25 Mistakes Even True Fans Missed In Charmed

TV fans were in for a treat when the CW decided to move forward with a rebooted version of Charmed. Now renewed for a second season, the series quickly logged a devoted following of the trio of witchy sisters. There are also still plenty of fans who look back on the eight season run of the original series fondly.

We think there’s plenty of love for both series to go around, but this time, we’re focusing on the original Charmed. Running for eight years, the show originally starred Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Alyssa Milano as three estranged sisters brought back together to discover their magical legacy. The Halliwells were in for a shock when big sister Prue (Doherty) left the series a few seasons in. They discovered long-lost little sister Paige (Rose McGowan), and the show went on.

When a show like Charmed, which relies on extensive costuming, visual effects, and a whole lot of time travel continuity, runs for as long as it does, there’s bound to be a few missteps. After all, a production team for a TV drama has an average of two weeks to complete an episode. Continuity errors, visible crew members, and blink-of-an-eye costume changes can all make for small mistakes over the course of a show.

Some fans enjoy going back to see what they missed the first time around. If you’re watching the show on a streaming site, we’ve got you covered with 25 Mistakes Even True Fans Missed In Charmed.

25 A Charmed House

The Halliwell sisters lived in a house that had been in the family for a long time. Both their mother and grandmother before them raised their families in the same house. Termed Halliwell Manor by the fans, it has a distinct design recognizable from far away. Not recognizable? The address.

Season one revealed the address of the manor to be 7571 Prescott Street. Later seasons of the show didn’t list the house at the same address. Instead, it became 1329 Prescott Street. Did the area get renumbered when fans weren’t looking?

It’s likely the change was made as a nod to the real house’s address: 1329 Carroll Avenue in Los Angeles, California.

24 Invisible Extra

In television, a script can’t rely on just the main cast to carry a story. In order to make scenes look more realistic, they need the help of extras. That could be people sitting in a restaurant, shopping in a store, or standing in the background at a police station.

In season one of Charmed, Prue’s high school boyfriend Andy was a police officer. That meant a lot of conversations in a police station. One such conversation in the episode “Love Hurts” involved him taking a phone call from Prue. As the camera angle changed, the extra behind him in the shot vanished – and vanished much too quickly to explain it as walking away.

23 A New Hairstyle

The season finale of Charmed’s first season saw a few changes in store. One of those was the loss of Andy. Following Andy’s memorial service, Prue sat outside the house, having a quiet moment. When Phoebe and Piper decided to go talk to her, another change happened – though not an intentional one.

While Phoebe and Piper talked inside the house, Phoebe’s hair was up in a twisted bun. By the time the sisters walked through the front door of the house to talk to Prue, Phoebe’s hair was down, butterfly clips along the sides. She somehow had time to completely change up her hairstyle in the few seconds it took to walk to the door.

22 Freezing Inconsistencies

Piper’s power throughout the series has to do with slowing or speeding up the movement of molecules. While the speeding up of molecular movement takes time to learn, the slowing down, or “freezing” is the power she has at the onset of becoming charmed.

It’s clear that the show didn’t often use special effects to digitally insert Piper into a frozen scene. Why? Because eagle eyed fans will notice that some of the people Piper freezes will still breathe, move their hands, or slightly shift between different shots.

Actors were likely asked to freeze in place for those scenes, making it difficult to get body placement exactly the same between cuts in filming.

21 Vanishing Necklaces

Sometimes decisions about a character’s appearance can change over the course of a series. Even within the same episode the creative team might change their mind about wardrobe or makeup. That appears to be the case in the season two episode “The Devil’s Music.”

The Charmed Ones like their jewelry. Most episodes involve all of the women wearing necklaces of some sort. In this particular episode, it appears there was a style change in order for both Piper and Prue. At different points in the episode, both sisters are seen wearing one necklace, and when the camera angle changes, a new necklace takes the old one’s place.

Maybe Piper froze us to make a quick change?

20 Visible Crew

While filming takes place, a lot of people are on set to make the picture viewers ultimately see. It’s not just the actors and a camera catching their movements. As a result, precautions have to be taken to make sure crew members don’t end up in the camera’s line of sight. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done.

Reflective surfaces can present a real problem. In the season two episode “P3 H2O,” viewers learned that first hand if they paid attention. The camera and boom operators can be seen reflected on the surface of Prue’s car as she drives up to the lake house.

19 Changing Lists

In some cases, an error can result from different departments not being on the same page. That happened in “Astral Monkey,” a season two episode.

In the episode, Piper printed a list of people from the computer. Fans were able to see the list of names while she stood at the computer. They also saw the list of names when she pulled the printed paper out of her pocket later in the episode. The two didn’t match up.

When a computer screen is shown in (most) TV and movie properties, what’s on the screen is put in with green screen. That means the visual effects and props departments just didn’t have the same information.

