Feature: Charmed

Conway's Sisters

Producer/director James L Conway reveals what dangers the Charmed Ones will face in the latter part of Season Eight

The holidays are over and 2006 is just a few days old, but Charmed co-executive producer James L Conway and the rest of the show’s production team are already busy prepping to film the first episode of the new year. “In this story we meet Billie’s sister as a grown-up,” explains Conway. “Her name is Kristy and the episode starts off with her being very afraid and saying, ‘They’re coming,’ but she’s not specific as to who ‘they’ are.

“We’re introduced to the demons who had been keeping her prisoner all these years, and in their conversations it’s revealed they’re working for the Triad, an extremely powerful group of demons from the second and third seasons that were ultimately dealt with by Cole [Julian McMahon]. These are different Triads, however, and they keep talking about the Ultimate Power, leading us to believe that Kristy might be the key to this Ultimate Power.

“Also in this episode we have an English Whitelighter named Simon who magically appears. He announces that it would be best for everyone if he marries Paige [Rose McGowan]. Apparently it was forecast by a number of English seers that he and Paige should be married and together they would be the most powerful couple on Earth. Meanwhile, Paige has fallen in love with Henry [Ivan Sergei] and vice versa. Subsequently, there’s a battle between Simon and Henry to determine who will win Paige’s heart.

“So we’ve been doing quite a bit to get ready for this story. Among other things a demon lair had to be built, and we’re prepping for the battle between Simon and Henry. There are some street scenes as well, so we had to pick locations for those. On top of everything else, we reintroduce in this episode the character of Greg [Jason Shaw], who was a love interest for Piper [Holly Marie Combs] when she and Leo [Brian Krause] split up back in Season Six. Greg is a fireman and he’s come back to help out with some things.”

Long-time Charmed viewers are sure to recognize Conway’s name. He has directed several episodes, including Season One’s The Wendigo, and served as supervising producer on the show before being promoted to co-executive producer. At the end of last year, Conway, along with everyone else working on Charmed, had no idea whether or not the series would be renewed. In the Season Seven finale, Something Wicca This Way Goes, the Halliwell sisters vanquished Zankou (Oded Fehr) when he tried to resurrect the Nexus and steal its power. At the same time the girls decided it was time for a fresh start, so they faked their own deaths and changed appearances.

“We got ourselves into a bit of a pickle at the end of Season Seven when the girls changed their looks,” says Conway. “That would have worked fine had we not come back, but the show was picked up for an eighth year, albeit late, so we had to deal with the situation.”

by Steven Eramo

Read the full interview in
Cult Times #125

Photo © The WB
Feature © Visual Imagination 2006. Not for reproduction

Taken from

Cult Times #125
February 2006
ships from Jan 25 2006
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