Charmed: The Complete First Season recaptures a period when television's WB network was particularly keen on series about the supernatural and specially powered characters. The original home of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and future launch pad for Angel and Smallville, the WB debuted Charmed in 1998 with many of the same intriguing ironies that made those other shows click. Specifically, the greater a character's powers, the more vulnerable he or she becomes; the more superhuman, the more painfully obvious one's lonely, fragile humanity. The Halliwells, a trio of witch heroines and siblings at the center of Charmed, is a case in point. Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) returns to her San Francisco family home after losing her job, and moves in with her older sisters Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs). On her first night back, Phoebe finds the Book of Shadows in the attic and recites a spell giving all three women unique powers they were always meant to have: Prue suddenly has the gift of telekinesis, Piper can make time stand still, and Phoebe can see into the future. All well and good, but along with those extraordinary abilities is a new awareness of dark forces in the world from which mortals need protection. In some cases, those forces have been plotting a long time to steal the Halliwell's magical legacy once they awakened to it--and now they will never let up.

Evil warlocks, demons, ancient curses, Grimlocks, and Wendigos (the last two are best left explained by their respective episodes), however, are only half the battle on this sexy dramedy, in which more ordinary matters of emotional and real-world survival also preoccupy the Halliwells. An important ally, Inspector Andy Trudeau (Ted King), is Prue's ex-lover, a delicate detail that mixes pain with duty as the couple rekindles their troubled relationship while solving otherworldly crimes. In "Dead Man Dating," Piper falls for the ghost of a murdered man who needs help, and later competes with Phoebe for the attention of a handyman, Leo (Brian Krause). Jobs and money are always an issue, too. At one time or another, Phoebe works as a psychic, Piper as a caterer, and Prue finds a job at an auction house. As with Buffy, the engine of Charmed is the seamless, sometimes-comic, sometimes-tender way in which all these dynamics in the magic and non-magic worlds blend together, presenting young adult challenges that are both unique and somehow terribly familiar. It is particularly fun to watch this series grow, deepen, and experiment during its first year. The season's true highlight is probably "That 70s Episode," in which the Halliwells go back in time to meet their younger selves. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

great way to bring out the power in women. loved it when i was a kid and i still love it. i like how they manage to find different legends from different religions and cultures becuase it makes it more realistic. great all round but a bit of comedy wouldnt go a miss.

Charmed is a pretty unique television show and considering it ran on for eight seasons the very first season points towards the success that it enjoyed. Based around the lives of three young sisters who discover they have magical abilities, Charmed follows their every day lives as well as their perilous experiences with demons and magical creatures. There is a definite and strong feminist theme throughout the show that some male viewers might find a bit hard to swallow, since the male characters are either really handsome yet stupid or evil Warlocks out to get the sisters! That said it is a good piece of family television and is very upbeat and cheerful throughout. I cannot think of a better show for the whole family to watch on a Sunday night.

Charmed was one of those series that I never quite got to see, only catching the last ten minutes of every third episode; so I decided to watch on DVD. A great story arc covering many different supernatural occurrences. The plots are often formulaic , each introducing a new monster of the week. I recently watched the series again and found it to be mediocre at best, I still feel as though I gained by watching it first time round but a second time two years later and it was disappointing. If you have never seen the charmed ones before in full, or are hooked on this series then this is a must see series otherwise give it a miss and watch the more engaging Buffy series instead.

When Charmed premiered in October 1998, TV magic was literally born!!! We were introduced to three normal sisters:Prue, the oldest, had a lot of attitude and tried to keep everything in her life in check!!! Piper, the middle sister, who was sweet but very sarcastic!!! Lastly, Phoebe, the free-spirited and wild but caring little sister!!! When Phoebe moves back in with her sisters, they have no idea that they would become the most powerful witches in the world!!! This season we meet Andy, Prue's ex-boyfriend from high school who's an inspector, and his partner Darryl!!! Here is Season 1:

Something Wicca This Way Comes-Great episode!!! "When Phoebe Haliwell moves back in with her sisters Prue and Piper, they become the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches in the world." We are introduced to the characters nicely and the cast is just fresh!!! With a great blend of twist and turns, this was a perfect way to begin the season and series!!!

