Charmed CW Reboot Ordered to Pilot: Attempt Number 3

[Esmeralda]

You're absolutely right and I'm sure our protests is part of what's brought it this far. But it will have to be good on its own or it won't stick around for long.

Without Kern - maybe it actually will be good. And maybe it won't. I know right now it looks too dark and too scary for me - like early Charmed did. Lots of people liked that but as someone who gets nightmares from horror movies, I don't. If it weren't for Alyssa and Holly (who I love in "Who's the Boss?" and "Picket Fences"), I never would've kept watching long enough to actually get hooked on it. I don't know any of these actresses (only the guy playing Harry from "High Castle") so I won't give them that same leeway.

And thanks to it being called Charmed, it will constantly be compared to Classic Charmed, the way Charmed was always compared to Buffy. And like that comparison, unless Rebooted Charmed is *really* good (and I never watched Buffy for more than a couple episodes - I was in my 40's and didn't like teenaged angst or horror) the comparisons won't be good and one of the constant thing discussed on the Rebooted Charmed sites will be how much better Classic Charmed is the way one of the constant thing discussed on a lot of Charmed sites when it first came out was how much better Buffy was.

New fans may think otherwise, thinking Classic Charmed is dated, but the best part about all of this attention is that it's brought a lot of members back to the Cafe. Even if Rebooted Charmed only lasts a season, Classic Charmed and the Cafe will endure on.

[Ruth Marie]

I'm hoping it is good and no Kern means decent diversity. I also hope the writing staff stays consistent with the characters.

Just feel the reboot and Classic Charmed will be compared to death all due to sharing the same name.

I also wonder if it will also be compared to the Sabrina reboot? Obviously Netflix and CW are so different. But I do think comparisons will be made since both are starting in the same year.

[Esmeralda]

I just hope it's not diversity for diversity's sake only. That's worse than no diversity at all.

[SimplyAretha]

I keep reading about this Sabrina Reboot. It must be an American thing because I haven't seen or heard of it at all in Canada.

[Granny Charmed]

I'm surprised about that since the reboot like Charmed are both filming in Vancouver. I suppose dear once we get closer to Netflix setting a release date. It will be more known.

[Esmeralda]

Saw this at a different site and made me realize how often these words are interchanged:

The problem is that this isn't a reboot. Reboot means that they are redoing the original characters and world over from the start. They aren't doing that here.

A revival is where they pick up with the existing characters and actors years later. That's what I've seen some fans ask for. That's pretty much impossible with this cast.

A remake is pretty close to a reboot, but is often a little bit more faithful to the source material. This is what some people argue for by bringing Connie back.

A spin off is when an existing character from a show is spun off into their own show.

A backdoor pilot is a regular episode of a TV show that is intended as a pilot for a whole new show.

A "spin on" which is a tv term that doesn't really exist anymore is what this is. It's when shows exist in the same universe like this. Characters from the mothership might pop up from time to time and crossover for an episode or two.

Interesting that this truly is *not* a reboot and neither were the two previous incarnations. So this is truly a "spin on" since it doesn't sound like it's going to be very faithful to the source material - hard to do when Classic Charmed itself was so very inconsistent - you can't really call it a remake, and it's definitely not a reboot, which is what I think most fans wanted - but not for another ten years.

[Assassin Witch]

And they wonder why fans hate that they use the title "Charmed."

If they had retitled their own show, it woukd be "inspired by" and better received.

[purelywyatt]

Update: The cast had their table reading for episode 2 yesterday and have begun filming today.

[Granny Charmed]

Looks like some new spoilers will start coming out dears. I guess by the time the show starts they will be up to episode 5 or 6.

Hoping the proceeding episodes turn out to be better. But I doubt the political themes will die down.

[pheebs]

Official CBS Press Release for Pilot Episode/Series

“CHARMED” 

Sundays (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) on The CW 

“Stronger together.”

That’s what Marisol (guest star Valerie Cruz) tells her daughters, firebrand social justice warrior Melanie “Mel” Vera (Melonie Diaz), and her sister, fun-loving Maggie (Sarah Jeffery), about their family. Mel is a graduate student in the women’s studies department her mother heads at Hilltowne University; Maggie is a freshman considering sorority rush (to Mel’s amused dismay) and going “on” again with her on-again/off-again boyfriend,Brian (guest star Charlie Gillespie). But then, a shocking tragedy shatters their world and threatens their sibling bond: Marisol dies in a horrifying accident. Or was it?

