Krista Vernoff, a writer on the original Charmed series, reveals why she left the show after its mermaid episode. The popular supernatural drama was a defining show of the late '90s and early 2000s. Airing on The WB, it served as a precursor to The CW's many fantasy series, including The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural. Charmed also led to a reboot show of the same name, which premiered in 2018. Like the original, it focuses on a group of sisters and their magical powers. The 1998 show starred Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, and Shannen Doherty for the first three seasons, with Rose McGowan joining the group following Doherty's departure.

Charmed aired a number of highly discussed episodes throughout its eight season run, including the two-part season 5 premiere titled "A Witch's Tail." Jaime Pressly guest stars as a mermaid named Mylie who was turned into a human. She seeks help after making a deal with a Sea Hag, but things take a turn when Phoebe (Milano) becomes a mermaid. Though a relatively brief storyline on the show, many took notice of the episode due to Milano's mermaid wardrobe. It turns out "A Witch's Tale" impacted Charmed in another way as well: it contributed to one writer's exit from the show.

Related: Charmed: Every Power Each Halliwell Sister Has

In a new THR profile, Vernoff discusses her time in the industry thus far, including her stint on Charmed. She worked on the show for three seasons but left before a fourth, despite the studio offering to double her salary. Vernoff explains Charmed's mermaid episode played a role in her decision:

I signed on because Charmed was a girl-power show, and about halfway through there was an episode where Alyssa Milano comes out in mermaid pasties and there was a huge spike in male viewership, and then every episode after, the question would come from the network, 'How are we getting the girls naked this week?' And they were throwing money at me, and the number keeps going up, and there's all this pressure, and all I can think is, 'I'm creating something that's now bad for the world, and I've had enough bad for the world in my life.'

Additionally, after the profile was published, Vernoff took to Twitter to clarify her initial comments:

Vernoff's departure from Charmed wound up being a smart career move; she's currently the showrunner of both Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 and has worked on another hit series in Shameless. Based on Vernoff's explanation, it sounds like she made the right choice on a personal level as well. Some Charmed viewers were uncomfortable with the mermaid episode when it aired, and Vernoff's claim about the network's response to it doesn't do it any favors. It seems like an all too familiar case of a show getting too eager to appeal to a new audience and leaving the one that made it popular behind.

Though TV and movies still have a long way to go with curbing the oversexualization of women, steps have been taken since the "A Witch's Tail" episode of Charmed aired nearly 20 years ago. In fact, Vernoff's work has been central to that. Grey's Anatomy in particular is a very female-led show, both onscreen and behind-the-scenes. This means there are more voices to point out potentially problematic wardrobe and storyline choices, especially for female characters. Hopefully, even more progress is made on that front in the coming years.

More: Charmed: How Old The Halliwell Sisters Are At The Beginning & End

Source: THR, Krista Vernoff