18 Visible Wires

When characters find themselves dragged across the screen by some unseen force, it’s not actually magic. Unfortunately, demons, ghosts, and monsters don’t actually control the effects. Instead, it often involves wires attached to actors or stunt performers.

In the season three episode “We All Scream For Ice Cream,” it was obviously a case of wire work because the audience could see them in action. At different points in the episode, the wires attached to Shannen Doherty, as well as other stunt performers, were visible on screen.

Luckily, most fans didn’t spot the wires, so the magic wasn’t ruined for anyone when the show aired.

17 Charmed Clothing

Clothing can be a surprising source of mistakes in the Charmed series. Sometimes, a character’s clothing will change too quickly for it to be possible. This is exactly what happened in “Blinded By The White Lighter.”

The season three episode featured a training sequence with a new white lighter. During the sequence, Piper in particular was featured. At some points in the sequence, Piper wore black pants, while in others, she wore an olive green color.

The simplest explanation is that Holly Marie Combs and her stunt double had two different pairs of slacks on and it wasn’t caught in time to fix. It’s also possible the two filmed the sequence at different times.

16 Laughing On Camera

Every so often, an actor gets the giggles. It might be the result of a particularly funny line, ridiculous situation for the character, or sleep deprivation on a late night shoot. Sometimes it can be so difficult for actors to get through a take that there might not be one of them with a straight face.

There are tricks to try to stop the laughter. One tried and true method? Biting the inside of your cheek. Shannen Doherty might not have known about that one. In the episode “Exit Strategy,” the camera caught her laughing when Prue and Piper were supposed to be talking.

15 Phoebe’s Many Shoes

Over the course of the series, Phoebe goes through a lot of clothes. It’s clear she enjoys shopping for pretty things. We don’t usually see a lot of wardrobe changes in a single episode. There is an exception when it comes to her shoes though.

In a few of Phoebe’s fight sequences throughout Charmed, her shoes change in the middle of them. Most often, it’s a case of loafers or boots worn during the actual fight sequence, but heels suddenly appearing on her feet after the fact.

We can’t blame her for the change; it’s definitely harder to fight in heels.

14 Obviously Added Lines

After scenes are shot, there can be issues with the volume level of the dialogue. That’s especially true for location shoots where outside noises can interfere with what’s picked up the microphones. As a result, ADR, or automatic dialogue replacement, has become commonplace. Bits of dialogue can be recorded by the actors and added during post-production.

Of course, dialogue can also be recorded and added due to a slight script change as well. We see that happen on Charmed in the season four episode “Charmed Again.” When Piper tells the others, “we’re about to find out,” her mouth never actually moves to say the words!

13 Time Traveling Movies

Primarily set in the early 2000s, Charmed spent a few magical episodes traveling to different time periods. The 1920s, 1960s, and 1970s were particular favorites among fans, but the show also went to a closer decade: the 1990s.

The series took us back to Paige’s teen years after she was introduced to the show. A trip to her bedroom revealed she was a 90s kid through and through. She had memorabilia from Bride of Chucky and Scream, giving a meta shout out to Rose McGowan’s previous roles in horror franchises. There was one problem. The episode occurred in 1994. Bride of Chucky didn’t release until 1998 while Scream hit theaters in 1996.

12 Misspelled Names

Unless a character is seen writing something down, most of the written pages that appear on screen are courtesy of the props department. They’re responsible for all of the books, letters, chalkboard scribbles, and more that appear. Sometimes, mistakes can be made.

In season eight, a book of demons gets a lot of use at Magic School. One of the names in the book – Hippolyta – doesn’t get it’s proper spelling. It’s likely the person creating the page for the volume wasn’t familiar with it.

Of course, actors can make mistakes as well. When signing Phoebe’s divorce papers, Alyssa Milano spelled the character’s name wrong. Milano, however, simply reversed two letters, something common for those with dyslexia.

11 Spontaneous Window Breaking

Visual and practical effects are necessary for a show like Charmed. The women at the center of the story can’t really be beat up, thrown through windows, and set on fire on a regular basis. Sometimes though, the effects could be used a little too early.

Piper, for example, was sent flying through a window in the season five episode “Siren Song.” While it made for a great shot, Piper going through the window didn’t actually break it. Instead, if fans pay careful attention, they can spot the window breaking right before Piper is thrown through it.

10 Charmed Names

Over the course of the series, quite a few character changes happened. Characters like Andy and Prue left the series, while characters like Paige and Billie became big parts of the show’s mythology. For some characters, they kept appearing on the show, but their names changed.

For example, the family tree in early episodes of the show listed the Charmed Ones’ grandfather as Jack. His name was later revealed to be Alan. Likewise, the family tree also had two different names for their father. He was listed as Victor Jones, but his name when he began guesting on the series was Victor Bennett.

