{Season 1} SPOILERS AHEAD! Filming Info, Previews

[summerreading]

I'm not surprised, the reboot has four supporting characters already. Classic Charmed only had Andy and Darryl, with Leo being the mystery character and guest star spread out across 7 episodes.

And they already have their supporting character tell one of the sisters about a mysterious death that leads one sister to tell the others about them a demon. If this was Classic Charmed, Phoebe would be the one to learn this with a premonition. Unless Maggie powers she hears someone acting shady to learn who they need to vanquish.

OMG! they already are not making it about the sisters, and the supporting cast have already taken over.

[Esmeralda]

And this is all about Woman Power??? Give me a freakin' break! No doubt I'm just going to "watch" this one via the Net and not waste a second watching it, just like I do with Supergirl. Just don't like The CW's idea of Woman Power - it's all too male-centric for me. No, I don't like Classic Charmed's jiggle-TV and hate Piper during the infamous triangle (hate how she treats both guys), but for 'Something Wicca This Way Comes'-'Sleuthing with the Enemy' (and some other exceptions), I'll stick with Classic Charmed.

And that's why I'm going to continue to watch Charmed (the real, classic Charmed, not the rip-off) on each episode's 20th anniversary.

[CharmedFaith]

The New Charmed Ones react to Shannens support of the show.
www.etonline.com/media/videos/shannen-doherty-surprises-new-charmed-cast-with-her-blessing-on-the-reboot-exclusive

While it is really quick, it is cute to see their reactions.

[Esmeralda]

Oct 13, 2018 8:30:09 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

And this is all about Woman Power??? Give me a freakin' break! No doubt I'm just going to "watch" this one via the Net and not waste a second watching it, just like I do with Supergirl. Just don't like The CW's idea of Woman Power - it's all too male-centric for me. No, I don't like Classic Charmed's jiggle-TV and hate Piper during the infamous triangle (hate how she treats both guys), but for 'Something Wicca This Way Comes'-'Sleuthing with the Enemy' (and some other exceptions), I'll stick with Classic Charmed.

And that's why I'm going to continue to watch Charmed (the real, classic Charmed, not the rip-off) on each episode's 20th anniversary.

Thinking about this, I also wonder if this was supposed to be a Latina Charmed, why is the main male white? If he had been a woman of color, it would make much more sense - unless he's the father of one of the girls, but again, then wouldn't you think *he'd* be a man of color? Unless one of the girls is half-white, but that again seems to go against what was supposed to make this show so special as compared to Classic Charmed - stars of color.

[summerreading]

I'm surprised that apart from the three stars the only other woman is the love interest.

Also surprised they don't have any villains they face yet who are female. Then again. I'm sure they are using men and being poltical for them to be the bad guys. The first one is based all on MeToo.

I know from what I heard some of the stars are not even Latina in Real Life. Just playing it.

But they all are supposed to have different fathers. All three. So I have a hunch that was done to kick more diversity boxes.

But how they'll do that with their mother giving birth to kids from three different men. Makes me think one of the births was the result of being raped. I doubt she was heavily involved with all three.

[pheebs]

Oct 13, 2018 20:09:14 GMT -5 summerreading said:

I'm surprised that apart from the three stars the only other woman is the love interest.

Also surprised they don't have any villains they face yet who are female. Then again. I'm sure they are using men and being political for them to be the bad guys. The first one is based all on MeToo.

I know from what I heard some of the stars are not even Latina in Real Life. Just playing it.

But they all are supposed to have different fathers. All three. So I have a hunch that was done to kick more diversity boxes.

But how they'll do that with their mother giving birth to kids from three different men. Makes me think one of the births was the result of being raped. I doubt she was heavily involved with all three.

That is most likely why they made all three sisters have different fathers, but it might tie in with different cultures of witches these fathers could possibly be from, that is what I keep reading, they want to tackle more than just Salem Witches, and want to go deeper into that. 

It does seem like it is the sisters navigating and dealing with all the men around them.

