Ask Phoebe (Column)

"Ask Phoebe" is Phoebe Halliwell's daily column in the Bay Mirror newpaper.

Phoebe Halliwell started her column as an advice columnist for the Bay Mirror in 2002. Later that year, her billboards were put up downtown, which Piper said could "be seen from a passing 747". Her column was very popular and hugely successful, which was attributed to her extremely real and insightful advice. In 2004, when she became an empath, her powers helped her to 'read people really well' and this boosted newspaper sales and all the critics raved about her insightful advice. She also became somewhat of a celebrity with the San Francisco general public, once being the guest star of the KQSF radio annual Beach Bash and also being the guest host who interviewed a writer about her book on orgasms. (My Three Witches) > Elise considered Phoebe one of the Bay Mirror's more valuable assets for her advice column. When Phoebe decided to go on sabbatical in 2005, Elise hired a ghostwriter for her (Leslie St. Claire), saying that their sales would drop if they pulled her column.

On her advertising posters, we can read that "She has all the answers". In the series finale, it is mentioned that Phoebe continues advising her readers in the future but is more interested in helping them find love.

Parallel World
In the alternate world of It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World, Part 1, where Phoebe is evil, her advise column has a new advertising slogan "Read me...or else". In this world, Phoebe is greatly feared due to her ruthless nature and her advise would reflect this.

Taking a sabbatical
After eveything that she went through the previous year, with the betrayal of Gideon, Phoebe felt a little disconnected and she realized that she was recycling past advice to current readers. Even though Paige and Elise told her that it was ok and that every columist does it, Phoebe felt that she was letting down her readers. She decided to take some time off, until she felt better to return to work. Elise advised her to take a sabbatical and she later hired Leslie St. Claire as the ghost-writer.

Alternate Timeline
In The Bare Witch Project, the actions of the Charmed Ones resulted in Lady Godiva being killed prematurely before she completed her historic ride. This dramatically changed history and set women rights back hundreds of years. In this new timeline, Phoebe wasn't allowed to work, and her advice column actually belonged to Leslie St. Claire and was also renamed Ask Leslie with the tagline "He'll tell you how to handle your women."