Three months later, we find Mel unable to accept the official explanation of their mother’s death, while Maggie accuses her of being morbidly obsessed. And then, another huge shock shows up at their front door: they have an older sister – brilliant geneticist Macy (Madeleine Mantock), whom their mother kept a secret all these years! Macy is new in town and doesn’t know a soul except for Galvin (Ser’Darius Blain), the cute fellow scientist who’s been showing her around). Macy is eager to connect with Mel and Maggie, but Mel can’t handle another shock, and shuts her out.

With the emotions of all three sisters running high, each of the girls suddenly exhibit impossible new abilities: Mel can freeze time, Maggie starts hearing others’ thoughts and Macy has telekinetic powers. But don’t worry, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation…or so says Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans) – who as far as they know is the officious new chair of the women’s studies department – when he gathers the three sisters together to reveal they’re actually powerful witches, as was their mother. And he’s not really a professor, he’s their “Whitelighter,” a witch’s advisor and guide! Not only that, but Mel was right: their mother’s death was no accident – she was murdered by unknown dark forces. It’s a lot to take in, but ultimately the sisters accept their new destiny as The Charmed Ones…and their new duty to protect humankind from the demons that walk among us…one of whom killed their mother.

With the Power of Three, they are stronger together… even if they have no idea what they’re really up against.

Based on the original series, CHARMED is from CBS Television Studios in association with Propagate Content, with executive producers Jessica O’Toole (“Jane The Virgin”), Amy Rardin (“Jane The Virgin”), Jennie Snyder Urman (“Jane The Virgin”), Ben Silverman (“The Office”), Brad Silberling (“Jane The Virgin”), Howard Owens (“Jackie”), and Carter Covington (“Faking It”)

cbspressexpress.com/TCA/cw/pdf/cw_tca_Charmed.pdf

[Granny Charmed]

Seems to be dears that demons are the central focus in this one. I can't see any Warlocks appearing at all from the sounds of it. It appears this reboot has jumped straight to Season 3 and 4 and has some elements from that show Supernatural and Buffy from what has been suggested by other posters.

Looks like this show is trying to appeal to more than just new fans and fans of other popular genre shows.

I think the *only* thing they did well was killing their mother straight away and using her death as the first story-arc of season 1, with who killed her. Something I've seen a few of our members attempted in last years fanfic contest with the prompt using Grams, and having her apart of the story of if she were killed after telling them the truth. 

[Assassin Witch]

Macy is new in town and doesn’t know a soul except for Galvin (Ser’Darius Blain), the cute fellow scientist who’s been showing her around).




Wait, what. When was this changed from them already being in a relationship and him moving with her. Why the change?

[West]

I don't get the change either. They also made him a scientist too like Macy, must mean Science is going to play a big role in this show.

Here's what they originally had his character back when he was cast in February:

Blain will play Galvin, the ideal boyfriend — funny, mellow, in touch with his emotions, totally on board to follow his lady across the country for her dream job. An aspiring filmmaker, he has yet to catch the break he’s sure is just around the corner.

I have to admit, I actually liked that Macy had a boyfriend with her. It gave Macy a sense of someone from her life before moving, so she doesn't feel such an outsider, and allows us to get a glimpse into her character without her just being the new girl.

I also see that Brian, Maggie's boyfriend got pushed from a possible regular to a guest now. That is a good change, no way should all three sisters potential love interests be all apart of the main cast. I think he's the demon or Jeremy in this. I remember seeing him with black eyes in the trailer.
 
I have a feeling that Mel and her girlfriend are going to be written as the main couple in the series. Unless they don't work out well or lack chemistry, and it's Macy and Galvin. But with wanting to appeal to the LGBT community, and how much backlash CW has gotten in the past for breaking up and killing off LGBT couples, I feel they will keep them around for a long time. 

[Esmeralda]

An article from my friend who's also an occasional member of the Cafe for those who want to watch the reboot via Netflix:

When will Charmed be on Netflix?
by Alexandria Ingham

Charmed may have only debuted on The CW earlier this month, but fans already want to know when it will be on the streaming service. When exactly will Charmed be on Netflix? There is (sort of) a set date.

Charmed debuted on Oct. 14 with a strong start. Even the second episode didn’t see a huge drop in the ratings, with a 21.59% drop in the demo ratings and 15.68% in the overall ratings, according to TV Series Finale. Now fans and potential viewers want to know when it will be available for streaming. When will Charmed be on Netflix?
It’s impossible to give an exact date right now, but there is a sort of set date. Like all other CW shows, Charmed will debut on Netflix eight days after its season finale. This has been set in stone for a few years now and it doesn’t look like the two companies will change this agreement in the foreseeable future. It certainly won’t happen before the end of this season.