[pheebs]

The CW's Charmed Reboot Is So Political, It Forgot to Be Fun

time.com/5423363/charmed-reboot-review/

There’s nothing new about the politicization of witches. They’ve been a barometer for American society’s attitudes toward women since, well, 17th-century Salem. Hundreds of years later, the archetype evolved into a pop-cultural referendum on feminism in particular. While the 1960s brought the adorable domestic subversions of Samantha Stephens on Bewitched, the liberated Witches of Eastwick coincided with a transition from the early-’80s porn wars to the sex-positive feminism that reigned in the ’90s. Witches dominated the latter decade, from the teen outcasts of The Craft to ABC’s plucky Sabrina Spellman to Hocus Pocus’ campy coven. In 1998, Aaron Spelling got in on the trend with Charmed. Three sisters who owned a nightclub and wore going-out tops to fight demons, the drama’s Charmed Ones were yet another sign of the times.


Twenty years later, witches are back (see: The Witch, American Horror Story: Coven, The Love Witch, Netflix’s upcoming Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and so is Charmed. Premiering Oct. 14 on the CW, the reboot is very obviously courting the Gen Z feminist zeitgeist. Following the death of their women’s studies professor mother, Marisol (Valerie Cruz), three half-sisters—all young women of color—learn that she was a witch. And it turns out they’re witches, too; Marisol had just temporarily bound their powers so that they could grow up like garden-variety humans. But with Mom out of the picture, the trio’s abilities are suddenly activated.


While the original sisters had aspirational jobs in creative industries, the lives of their 2018 counterparts revolve around the university where Marisol taught. The baby of the family, Maggie (Sarah Jeffery), is a wide-eyed freshman who worries that her witch commitments will prove incompatible with sorority life. A grad student with a detective girlfriend (Ellen Tamaki), middle child Mel (Melonie Diaz) embraces both the “angry feminist” label and the matriarchal tradition that witchcraft represents. Only after their mother’s death do Mel and Maggie learn that they have an older half-sister, Macy (Madeleine Mantock), a molecular geneticist who works in the college’s labs and harbors a scientist’s skepticism about the supernatural. When they team up, the triad’s powers are unparalleled.


Schooling them in the ways of Wicca is Rupert (Harry Greenwood), a bookish British guardian angel in the vein of Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He has just taken over for Marisol as chair of the women’s studies department, and his appointment raises the hackles of Mel, who is furious to see a “cis male” given the position. Her first encounter with Rupert reveals just how relentlessly woke the new Charmed wants to be: His claim to legitimacy, you see, is that he’s been retweeted by Roxane Gay. If you don’t follow the feminist author on Twitter, take your confusion as a hint that you’re not part of the show’s target audience.


Though the reboot looks like it will stick close to the original’s monster-of-the-week format, its overarching themes are ripped from 2018’s front-page headlines. And that would have been fine if the driving forces behind it, executive producers Jessica O’Toole, Amy Rardin, and Jennie Snyder Urman, trusted their young viewers enough to make the political commentary less thuddingly obvious. Centered around a creepy professor who is reinstated after a skewed sexual misconduct investigation, the pilot finds Mel posting “Time’s Up” flyers with his face on them around campus. You can guess who the demons are based on who seems baffled by the idea of continuous consent. And in the most ham-fisted moment of the episode, Rupert not only reads a prophecy detailing a cataclysmic moment “when the weakest of men reaches ill-gotten glory” but provides an unnecessary translation: “Suffice to say it’s your current president.”


The intentions behind Charmed were clearly pure. Lively performances from Diaz and Jeffery make the pilot significantly more fun than it could have been. Yet the series is especially disappointing coming from Urman, the mind behind the CW’s excellent Jane the Virgin, which has tackled such issues as immigration and abortion without sacrificing character development or forsaking its thrilling telenovela twists. Though they’re grounded in progressive values—feminism, anti-racism, diverse representation—shows like Jane are first and foremost solidly constructed stories that provoke thought. To see what well-meaning propaganda masquerading as entertainment actually looks like, look no further than Charmed.

Critics Aren’t Exactly ‘Charmed’ At The New Reboot Of The Beloved Series

www.pedestrian.tv/film-tv/charmed-reboot-critical-reactions/

Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture called the show “A Hollow Celebration of Sisterhood and Female Power”, criticizing the CGI monsters and the setting of a “generic” fictional college town.