I've Got You Under My Skin-Weak episode!!! "The sisters struggle to control their powers as they face a demon who steals youth from young women." Not a good follow up, the demon plot was lacking but Piper's fear of being a witch was a well written sub plot.

Thank You For Not Morphing-Weak episode!!! "The sisters' father returns knowing that they're witches now, while shape-shifters try to steal the Book of Shadows." The actor who plays Victor is a bad actor, and the shapeshifters are worse!

Dead Man Dating-Great episode!!! "Piper befriends a ghost who needs help of the sisters to justify his death." It's funny that Mark is that MILF guy from american pie, but Mark and Piper made a good couple in this episode!!!

Dream Sorcerer-Pretty good episode!!! "Prue is stalked in her dreams by a man who kills women in their dreams, while Piper and Phoebe cast a love spell." This episode, the first time I saw, just gave me chills!!! The dream sequences were creepy and scary, but the plot was kind of anti-climatic in the end.

The Wedding From Hell-Weak episode!!! "Piper caters a wedding where the wife-to-be is a demon in disguise, can the Charmed Ones save the groom??" The demons looked pretty scary but God, all the guest stars were awful!

The Fourth Sister-Pretty good episode!!! "A teenage girl with mysterious powers befriends Phoebe, and trys to join the Charmed Ones." Aviva was annoying character, but it was good to see another person with powers.

The Truth Is Out There...And It Hurts-Great episode-"The Charmed Ones race to stop a warlock from the future, while Prue puts a truth spell on Andy." The special effects were good and the truth spell brought some hilarious moments.

The Witch Is Back-Great Episode-"After a 300 year old warlock is released from a locket, The Charmed Ones summon the first witch of their line to vanquish him." We meet Melinda Warren, the sisters' a lot of greats, great grandmother!!!

Wicca Envy-Great Episode!!! "Rex and Hannah, two of Prue's fellow workers, are actually warlocks who frame Prue, and force the sisters to give up their powers." I liked Rex and Hannah, too bad they didn't return later in the series since they were great villians!!!

Feats of Clay-Bad episode!!! "Phoebe's old boyfriend comes by for a visit, bringing with him an ancient egyptian spirit that is hunting him." Clay wasn't that interesting of a charater, and the plot dragged!!

The Wendigo-Great episode!!! "After Piper gets attacked by some kind of werewolf, she begans to transform into it. Can Prue and Phoebe destroy the wendigo in time to save her??" I just love this episode, Holly Marie Combs was just funny and dramatic all at once!!!

From Fear To Eternity-Great episode!!! "The Charmed Ones are hunted by Barbas, the demon of fear, who scares witches to death on Friday the 13th." Barbas makes his first appearance of the next 4. He was really a good demon at first, but he was just too overused later on.

Secrets and Guys-Good episode!!! "Prue helps a young boy who is a witch when they are kidnapped, while Phoebe finds out Leo is a whitelighter." The Prue and Max scenes were touching and so was Leo and Piper saying goodbye.

Is There A Woogy in the House?-Great episode!!! "Phoebe is possessed by the shadow in the basement that turns her evil. Prue and Piper must help Phoebe before the shadow consumes more." We see Grams for the first time, We learn about the spiritual nexus, and learn one of Charmed's famous spells: The Woogyman spell!!!

Which Prue is it, Anyway?-Good episode!!! "When the girls must stop a powerful ancient warlock, Prue uses a spell to strengthen her powers, leading to two more Prues." The Prues were funny in this episode, Shannon has great comedic timing!!!