The question is whether Charmed will finish early or later in the season. Considering the ratings and the fact that the show currently sits third among all CW shows at the moment, it’s a no-brainer that this should get a full season pick-up. It already got five new episodes going into the season, taking it to 18 in total. It will likely get the extra four to take it to 22.

Even if it doesn’t, today’s TV considers between 16 and 22 episodes as a full season, so technically it does have a full-season order with the 18 episodes. And those 18 would take the show to around late March or late April 2019 considering the need for the winter break and likely a March break.

The CW will likely want to make sure the show hits the May sweeps, so we could see the Vera/Vaughn sisters make it to May 2019. That would mean the show would hit Netflix sometime late May or early June 2019 at the very latest.
I’ll bring you the exact date as soon as we have a season finale date.

SOURCE: hiddenremote.com/2018/10/24/charmed-netflix/

[summerreading]

Thanks for letting us know this, I'm sure many here who like Netflix want to know these details.

I'm not sure if this has any impact on Netflix or places outside of USA for many of the members outside of USA. Because I know CW shows Dynasty and Riverdale got these so-called Netflix exclusive deals outside of the USA. I chatted to someone who said they got to see the show Riverdale weekly on Netflix in Greece. Although that might be because it does not air on television.

Now, this isn't the case with the Charmed reboot, as far as I know, I don't remember Charmed getting any special Netflix exclusive deals for release outside of America. Looks like it will pop up on Netflix for every country once they finish screening the seasons around the world right?

But I'm the last person to know all the ins and outs of Netflix, just what some of my online friends say. Because I was surprised to hear my friend say they get to see CW shows like Riverdale on Netflix every week for Greek fans.

But yeah, a television series releases the entire season after a season finishes on Netflix. But that is how the USA does it, I'm not sure how the rest of the world does it.

By the way, Itunes now has Charmed the reboot for purchase on the app.

[Esmeralda]

Wasn't sure where to put this since there's no thread for "Jingle Hell" (and no one has complained about that fact...I find that very, *very* telling...), but figured this was as good of a spot as any. Saw this at another site and found it interesting...

Charmed EPs Break Down Fall Finale Twists, Including (Spoiler)'s Fate

By Andy Swift / December 10 2018, 1:21 PM PST

Charmed wrapped the first half of its freshman season on Sunday with a series of game-changing reveals, putting the sisters’ big secret — as well as one character’s very existence — in jeopardy. TVLine spoke with executive producers Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin about how the events of the midseason finale will affect the Charmed Ones moving forward, but first, a quick recap:

Maggie and Mel’s dad not showing up for Christmas proved to be the least of the girls’ concerns when Hunter attacked them at home, forcing Parker to intervene and reveal himself as a half-demon, which led to Maggie breaking up with him. The sisters received additional assistance from the Sarcana’s flock of reinforcement crows, who apparently also tried to save Marisol from her unknown killer — at least according to Jada. Hunter eventually returned for a rematch, but was sucked into Tartarus (aka hell’s prison) by a portal opened by Parker. Unfortunately, he managed to drag Harry into the abyss with him — and as if that wasn’t bad enough, a stupefied Galvin watched the whole thing go down.

Below, O’Toole and Rardin tackle some of our burning questions from the midseason finale, including how Galvin will react to Macy’s secret and whether we’re imagining sparks flying between Mel and Jada. (Spoiler alert: We’re not!)

TVLINE | I’m guessing Macy won’t be able to use her old “drunk and clumsy” excuse on Galvin this time.
O’TOOLE | [Laughs] That’s probably good, because there are only so many times you can do that. We’re going for a whole new dynamic with [Macy and Galvin], and I think it’s going to be really fun.
TVLINE | I have to imagine the next episode will pick up soon, if not immediately where we left off.
O’TOOLE | Relatively speaking, yes. We’ll have a lot of urgent things to pick up with. Harry is now stuck in hell’s prison, so everyone is really worried about his fate, as are we. We’ll get to see hell’s prison. We won’t leave people hanging with that stuff.