The most glaring issue, she said, is with the casting:



“The actresses at the center of the series lack the chemistry necessary for their bond to have gravitas, and the writing has a clumsy, faux-feminist political bent that undercuts the show’s desire to provide an empowering message about female power.”



Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald was equally unimpressed, calling the reboot “cursed” and criticizing it for its low-budget look and a perceived lack of subtlety in some of its key themes.



Kelly Lawler of USA Today was fairly harsh in her assessment, labeling the new show a “bastardization” of the original, and picking on the many elements lifted from other fantasy sources:



“One of the series’ real weaknesses is the mishmash of new mythology. Sure, the sisters are still the Charmed Ones and share powers with the original’s Halliwell sisters, but it’s easy to see that aspects of the new series have been lifted straight out of other fantasy shows. A frosted demon looks like he’s right out of Game of Thrones. The sisters’ British mentor and the small-town setting, the fictional Hilltown, are not unlike “watcher” Giles and the hamlet of Sunnydale in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

I wouldn't be surprised, we find they have no female villains in the show at all too as others said. It really is about the sisters and all the men around then, who wronged them or other people.

I'm sure every demon will be based around something from the front-page headlines. Which completely turns me off. 

They need to have some fun, and not put too much of the current events into the series.

It will tune out viewers. And as someone said in this thread earlier, you will gain worldwide appeal, forgetting that people outside of USA, not everyone is enraptured by Trump's daily routine. Classic Charmed will continue to have that appeal, because it didn't try too hard to be current.

I'll keep enjoying Elemental Charmed with our writing, and watching Classic Charmed. 

[Kira Halliwell]

There is a review posted on Vulture (title: Charmed Is a Hollow Celebration of Sisterhood and Female Power, and the link is here: www.vulture.com/2018/10/charmed-the-cw-reboot-review.html) that does not sound promising. I was never interested in the reboot (I am a big believer in keeping amazing things amazing, and very, very, rarely enjoy any kind of "reboot" when it comes to TV), but I was thinking about watching it tonight to at least be able to talk about it with knowledge. Now, I'm just not so sure. What do you guys think?

[CharmedFaith]

Oct 13, 2018 19:45:30 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Oct 13, 2018 8:30:09 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

And this is all about Woman Power??? Give me a freakin' break! No doubt I'm just going to "watch" this one via the Net and not waste a second watching it, just like I do with Supergirl. Just don't like The CW's idea of Woman Power - it's all too male-centric for me. No, I don't like Classic Charmed's jiggle-TV and hate Piper during the infamous triangle (hate how she treats both guys), but for 'Something Wicca This Way Comes'-'Sleuthing with the Enemy' (and some other exceptions), I'll stick with Classic Charmed.

And that's why I'm going to continue to watch Charmed (the real, classic Charmed, not the rip-off) on each episode's 20th anniversary.

Thinking about this, I also wonder if this was supposed to be a Latina Charmed, why is the main male white? If he had been a woman of color, it would make much more sense - unless he's the father of one of the girls, but again, then wouldn't you think *he'd* be a man of color? Unless one of the girls is half-white, but that again seems to go against what was supposed to make this show so special as compared to Classic Charmed - stars of color.

The show is still about the sisters so having their whitelighter be white doesnt matter, he wont be getting the most screentime. And all 3 of them have different fathers in the show so it wont really be Latina despite the CW promoting the show that way. They are all Latina by their mother, 1 full Latina, 1 half black, 1 half white. The show isn't stars of color, the sisters are of color which is the difference.

[Esmeralda]

Oct 14, 2018 9:38:51 GMT -5 CharmedFaith said:

Oct 13, 2018 19:45:30 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Thinking about this, I also wonder if this was supposed to be a Latina Charmed, why is the main male white? If he had been a woman of color, it would make much more sense - unless he's the father of one of the girls, but again, then wouldn't you think *he'd* be a man of color? Unless one of the girls is half-white, but that again seems to go against what was supposed to make this show so special as compared to Classic Charmed - stars of color.

