charmed

The CW has confirmed that they have ordered a revival of one of their signature shows, ‘Charmed’ which ran from 1998-2006 (when the network was still called The WB), but with a time-bending twist.  Rather than setting the show in the present, the new incarnation will be set in 1976, a move that may or may not be inspired by Netflix’s 80s-set smash ‘Stranger Things’. Another difference is that this new ‘Charmed’ will not involve sisters but around three unrelated girls named Annie, Tina, and Paige (unfortunately it won’t be the same Paige that was in the original series as her character would not have been born yet in the proposed timeline).

The original ‘Charmed’ followed the adventures of the three Halliwell sisters, Phoebe (played by Alyssa Milano), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Prue (Shannon Daugherty).  After the third season, Daughtery was replaced by Rose McGowan as their long lost half-sister Paige Matthews.  All four women, who lived in San Francisco discovered that they were part of a long line of witches, granting them supernatural powers, which they used to fight evil and aid those in need.  Toward the end of the series, the sisters were joined by a pre-‘Big Bang Theory’ Kaley Cuoco as Billie Jerkins an unrelated witch who served as an apprentice of sorts to Paige.

The original series was created by Constance M. Burge and Aaron Spelling.  The new version will be written by Jessica O’Toole, Amy Rardin and Jennie Snyder, who are already CW regulars having worked on one of the network’s most lauded shows ‘Jane the Virgin’.

Since the pilot script hasn’t been written yet, at this point, that is all that is known, including whether or not this is a reboot or a prequel to the previous series.  No showrunners, directors or producers have been announced and obviously we’re a long way from any casting.  And keep in mind, this is just a pilot, which may or may not be picked up as a series.

And with the shift in time setting, it’s unlikely that any of the stars of the original will appear, but two of them, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano have already chimed in with a note of good will:

CBS has been working to revive ‘Charmed’ since 2013.  The CW is half owned by CBS so maybe they felt the show was a better fit for its subsidiary network, as they did with ‘Supergirl’ which aired its first season on CBS but has found a new home on The CW, where it has seamlessly slipped in with its other superhero shows.

What do you think?  Are you excited to see a new version of ‘Charmed’?  What do you think of the 1976 setting?  Should the new show connect to the old one or be its own thing?

Source: Entertainment Weekly