Unaired Pilot

1

The Charmed Ones are reunited.

Episode Information

Airdate

Unaired

Written by

Constance M. Burge

Directed by

Bruce Seth Green

Episode Guide
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None	Something Wicca This Way Comes

The Unaired Pilot is the 30 minute long pilot used to present Charmed to the networks. After being picked up by The WB and the recasting of Phoebe and Andy's parts, additional scenes were written and (re)shot.

Summary

Prue and Piper are living in their grandmother's house after her death, and Phoebe joins them after leaving New York destitute. Prue quits her job at the museum after her ex-fiancé steals her project, and Piper gets a job at a restaurant.

Led by their childhood spirit board, Phoebe finds the Book of Shadows in the attic and reads the incantation that gives the three sisters their powers.

Prue becomes reacquainted with her old childhood love, Andy. Just as they are learning that they are the Charmed Ones, they have to fight a warlock who has been killing witches all over San Francisco and stealing their powers... and the warlock turns out to be Piper's boyfriend Jeremy.

The three sisters get a cat from one of the murdered witches. Prue has the power to move objects, Piper to freeze time and Phoebe to see the future.

Gallery

Promotional Pictures

Screencaps

Music

The Doors - Riders on the Storm (the intro of this song has been cued into the background music at the beginning of the episode.)
The Doors - People Are Strange- Song before the end credits as Prue (Shannen) uses her power to close the front door

Differences from the Aired Pilot

The manor is called "Warren Manor" instead of "Halliwell Manor".
When Prue closes the door in this episode, she uses her hand and no wooshing noise sounded.
Piper's freezing powers sound is different.
Jeremy projects a snake-like version of himself in the attic while he is still downstairs. The snake has Jeremy's head and turns into a whirlwind when he hits them.
In this episode, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe hold onto a pole in the attic.
The unaired pilot features totally different music than Something Wicca This Way Comes. The music used in the unaired version is more dramatic than the music from the aired version.
This episode includes the Book of Shadows, however, the page that gives the girls their powers is less impressive and simple. This could be due to the fact that this episode was merely for selling to the WB and less effort was put into design. The spell itself had differences as well; the words "Gods" and "Work" were originally "Spells" and "Gift" in the unaired version.
The binding of the Book of Shadows seems different.
The effect used for Phoebe's first premonition is different to the 'zoom in' effect we see used in the aired version.
It seems that Phoebe's power was not intended to be triggered by touching objects, as we are not shown an example of this. Phoebe simply gets the premonitions when she needs them.
In the Unaired Pilot, it is Phoebe's idea to chant the The Power of Three Spell, however, Prue appears afraid to join in, which delays Jeremy's death. This is different to the Alyssa Milano-version, where, not only does Prue start casting the spell immediately, it's her idea. The writers presumably changed the scene as Prue was seen as the strong sister and leader of the group.
Prue uses her power of telekinesis with her mind, hands and eyes. In the aired pilot, Prue couldn't use her power with her hands, because she didn't learn to channel her power that way until "Out of Sight".
In the unaired pilot, Jeremy uses his powers on Prue, Piper and Phoebe from the hall. In the aired version, he has to go to the Attic to use them.
In the unaired pilot, Phoebe saw the two boys on skateboards in her premonition. In the aired pilot, the boys were using the rollerblades.

Notes

To read the full script of Unaired Pilot, go here.

This unaired pilot was shot in the actual Manor that is shown on the show. Only the attic was a set because the attic in the original house is locked off. After replacing Lori Rom, the show moved to the sound studio where the attic was set.
This unaired pilot is basically the same as the first episode Something Wicca This Way Comes, except for the characters Phoebe, Andy and Darryl; the first two were portrayed by different actors and the last didn't exist.
Lori Rom left Charmed because of personal reasons. Executive producer Aaron Spelling asked Alyssa Milano, whom he knew from Melrose Place, to replace Rom as "Phoebe", and she accepted.
The unaired pilot is 32 mins. and 30 seconds long as it was just to present Charmed. After hiring Alyssa Milano, they taped all scenes of Lori Rom again and added more to make it an hour long show.
In one of the promos of the unaired version of Something Wicca This Way Comes, the three sisters (Shannen, Holly and Lori) have the B.O.S the other way around (see the Triquetra in the book).
Brad Kern wanted to include the unaired pilot on the season 8 DVD as part of the extras. Although, it was never included on the season 8 extras, it was part of the Bonus CD of the DVD BoS Collection (region 1).

Quotes

Prue: Piper, the girl has no vision, no sense of the future.

Piper: I really think Phoebe's coming around.

Prue: Well, as long as she doesn't come around here I guess that's good news.

Phoebe: According to the Book of Shadows, one of our ancestors was a witch, named Melinda Warren.

Piper: And we have a cousin who's a drunk, an aunt who's manic, and a father who's invisible.

Piper: Besides Grams wasn't a witch, and neither was mom. So take that Nancy Drew.

Phoebe: We are the protectors of the innocent, we're known as the Charmed Ones!

Piper: Mh-hmmm.

Phoebe: And I beg to differ about Grams.

(Prue used her power to flick Jeremy to a wall and on the ground)

Jeremy: Cool parlor trick bitch. You were always the tough one, weren't you Prue. You didn't even cry at mommy's funeral.

Prue: And I won't be crying at yours!

(Prue uses her power again to flick Jeremy backwards to a wall)

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