9 How Many Times Was Grams Marrie

Grams was an extremely caring person. She ran a hippie commune for witches in the 60s, raised her granddaughters after the untimely passing of her own daughter, and fell in love very quickly.

That falling in love bit was demonstrated by her number of marriages. The trouble is, we don’t know exactly how many times she really married. Some characters say six. Others reference four times.

Of course, fans can easily hand wave this away with with a time travel explanation. The series had so much time travel going on that it’s possible the number of times Grams married does change throughout the show. That’s better than thinking the writers made another continuity mistake.

8 Strange Air Conditioning

It isn’t just the manor’s address that changed over the course of the series. Some of the amenities offered by the house changed as well.

The manor belonged to the family for four generations of Warren witches. It’s a very old house, so some modern amenities, like central heat and air conditioning, would have been added during renovations. We know the house has air conditioning because Cole once used the thermostat to flush out a demon.

Interestingly, by the time season five rolled around, the manor didn’t have it anymore! In “Oh My Goddess,” the sisters discussed getting it installed because they’d never had it. Could timeline changes be to blame?

7 The Year Of The Ox

Chinese astrology is not a huge part of the Charmed series, but every so often, Phoebe and Piper discussed different astrological points from different cultures. In the season six episode “Witchstock,” their discussion involves the year of the ox.

The two make a comment about Paige being born during the year of the ox, but that’s impossible. That would mean she was born in 1973, and would be the same age as Piper. Instead, her birth year is stated as 1977 in another episode, which would mean she was born in the year of the snake. Her tombstone in another episode says 1975, which is the year of the rabbit, so really, it’s anyone’s guess.

6 Changing Rooms

Halliwell Manor, as we’ve learned, is a magical house. It loses and gains an air conditioning system, changes its address, and even moves rooms around.

Early seasons reveal the floor plan for the bedrooms, restrooms, and closets on the second floor. While the bedrooms for the three sisters remain the same, everything else plays musical rooms throughout the show. A closet the audience sees the sisters pull things from becomes Wyatt’s bedroom. The bathroom we see Prue go in and out of later becomes a closet.

The simplest explanation is that one of the demon attacks were particularly destructive and the family decided some renovations were in order. That, however, was never explained on camera.

5 An Impossible Street Corner

Despite using the facade of a real house in Los Angeles, Charmed is set in a different California city. Most of the action of the series takes place in San Francisco.

As a result, writers and set designers tried to replicate real landmarks and streets in the city so fans could recognize reality in the fiction. Unfortunately, that didn’t always work out. One of the street corners mentioned in the series was Polk and Gough. A burning building sat on the corner in the season seven episode “Someone To Witch Over Me.” While those two streets exist in San Francisco, they don’t intersect. A building on their corner is impossible.

4 Charmed Reflections

As the series neared its end, the Halliwell sisters went into a sort of “witchiness protection program.” They allowed their enemies to believe they were destroyed, but really, they used magic to assume new identities.

Those new identities didn’t just come with new paperwork. A glamour created the appearance of them being wholly different people. Interestingly, this applied to their reflections as well. Any time the Charmed Ones were seen on camera, but the viewers were shown their assumed identities’ reflections for reference, they weren’t just different faces. Their gestures, body positions, and hairstyles never matched up either!

Purposeful or a mistake in editing? We’ll let you be the judge.

3 Mysterious Subways

With the series set in San Francisco, green screen got a lot of use for iconic locations. For example, the series had a few story arcs that used the Golden Gate Bridge for specific moments. Sometimes though, it seemed some of the set dressers forgot a few key things about San Francisco.

In the season eight episode “Mr. And Mrs. Witch,” a person walked by the entrance to a subway station. Not out of place for a city like New York or Toronto, it didn’t work for San Francisco. The city in question doesn’t actually have subways!

2 Timeline Confusion

The Charmed Ones are no strangers to confusing timelines. There’s been enough magic involving time travel that not much phases the sisters by the time they reach season eight. Sometimes, they don’t even notice that they must have time traveled for an episode to take place.

In the episode “Angry Zen,” the date is actually revealed during the plot. It’s set on January 28. That, however, is impossible. Why? The previous episode actually happened on Wyatt’s birthday, which was February 2. Either someone turned back time or one of those dates has to be wrong.

1 Phoebe Changes Her Story

Piper and Leo had the longest running love story in the show. Second to the pairing was Piper’s younger sister Phoebe and the human-demon hybrid Cole. Phoebe and Cole had a contentious relationship that began when she met him at a crime scene.

In the season eight episode “Generation Hex,” that’s not where she told people she met him. Instead, she claimed she actually met him at school. Fans in the know will realize that the story changed for a behind-the-scenes reason. Where Phoebe actually met Cole involved footage of Prue, which couldn’t be used in flashback sequences since Shannen Doherty was no longer with the show.

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Did you catch all of these Charmed mistakes? Are there more we should have included on the list? Let us know in the comments.