MOTHER OF ALL WITCHES
Creating Charmed was a snap of the fingers for producer Connie Burge.
 THOUGH SHE MAY CURRENTLY BE SERVING AS A CREATIVE CONSULTANT ON DAVID E. KELLEY'S BOSTON PUBLIC, each week on the WB, Connie Burge is given her due as the creator of one of the network's most durable shows: Charmed.
"At the time [in 1998], Buffy had been a huge success, and [the WB] was looking for a companion piece that would air after it," recalls Burge. "They thought the area of witches might be something fun. I pitched the idea of three sisters who had come from a long line of Wiccan women. I actually have two older sisters, so it was very easy for me to create the characters because they were in my life."
Needless to say, the original Halliwell sisters — Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) — had their roots in in aspects of Burge's own sisters. "The oldest sibling is always very focused and driven and successful. The middle sibling tends to be the negotiator and middleman and, because they're always in the middle, tends to be the humorous one. Then the youngest is always in trouble or doing something that is in absolute conflict with the older siblings. Then their powers, of course, came out of whatever their psychological flaws would be. With Prue, it felt like she would have the power that would be mind-related, hence the power of telekinesis. The middle sister always has trouble with time, because she's always people-pleasing simply by her nature, so she's always behind time. It felt like that would be a good power for her: the ability to freeze time. Because the younger sibling was viewed as having no vision of the future, because they were always in the moment, I thought it would be nice to give her the power of premonition. I just thought there was something so ironic — the ability to see everyone else's future but their own."
NEW WITCH
ON THE BLOCK
Rose McGowan is the Charmed trio's most outspoken and brazen beauty.
THE WITCH IN
THE MIDDLE
Sleek and sexy Alyssa Milano is a temptress on a mission.
The concept of time — or, more accurately, the speed of its passage — is something that Alyssa Milano has been spending a bit more time thinking about lately. Actually, it's pretty understandable when you consider that Charmed, the WB series in which she plays witch Phoebe Halliwell, is in the midst of its fifth season, with no sign that the show's popularity is waning.
"The time goes by so fast that it's frightening," she offers wistfully. "Television is such a weird barometer of time, because so much of the season is about time: the beginning of the season, the end of the season. The years are definitely documented more."
Documenting the years of her life is nothing new to the actress, who has spent most of her 30 years in front of the camera. Born on December 19, 1972, Milano made her first impression in Hollywood at the age of 12 during the 1984 TV season as Tony Danza's daughter in Who's the Boss? The show aired on ABC until 1992, after which she segued into more risque roles in films such as Poison Ivy II and Embrace of the Vampire, all in an effort to prove that she wasn't a kid anymore. Apparently, it was all the proof that Hollywood needed, as shortly thereafter she found herself co-starring in Aaron Spelling's Melrose Place, which ultimately led to her current role.
When the series debuted in 1998, Phoebe was the youngest of the Halliwell sisters, all of whom discovered that by combining their magic abilities they could fulfill their destiny and save innocents by vanquishing demons and warlocks. Two years ago, however, she found herself "promoted" to middle sister status when Shannen Doherty (who played oldest sister Prue) was written out of the show. Rose McGowan's arrival as the new (and previously unknown) little sister, Paige, shook up the pecking order some more.
For Milano, it has all served to keep the notion of episodic television fresh and creatively fulfilling.
 "When the show began," continues Milano, "Phoebe was the young, lost soul — sort of the slacker who had no purpose in life. Witchcraft, or becoming a witch, gave her purpose, and it allowed her to be a part of the family again, because she was so much the black sheep. Over the years, she's just grown up and figured out what she's wanted to do with her life beyond the witchcraft. Hey, she finally gets a car this year, which is a very big deal. It's huge. Phoebe went until 28 before she got a car. And then there's the idea of switching from the youngest child to the middle child now that Paige is in the picture."
Milano grows silent for a moment. She considers the changes in the character and herself from the beginning and begins to smile. "This is actually one of the only characters that I've played on a series that has grown with me," she offers. "I think when you do a series, a lot of how you portray a character comes from you, because it's the only way to keep your sanity, really. You can't not bring you to your character, because you're doing it for nine months out of the year. It would be totally schizophrenic if you didn't. So Phoebe and I are similar in that we deal with everything in a comedic way and find the humor and the beauty out of situations. That's something I think I wound up putting in during the first year. Back then, her character was so brooding and filled with young angst."
And the pursuit of that dream was made considerably easier by her family, which encouraged her even more by moving from New York to California when she was hired for Who's the Boss? "That's a true story," she reflects. "Actually, my mom and my brother didn't move out until the second season. We were sort of bicoastal the first year. My dad came out here with me at first. It's amazing to think about now, but I knew it was an amazing thing back then."
Despite the fact that Milano has had a star-studded love life that included Double Dragon co-star Scott Wolf (to whom she was engaged) and 'NSync's Justin Timberlake, she seems to have absolutely no desire to settle down and have kids, despite having turned 30.
"My clock has been ticking forever," she laughs, "but I'm definitely not ready. There's so much I want to do first, even beyond acting. I want to pursue my photography. I want to at least get my foot into becoming a doctor of Chinese medicine. I want to get at least a little bit of that going before I have kids. I want to travel. I think I sort of suffer from the Peter Pan complex, because my childhood was very much as an adult, so I'm still very youthful, and the spontaneity aspect of being able to not have any ties and fly wherever I want to fly is appealing. It's a lot harder to do with kids. I'm just enjoying the freedom. You know, people ask me if fame is a hindrance to that freedom, but I don't think there's anything major enough to call a hindrance. Maybe it's because it's all I've ever known, really. I find the benefits to totally outweigh the negative. People who are resentful of their fans — that's just ridiculous to me."
One point made pretty clear from the way she speaks is that Milano is genuinely grateful for what she has, yet she somehow manages to keep her fame and clout in Hollywood very much in perspective.
"The best part of my life?" she muses. "I think that I'm blessed with the family that I have. I can say all of the things that go on in my life are such blessings, but I think if I didn't have my family supporting me I wouldn't have those blessings, so it always comes back to them — all the goodness that happens."
MARKED WOMAN
Holly Marie Combs casts a spell on viewers — and finally reveals her secret tattoos.
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