I guess witches really are the new vampires! Hot on the heals of ratings successes of FX’s ‘American Horror Story: Coven’, Lifetime’s ‘Witches of East End’ and The CW’s ‘The Originals’, CBS is looking to develop a new version of the long-running WB hit ‘Charmed’, which focused on a group of sisters who possessed magical powers and used them battle evil. The original series starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Shannen Doherty (later replaced by Rose McGowan).
The original series ran for eight season, from 1998-2006. The show has apparently maintained its success in syndication on TNT and is apparently the second most watched show on Netflix, leading the network to develop a new iteration, based on the Aaron Spelling-produced drama. ‘Party of Five’ co-creator Chris Keyser is writing the new pilot, along with partner Sydney Sidner and the show is said to be a “re-imagining” of the previous version.
When asked about the current wave of witchy dramas, Milano expressed “I think really it’s due to the success of ‘Charmed’ and the fact that it had so much success even after it was done, meaning that people looked for it, people searched it out and watched those episode over and over. The ‘Charmed’ fans are the greatest fans on the planet and the most loyal fans on the planet. I feel like networks are trying to replicate that.”
Combs wasn’t as adamant, but regarding the show’s legacy, she commented “I hope that it did. I’m not sure that it did, but I hope that we did and I’m glad that we left some sort of a legacy and I’m glad that people still remember it.”
AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ has proven to be the highest rated show for those under 50 and the cable network is developing a spin-off and ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ has proven so popular that it’s also been given a spin-off ‘Once Upon A Time In Wonderland’, so fantasy and mysticism have clearly carved out a stable niche on television. And ‘Charmed’ was and still is quite a success. A new version sounds like it could really succeed in today’s market.
What do you think? Would you watch a new version of ‘Charmed’?