The show is still about the sisters so having their whitelighter be white doesnt matter, he wont be getting the most screentime. And all 3 of them have different fathers in the show so it wont really be Latina despite the CW promoting the show that way. They are all Latina by their mother, 1 full Latina, 1 half black, 1 half white. The show isn't stars of color, the sisters are of color which is the difference.

*nods* Gotcha. But I still feel a lot of this was false advertising in an effort to get more people to watch. I thought Hollywood had stopped hiring people who are one race (or combined race) to play a different one, the way white people used to play Native Americans. That was seemed like such an insult to the Natives. I'd feel Latinos and Latinas would feel the same way about this. It just seems like always, Hollywood is trying to be progressive, when they're not, or if they are, they still have a long ways to go.

And, yes, I'd feel this way even if they weren't ripping off Charmed.

[Ruth Marie]

Yeah. I don't get it. Truly they just want it for attention to get people to watch and saying they are diverse. That's been all the hype in articles. All about Latino, MeToo and representation. When the people they hired are not 100% representing and are another race or combination to play a different one.

I hope Hollywood can change this.

They most likely made them have different fathers just to be able to grab three different cultures to represent. I sure hope they honor these cultures with accuracy. The three showrunners are all white women. But they have a dozen writers, maybe some of the others are.

[CharmedFaith]

Oct 14, 2018 10:29:16 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Oct 14, 2018 9:38:51 GMT -5 CharmedFaith said:

The show is still about the sisters so having their whitelighter be white doesnt matter, he wont be getting the most screentime. And all 3 of them have different fathers in the show so it wont really be Latina despite the CW promoting the show that way. They are all Latina by their mother, 1 full Latina, 1 half black, 1 half white. The show isn't stars of color, the sisters are of color which is the difference.

*nods* Gotcha. But I still feel a lot of this was false advertising in an effort to get more people to watch. I thought Hollywood had stopped hiring people who are one race (or combined race) to play a different one, the way white people used to play Native Americans. That was seemed like such an insult to the Natives. I'd feel Latinos and Latinas would feel the same way about this. It just seems like always, Hollywood is trying to be progressive, when they're not, or if they are, they still have a long ways to go.

And, yes, I'd feel this way even if they weren't ripping off Charmed.

I agree with you there. CW has been doing false advertising since the day they picked up the show and doing it int he wrong way.

[Esmeralda]

Oct 14, 2018 18:52:42 GMT -5 CharmedFaith said:

Oct 14, 2018 10:29:16 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

*nods* Gotcha. But I still feel a lot of this was false advertising in an effort to get more people to watch. I thought Hollywood had stopped hiring people who are one race (or combined race) to play a different one, the way white people used to play Native Americans. That was seemed like such an insult to the Natives. I'd feel Latinos and Latinas would feel the same way about this. It just seems like always, Hollywood is trying to be progressive, when they're not, or if they are, they still have a long ways to go.

And, yes, I'd feel this way even if they weren't ripping off Charmed.

I agree with you there. CW has been doing false advertising since the day they picked up the show and doing it int he wrong way.

You are so correct about that!

[ljones]

I'm beginning to suspect that hardly anyone on this board wants to watch this show to succeed. And why judge an entire series from one episode? It was a struggle for me to enjoy the early Season One episodes from the original series. I was almost about to give up on it, until the 9th or 10th episode. God only knows the trouble I had sticking with the show during its second season. And during Season Five, I had more or less given up.

[gzv969]

I’ve already made up my mind to give it a try around Christmas after a few episodes have aired. For now I’ll just be reading comments on YouTube. A lot of viewers want to wait for another episode before deciding on where to like it. It had good premier ratings but the next episode will probably tell if they maintain their ratings going forward.

tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-sunday-oct-14-2018/

[Deleted]

I watched an interview with the three leads and Sarah Jeffrey described Maggie's power as "she's an empath - she can read minds. Those two things go hand in hand". Sounds like her power will develop quickly to include reading people's feelings as well. Before you know it, she'll be doing a Phoebe and deflecting fireballs.