TVLINE | I was surprised that Maggie learned Parker’s secret so soon. Was there talk of drawing that out longer?
RARDIN | We talked a lot about when we were going to reveal that to Maggie. Jessica and I were in the Jane the Virgin writers’ room for several seasons, and one of Jennie Snyder Urman’s big mantras is that it’s more fun to not hold secrets. “What happens if people know everything?” So we took that to heart in this episode with Maggie finding out about Parker and Galvin finding out about magic. We just thought it would be great to blow a lot of our secrets in the midseason finale, and we’ll see where the chips fall when we come back.
O’TOOLE | And we have plenty more secrets coming!

TVLINE | I get that they’re like the new Phoebe and Cole, but I just want to reach through the TV and shake her. She can’t take him back.
O’TOOLE | We talked about that a lot. We grew up in a time where bad boys were such TV tropes. You could do anything, but as long as the guy felt a little bad about all the people he killed, we all still loved that character and forgave them. Young women these days have much higher standards, which is great. We’re trying to revisit that relationship in a way that doesn’t just let him off the hook because he’s brooding about the bad things he’s done.
RARDIN | Jessica and I had a long conversation after the Kavanaugh hearing. We realized that we had internalized a lot of this stuff from growing up when we did. We had internalized finding that sexy and attractive and we came in the room after the hearing and we were like, “We have to talk about Parker!” It was really eye opening for us to talk about this bad boy in a different way.
O’TOOLE | We all love to watch TV villains do terrible things, and I think Hunter is an example of that kind of fun character. But if someone’s going to be with Maggie, it’s a different set of expectations. The “Parggie” struggle will continue. That’s what we’ve been calling them.
RARDIN | I saw online that people are calling them “Parkerita,” which is more fun.
TVLINE | I was thinking “Marker.”
O’TOOLE | That’s good too!
TVLINE | You know it’s a good ‘ship when you have so many names for it.

TVLINE | I was intrigued to learn that the Sarcana tried to help Marisol, at least if Jada is to be trusted. How is that Marisol mystery going to unfold?
RARDIN | We’re going to explore the mystery of who killed Marisol for the rest of the season. We have a lot of twists and turns in that story. We have a lot of mysteries to reveal. We’re excited to explore it. And we’ll continue to talk about the Sarcana. Like, we don’t know if they’re good or bad or good people with misguided intentions. We’ll play with that for the rest of the season, along with the Elders.
O’TOOLE | We’ll talk about how those groups contrast — how they’re different, how they’re similar. That’s a dynamic we’ll explore for the whole season.
RARDIN | And we’ll learn more about Jada, including her backstory.

TVLINE | Speaking of Jada, am I imagining sparks between her and Mel?
RARDIN | I think there are sparks!
O’TOOLE | I watched the episode again last night, and I saw sparks. I don’t think you’re imagining things.
TVLINE | That’s encouraging, though I have to admit — I really miss Niko. Will she back?
RARDIN | We can’t say.
O’TOOLE | We’ll just say that it’s Charmed, so anything can happen.

What I found most interesting is first that they've appeared to back off from having all three Charmed Ones being halves with NuPrue and NuPhoebe having the same dad - one, who, like Victor, isn't around.  So they won't have a full witch, a half-demon and a half-whitelighter as I thought.  I'll admit I'm glad I was wrong on this one.2

It also appeared that originally they wanted NuCole's relationship with NuPhoebe to be similar to Phoebe and Cole's but thanks to Kavanaugh and #MeToo, they're going to turn him into the stalker Cole actually was without pedastalizing him as Classic Charmed did.  That thoroughly pleases me even as I wait for the Cole-fans to defend him.  That's hard to do when I've also been stalked and know what that's like.  I'm going to assume changing this important relationship will turn even more Classic Charmed fans off the rip-off. 

It also sounds like they plan on keeping Galvin around, someone whom, despite what this says, most fans don't like at all, just like they don't care for Parker (aka NuCole).

Also, I disagree with Jennie Snyder Urman’s big mantra about everybody knowing everything (especially when they've introduced so many mysteries without solving any of them). That might have worked on Jane the Virgin, but on a show like Charmed, I think it works a lot better if you keep the mystery going for a while and I really like it when the audience knows something that the characters don't.

That's what I noticed most about this - so first-half-season recap - so *very* little about the sisters and their sisterhood and so much more about their relationships with their significant other.  When I think what a first-half-season recap of Classic Charmed would've been like...yeah, mention of Andy, but that's about it....it just makes me sigh and be glad I haven't wasted a second watching this rip-off.

