Entertainment
How 1990s Supernatural Series Was Doomed By A Too Sexy Outfit
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, because Charmed was a massive hit from the moment it debuted on The WB in 1998. Instantly becoming the network’s most-watched series, the adventures of The Charmed Ones caught on among women in particular, averaging an impressive 5 million viewers every week. At the peak of the show’s success, a producer decided to put Alyssa Milano in a mermaid outfit.
A Record Setting Episode But At What Cost
There’s no denying the cast of Charmed was incredibly attractive. Shannon Doherty, Holly Marie-Combs, Alyssa Milano, and Rose McGowan would be stunning in potato sacks. Brian Krause turned Leo’s penchant for sweaters into a thousand fanfics praising dadcore, and Julian McMahon was so stunning it was hard for fans to ever hate the demonic Cole. Despite the attractive cast (it is Hollywood after all, and “Hollywood Ugly” is the same as “Hottest Person In Your Town”), the show was focused on sisterhood, and their outfits tended to align with 90s fashion trends rather than becoming the focal point of each episode. The mermaid changed that.
“A Witch’s Tail: Part 1” was the Charmed Season 5 debut, airing at 8:00 PM on Sunday for the first time. Promos and previews of Alyssa Milano’s mermaid outfit resulted in the episode becoming The WB’s most successful Sunday night show in history. The episode itself, about a mermaid who must get her boyfriend to declare his love or be cursed by a sea hag, is one of the weakest in the show’s run. Milano’s outfit caught the attention of millions of new viewers, but longtime fans soon caught on to a disturbing trend as subsequent episodes became “stick Alyssa in a new out” and a whole lot less “The Power of Three.”
It didn’t take long for fans of the series to realize that something was wrong. Two episodes later, Phoebe put on a “Cinderella” dress that looked more like her future belly dancer outfit than a princess gown, and she ended up performing a lap dance. Sex sells, but there’s a difference between what men and women find sexy. Look at Hugh Jackman in magazines for men and women to see a great example of this, and Charmed’s audience was mostly women. They tuned out.
Charmed Became A Totally Different Show
Holly Marie-Combs, Alyssa Milano, and Rose McGowan have all expressed frustration over the years about Charmed’s new direction after Season 4. Notably, when the final season rolls around, and the future star of The Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco, is brought in, she’s the one stuck in all the fan service costumes instead of the three leads. By then, it was too late, and while most shows would be grateful to reach eight seasons, Charmed limped to the end as a shadow of the fun, lighthearted family-first show it once was.
The blame for the sudden shift can be traced to Brad Kern, Charmed’s showrunner, who helped start it all. Reports of his bad behavior on set eventually leaked out, and in 2017 Kern was sued for sexual harassment and discrimination three times. It’s not a surprise that the show’s focus became Milano’s abs.
Charmed’s first four seasons remain guilty pleasures for its legion of fans. It’s a campy and cheesy series, but it also, at the beginning, wore its heart on its sleeve. Today, the show remains a cultural touchstone and an instant streaming hit no matter the service it’s on, but do yourself a favor, and once the mermaid arrives, turn it off.
Entertainment
Access all your AI tools in one spot with this Chrome extension, now $75 for life
TL;DR: See answers from multiple AI models in one convenient spot thanks to ChatPlayground AI, now $74.97 for a lifetime subscription (reg. $619) through May 10.
Credit: ChatPlayground AI
Every AI model has its strengths and weaknesses. ChatPlayground AI lets you see results from all the major models side by side — from ChatGPT and DeepSeek to Llama and Perplexity.
You can save yourself time and get the best possible results all at once with a lifetime subscription to this handy tool — on sale now for just $74.97 through May 10.
Mashable Deals
Hopping between different AI models really slows down your workflow. If you’d like to streamline how you use these tools, ChatPlayground AI saves you time, letting you see responses from over 20 AI models in a convenient spot.
This Chrome extension lets you enter prompts and see answers from Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Llama, and more in one window. Easily see the best answer for your prompt, while avoiding paying all the different subscription fees.
Whether you need help generating code or images, or you just need to ask a simple question, ChatPlayground AI provides an answer for everything. It can even help you build better prompts with prompt engineering tools.
Image and PDF chat features let you get context-aware answers even faster, as they save you from typing things out. You can also reference past conversations when you need to — ChatPlayground AI saves them all.
Your Unlimited Plan includes unlimited monthly messages, priority customer service, and priority access to any new features and future models.
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Topics
Artificial Intelligence
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.
Mashable Deals
Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.
Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.
You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.
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Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.
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Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
Mashable Trend Report
Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
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