three will set us free … from everything but drama.

Charmed, which premiered on The WB in 1998, made headlines from the start as Aaron Spelling hired Shannen Doherty to play one of the three Halliwell sisters, four years after she was infamously let go from Spelling Television’s Beverly Hills, 90210.

“[Aaron] was extremely supportive of the idea of casting Shannen Doherty as Prue,” creator Constance M. Burge recalled to InTouch in 2018, noting that the actress’ chemistry with Holly Marie Combs was one of the reasons the producers wanted her for the role. “Holly at the time had been on Picket Fences, and she was also dear friends with Shannen, so they had terrific chemistry with each other.”

With Doherty and Combs taking on the roles of Prue and Piper, respectively, Lori Rom was set to complete the trio as youngest sister Phoebe. After they shot the pilot, Rom was recast with Alyssa Milano.

While the chemistry between the Halliwell sisters worked onscreen, behind-the-scenes tensions were high and history repeated itself when Doherty exited after three seasons. Doherty later spoke out amid reports that she and Milano didn’t get along.

Rose McGowan Accuses Alyssa Milano Of Making 'Charmed' Set 'Toxic AF'

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There was too much drama on the set and not enough passion for the work,” Doherty told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “You know, I’m 30 years old and I don’t have time for drama in my life anymore. To me it’s sort of whatever. I’ll miss Holly a lot and that’s really the only thing I want to clear up.”

She continued: “She is one of my best friends and I love her dearly. And there were never ever ever any problems between the two of us, and we will always be pals.”

While Doherty claimed at the time that Combs wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay on the series without her then-bestie, Charmed went on for five more seasons with Combs, Milano and Rose McGowan, who played their long-lost sister Paige.

The fantasy drama subsequently made history as the longest running hour-long series with all female leads before the 2006 finale. (Desperate Housewives took over the honor in 2012). For some fans, however, the legacy has been overshadowed by the alleged on-set drama. Scroll through for a complete timeline:

While Doherty claimed at the time that Combs wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay on the series without her then-bestie, Charmed went on for five more seasons with Combs, Milano and Rose McGowan, who played their long-lost sister Paige.

The fantasy drama subsequently made history as the longest running hour-long series with all female leads before the 2006 finale. (Desperate Housewives took over the honor in 2012). For some fans, however, the legacy has been overshadowed by the alleged on-set drama. Scroll through for a complete timeline:

Things between the original Halliwell sisters weren’t all bad at the beginning. A year after the premiere, Doherty and Combs even served as bridesmaids in Milano’s wedding to Cinjuna Tate. (The twosome were married for 10 months in 1999.)

"I feel that we're incredibly lucky that the three of us found each other,” Milano gushed in 1999. “We all have horses so we all have things that are in common. Holly and I keep our horses at the same ranch so we go riding all the time together and we're very similar and, um, very close, we're blessed in that way. It's like a big slumber party every day. We giggle a lot."

Three seasons in, however, it was clear the party was over when Doherty’s Prue was killed off. Milano and Combs addressed the situation for the first time during an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the season 4 premiere.

“I’m very laid-back and passive. I have my Buddha,” Milano said. ”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. She sounds really angry. I just hope I didn’t contribute to that anger.”

Combs noted that she believed Doherty’s exit was handled “very poorly,” explaining, ”We should have had an opportunity to have her character, Prue, make a graceful exit and have our story writers properly plan for that.”

Doherty threw shade at Milano during her candid chat with ET: ”I want to work with actors who really, really care and that want to be there every single day. I don't want to work with people who bitch about their job and complain about it and say that they hate it or anything else.”

McGowan replaced Doherty to complete the trio for seasons 4-8.

"I wasn't going to be playing Shannen's role, but it was still someone new for the fans to bond with. … I knew that I had a slim chance at success here. People had to fall in love with my character as quickly as possible or Charmed would die,” she wrote in her 2018 memoir, Brave. “I thought about how big the crew was and how they would all be out of a job if I failed. So I made myself look super nonthreatening. I gained weight, about ten pounds, for the role."

McGowan also claimed the stress of the set made her sick. "I found the repetitive days so opposite my natural rhythms that I became sick over and over. And it was at times a very stressful environment. I started to have panic attacks because of everything I was pushing down,” she wrote in the book.

Charmed ended its run in 2006.

The behind-the-scenes drama was back in the headlines when Milano spoke about Doherty on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

"I don't know if she got fired, we never really found out what happened. I can tell you that we were on the air with her for three years and there were definitely some rough days,” the Who’s the Boss alum recalled, “Holly and Shannen were best friends for like 10 years before the show started so it was very much sort of like high school. I would hope that in our thirties it wouldn't feel like that anymore."

Combs and Doherty took to Twitter to respond.

"Working on Charmed was nothing like high school. I went to high school. It was a very important job to me and always will be,” the Pretty Little Liars star wrote.

Doherty added. "Yeah, agreed, considering it helped me support my family and pay for my dad's medical issues, but everyone has their opinion and views."

Combs and Doherty proved to be as closer as ever when they teamed up for a travel show, Off the Map With Shannen & Holly, in 2015. The two women spoke about Milano’s “high school” dig during a joint radio interview.

"She didn't go to high school! What are we talking about here? Her mother was at my wedding? Like, why? We were all friends and at times we weren’t,” Combs said.

Doherty noted that “when you work that closely together there’s always going to be times that are rough.”

Two years after Doherty was first diagnosed with cancer, Milano told E! News that they made amends.

"I think we're just at ages now that what happens 15 years ago, or however long ago that was, it's irrelevant," Milano said. "I think that what she has gone through, [and] motherhood in my life, I think it just changes people. I’m so happy that she's feeling well. I prayed for her every day that she would feel well and I can't wait to see her."

While Milano may have been on good terms with Doherty for the first time in 15 years, McGowan came for her former costar when the Mistresses star supported Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife Georgia Chapman. "You make me want to vomit. You actually gave me a body flashback. Well done, fake one,” McGowan, who publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault, tweeted.

McGowan later told Nightline: “I don’t like her. ‘Cause I think she’s a lie.”