[Granny Charmed]

Thanks for sharing dear. I read it with my family, none of us have watched it at all. But my granddaughter pointed out, that the writers must have gone back on their idea for all three sisters to have different fathers. Which was mentioned in articles in the press months ago?

So they decided to have the witch/whitelighter be a non-Charmed One this time.

I've seen lots of people complain and dislike how fast paced and they are throwing too many Classic Charmed plots into the show in just nine episodes. Also, the sisters are not being developed, and the core focus on them isn't being done. Especially with what I hear every episode, they split up the sisters in turns of plots, and on some occasions not even have all three needed for a vanquish.

I know many do not like Galvin or Parker at all. But I do hear that Jada they don't mind as a possible love interest for Mel.

I still wonder why they got rid of Niko (their Andy) character after five episodes. Unless she returns, I wonder what behind the scenes made them want to abandon that character?

[summerreading]

Dec 15, 2018 19:06:18 GMT -5 Granny Charmed said:

Thanks for sharing dear. I read it with my family, none of us have watched it at all. But my granddaughter pointed out, that the writers must have gone back on their idea for all three sisters to have different fathers. Which was mentioned in articles in the press months ago?

So they decided to have the witch/whitelighter be a non-Charmed One this time.

I've seen lots of people complain and dislike how fast paced and they are throwing too many Classic Charmed plots into the show in just nine episodes. Also, the sisters are not being developed, and the core focus on them isn't being done. Especially with what I hear every episode, they split up the sisters in turns of plots, and on some occasions not even have all three needed for a vanquish.

I know many do not like Galvin or Parker at all. But I do hear that Jada they don't mind as a possible love interest for Mel.

I still wonder why they got rid of Niko (their Andy) character after five episodes. Unless she returns, I wonder what behind the scenes made them want to abandon that character?

That's interesting that they went back on all three having different fathers. 

I wonder why they removed their Andy in Niko. Maybe she will come back.

Actually won't be surprised this leds to a love triangle between Mel/Niko/Jada later on.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 15, 2018 19:06:18 GMT -5 Granny Charmed said:

Thanks for sharing dear. I read it with my family, none of us have watched it at all. But my granddaughter pointed out, that the writers must have gone back on their idea for all three sisters to have different fathers. Which was mentioned in articles in the press months ago?

So they decided to have the witch/whitelighter be a non-Charmed One this time.

I've seen lots of people complain and dislike how fast paced and they are throwing too many Classic Charmed plots into the show in just nine episodes. Also, the sisters are not being developed, and the core focus on them isn't being done. Especially with what I hear every episode, they split up the sisters in turns of plots, and on some occasions not even have all three needed for a vanquish.

I know many do not like Galvin or Parker at all. But I do hear that Jada they don't mind as a possible love interest for Mel.

I still wonder why they got rid of Niko (their Andy) character after five episodes. Unless she returns, I wonder what behind the scenes made them want to abandon that character?

I can't help but wonder if they decide they like their idea of making their half-whitelighter Mel's new love, so they had to get rid of her old love.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 15, 2018 19:10:19 GMT -5 summerreading said:

Dec 15, 2018 19:06:18 GMT -5 Granny Charmed said:

Thanks for sharing dear. I read it with my family, none of us have watched it at all. But my granddaughter pointed out, that the writers must have gone back on their idea for all three sisters to have different fathers. Which was mentioned in articles in the press months ago?

So they decided to have the witch/whitelighter be a non-Charmed One this time.

I've seen lots of people complain and dislike how fast paced and they are throwing too many Classic Charmed plots into the show in just nine episodes. Also, the sisters are not being developed, and the core focus on them isn't being done. Especially with what I hear every episode, they split up the sisters in turns of plots, and on some occasions not even have all three needed for a vanquish.

I know many do not like Galvin or Parker at all. But I do hear that Jada they don't mind as a possible love interest for Mel.

I still wonder why they got rid of Niko (their Andy) character after five episodes. Unless she returns, I wonder what behind the scenes made them want to abandon that character?

That's interesting that they went back on all three having different fathers. 

I wonder why they removed their Andy in Niko. Maybe she will come back.

Actually won't be surprised this leds to a love triangle between Mel/Niko/Jada later on.

Oh, hadn't considered that this could be setting up a triangle. Definitely a different one than the Leo/Piper/Dan one. Whether I like it or not will depend upon if Mel loves Niko enough to tell her the family secret, the way Piper horribly mistreated Dan by not telling him until he had to find out in the worst possible way - when I no longer loved all three Charmed Ones.