Brad Kern's Thoughts on Season Eight
Interview by Andrea Haag

Brad Kern is an accomplished writer and producer, he brings more than 10 years of dramatic television experience to Charmed. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., Kern attended California State University at Northridge, initially majoring in marketing and economics before switching to film and television. He attended classes at UCLA, USC and AFI before his student feature film won more than 20 international film festivals and gained industry attention. Kern began writing professionally on the series Remington Steele, where he worked his way up to supervising producer of its final season. He has also written for the critically acclaimed Hill Street Blues, served as supervising producer on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr, and served as co-executive producer on Lois & Clark-The New Adventures of Superman. More recently, Kern served as executive producer of the award-winning police drama New York Undercover.

  In several interviews or statements Brad released to the media regarding Charmed's future after this season, he stated, that he believes Charmed's eighth season will most likely be its last, although he isn't ruling out a Charmed spin-off.

"I'm going to embark on this season as though it will be the last, so that I can do what I said I'd wanted to do, which was to have several episodes leading up to the ultimate finale."

This statement perked my curiosity. I wanted to know what Brad, and the writers would do differently this season as compared to the other seasons. So, as any curious writer would do, I went directly to the source.  I ask Brad some tuff questions, possibly getting clues to what our favorite witches will do in upcoming episodes. I know many fans are concerned, as well as upset with what this new season will bring, or won't bring for them. Maybe Brad will clear up some misconceptions and give us a few insights.

AH: What insights can you give Charmed fans into the upcoming new season? Such as new plot twists, new characters, or character lifestyle changes.

BK: We will be focusing more on personal stories and relationships this season and less on demons.  There are three reasons for this.  First and foremost, it was a mandate from the network that we pull back on the mythology, especially the elements that might serialize the show, and spend more time on the sisters and the "fun."  That's not to say there won't be tons of magic in each and every episode, because there will be.  But the show will focus less on the demons and supernatural this year.  Secondly, because of tremendous budget cutbacks that have been forced upon us, we simply can't afford as many visual or make-up effects this season.  Thirdly, from a story point of view, I think that after 156 episodes, if there's one area that we haven't fully mined yet, it's the sisters' personal lives. 
 
What many fans don't understand is that the network tells us what they want, we don't tell them.  They're the buyer -- they pay the bills.  And when the buyer wants the show to adjust to fit their needs better, we have to do the best we can to try and give them what they want.  In the case of Season 8, they would not have picked the show up had we not agreed to shift the focus of the show.  It's as simple as that.  That said, though, I can honestly say that, based upon the first 6 stories we've broken so far, I like the direction.  It's fun and fresh and, though we might not be focusing as much on the supernatural elements in the beginning (as I know many fans like), I can promise that we will be doing so in the second half of the season.  In fact, I can assure everyone that the "Big Bad" this year will be a much bigger obstacle for the sisters -- and Billie -- to overcome than even The Source was.  And more surprising, too.

AH: Will you be writing more stories for this season?

BK: Yes, I wrote the first two episodes.  I'll also write episode 11 as well as episode 22, the Season (Series?) Finale.

AH: I had heard a rumor that you have something written or at least in mind for the series finale already. Is this true?

BK: Yes, I absolutely have a plan for the Series Finale, but I won't be building up to it until I'm absolutely sure that this will, in fact, be the last season.

AH: The finale was a wonderful ending to the series, how will you convince those fans who have given up on Charmed that it is still worth watching?

BK:  We wouldn't have agreed to doing the show another year if we didn't think we could give the fans -- especially the loyal fans -- a fresh and entertaining season.  Also, digging out of the Season Finale "hole" has created fresh opportunities and direction, as has the the addition of Kaylee. Plus, if this does turn out to be the last season, how can the fans not want to see that?

AH: The biggest threat to the Charmed Ones last season was Zankou, will we be seeing another big evil demon or will their be multiple demons threats in season eight?

BK:  Answered above.
 
AH: If I'm not mistaken, you are producing a new show about mermaids for this upcoming season. Will this tap heavily into your time with Charmed?

BK:  I wrote and produced a pilot episode, but the network didn't pick it up for series, which means I'll be able to focus all of my energies onto Charmed this season.

Thank You Brad! 

Brad wanted to pass on his thanks all the loyal Charmed fans for their support and dedication in bringing about another season of Charmed.

Also, Brad wanted to let fans know that next January, Charmed will become the longest running female lead series in the history of television. "It's something we all can be very proud of."

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