[CharmedFaith]

I dont think she'll be doing that lol. Being an empath and tapping into other peoples powers never made sense.

[Sasha]

I doubt they'll do that. Hopefully having researched Classic Charmed, they'll learn what not to do in regards to power upgrades.

Perhaps the youngest sisters power upgrade could involve a part where she's able to read into people memories, I don't know how that would work. Maybe not?

[Sasha]

‘Charmed’ 1×02 screener secrets: The truth is out there

www.hypable.com/charmed-1x02-screener-secrets-the-truth-is-out-there/

Charmed 1×02, “Let This Mother Out,” airs this coming Sunday, but we’ve got a handful of teasers from the show’s next episode to explore ahead of time.



The Charmed pilot had some mixed reviews when it premiered on October 14, but there are plenty of people who are willing to give the show another chance with the second episode.



Luckily, Charmed 1×02, “Let This Mother Out,” is a huge step in the right direction for the show. It feels much more cohesive, focused, and driven than the pilot. It gives us some answers to the questions we’ve been asking, but it also keeps us wanting more. It was an excellent followup episode and one that I hope fans will enjoy.


But enough about that. You’re here for some screener secrets, aren’t you? Well, I won’t keep you waiting any longer.



1. Venom, is that you?


The second episode of Charmed features a demon that looks like it could be the cousin to the internet’s newest obsession, our pal Venom. After the film came out and everyone realized it was really just a love story between Eddie and his symbiote, the internet went wild. Charmed couldn’t have possibly known this episode would drop so soon after the movie, but suffice it to say that it’ll be easy to pretend Venom decided to hop over into this universe.



2. The politics keep on coming


For the one or two people who were disappointed that Charmed decided to get political, I’m not sorry to say they keep up this trend in episode 2. Once again Harry makes a passing remark about the current president of the United States, and once again it’s hilarious. I know some people wish politics would stay out of their entertainment, but I, for one, am happy to see Charmed making a stand.



3. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie



This episode has a heavy focus on Maggie as she continues to explore the parameters of her powers. I think this was a smart move to make right out of the gate, as it’s the only power that was changed from the original (Phoebe had premonitions, while Maggie can read minds and feel people’s emotions). For those who may not have empathized as much with Maggie, whether it was her age, her personality, or her hesitance to become a witch, this episode offers a much more sympathetic view of her.



4. For those who want the truth revealed


This episode also focuses on a truth serum the girls decide to use to gain a little more information from a potentially unhelpful source. While in and of itself this wouldn’t be worth noting, fans of the original Charmed will know that Prue cast a truth spell in the first season as well. Though the mechanics are slightly different, both versions had some revealing results.



5. The power of three


As I said in my review of the pilot, Charmed has always been, first and foremost, about the sisters and their relationships with each other. The reboot is no exception, though the dynamic of those relationships are different, not only because the sisters’ personalities are different, but because Macy is coming into the picture late. This episode continues to delve into both the combative and cooperative nature of their new situation.



The official synopsis for Charmed 1×02, “Let This Mother Out,” reads:



The sisters are warned to not trust Harry, so they concoct a plan to see if he is telling the truth; Harry soon realizes that the sisters are up to no good and tries to help before it’s too late. Meanwhile, this new sisterly unit is not fully unified, with Mel and Macy struggling with who’s the real big sister and Maggie caught in the middle.


Will you be tuning in to ‘Charmed’ episode 2?

I have to admit, the best part is the new sisterly unit is not fully formed yet. Mel and Macy struggling over who's the real big sister is something I really love. 

So the truth spell is being used here but done differently. 

[summerreading]

I'm thrilled that they are having problems with the new unit, and it feels natural Mel would feel that way. She has been the big sister, all her life.

Makes me really wish that if any sister died in Classic Charmed, it wasn't Prue. I so wanted to see how the dynamic would play out with a Prue/Piper/Paige or Prue/Phoebe/Paige set-up. No doubt, this can inspire fans to write their own, maybe in a set-up where Paige is the older half-sister and not the youngest born one.

A truth serum. I'm interested to see the reviews from members on how this one plays out. It looks like a potion is going to be brewed.