That '70s Episode-Amazing Episode!!! "After being attacked by a warlock named Nicholas, the girls travel back to the 70s to stop their mom from making a packed with him." Very emotional episode with the sisters meeting their mother and Phoebe for the first time. Loved little Prue and Piper!

When Bad Warlocks Go Good-Pretty good episode!!! "Prue must help Brendon, a warlock who wants to become a priest and stop his evil warlock brothers." I liked Brendon, he should have returned as well!!! He and Prue could have made a good couple, but his a priest!!!

Blind Sided-Great episode!!! "The Charmed Ones must find a boy who was kidnapped by the Grimlocks who steal the visions of little boys." The Grimlocks were pretty freaky demons. Also, Prue's power advances, now she can us her hands to move things!! Also the chemistry between Phoebe and Brent was touching!

The Power of Two-Great episode!!! "While Piper is off on a business trip, Prue and Phoebe must stop a ghost that is killing innocent people." Andy finally knows about the sisters, and Prue and Phoebe actually become closer finally!!!

Love Hurts-Great episode!!! "Leo returns, informing the Charmed Ones that they need to help a young woman who is being stalked by a darklighter." Piper and Leo's powers get switched, as well as Prue and Phoebe's!!! Piper and Leo have one of their first romantic moments in the series!!

Deja Vu All Over Again-Amazing Episode!!! "Phoebe gets a premonition of Andy's death. Trying to save him, the sisters die over and over again as the day repeats itself over and over again. Can they save themselves and Andy???" This was a great finale, everytime one of the girls died, it was so sad. This is also Andy's last episode, I miss him!!! Tempus and Inspector Rodriguez were great villains!!

Season 1 was really a great set up for the series done very well. Almost every episode was great, the acting was superb, and the stories were damn good!!! The show had a dramatic and suspenseful atmosphere this season, it really made you addicted!!! Go and by the set to re-live the Golden days of Charmed!!!

My daughter (12) has fallen under the spell of the Charmed Ones and now has every season on DVD including 8 - it's probably all that girl power that attracts her and she was a dedicated old/new Worst Witch fan - although my son (10) happily watches Charmed with her (perhaps he secretly routes for the demons). Some of her Charmed seasons were recorded from Living TV re-runs on Sky but others were purchased from Amazon (we get the far cheaper NTSC region 1 offerings from Amazon resellers). Naturally the episodes are far nicer without 20 minutes of adverts. We missed the series first time around - so it's great to get all the episodes in one go. To find out more about the charmed ones than most people want to know, see thecharmedones.com - its handy as TV episodes never have the name of the episode in the credits, unlike the DVD set menus.

I have watched a lot of Charmed episodes with her and I have to say that I slightly preferred the later seasons, e.g. season 7 with the rise of Avatars and their attempts to create heaven on Earth. However this season is really good as a starting point (naturally) and has the attraction of older sister Prue joining Piper and Phoebe, as they discover the Book of Shadows and become the 'power of three' (just in time as it happens). Ok over all 8 seasons a few stories repeat a bit (there must be around 160+ episodes) and some of the acting is a bit on the `Victoria Principal' level with girly pouts and eye rolling, but it is all great classy fun. In many ways the series has a non-violent feel with little blood and gore despite the high body count (although there is the mystery of how does a flaming vaporising demon fail to leave a scorch mark on the sofa). I'd ignore the 15 rating, they are more like a 12 max - our kid's PG rated 'Clubhouse detectives' film is far far scarier.

If your daughter (10+) hasn't seen any of Charmed before, I'd recommend it. Tell her it's just like `Buffy the Vampire Slayer' but with no Buffy and no vampires. Highly recommended for female offspring (and young males in touch with their orbing side). Also try them with classic 60's sitcom 'Bewitched' (seasons 1-5 with Dick York only) which is quite sympathetic with Charmed and a hit in our household. For under 10's there is the classic 'Worst Witch' series on DVD.