First Look - Trailer Talk

[Deleted]

May 19, 2018 16:03:43 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

This is a big part of why I'm already annoyed with the reboot. If the youngest sister is still in college, they're going to throw every stereotypical college idea into it. It's an easy, predictable way for them to paint who the youngest is. 

What I really loved about Charmed was that they were all old enough to be done with school and they were just out in the world as young women. College teaches a lot of people to be adults, but there's nothing like getting out into the real world and truly being on your own. I was glad Phoebe went back to school because it helped her character development, but it was nice to see her as an older student and not as someone younger who lived on campus in a dorm, went to college parties, etc. It's overdone, and I don't think it's as likely to appeal to a good deal of people, especially those who are older. I'm only 28, and watching someone in college feels like watching a kid. I'd rather watch a show about adults. 

I'm with you, Elle. I'm almost 28 and these "college" shows seem more and more like "glorified high school" shows to me. It's weird to think that Prue was our age in the first season and Piper was only 25/26, and yet both acted like a proper "grown-ups". A lot of 20-somethings seem to act like overgrown kids these days, so I don't know if people are just waiting longer to grow up or if Prue and Piper were just very mature for their age. I don't even think Phoebe was THAT immature in Season 1, she was just more fun-loving than the other two.  

[Elle Em]

May 20, 2018 8:07:57 GMT -5 @deano said:

May 19, 2018 16:03:43 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

This is a big part of why I'm already annoyed with the reboot. If the youngest sister is still in college, they're going to throw every stereotypical college idea into it. It's an easy, predictable way for them to paint who the youngest is. 

What I really loved about Charmed was that they were all old enough to be done with school and they were just out in the world as young women. College teaches a lot of people to be adults, but there's nothing like getting out into the real world and truly being on your own. I was glad Phoebe went back to school because it helped her character development, but it was nice to see her as an older student and not as someone younger who lived on campus in a dorm, went to college parties, etc. It's overdone, and I don't think it's as likely to appeal to a good deal of people, especially those who are older. I'm only 28, and watching someone in college feels like watching a kid. I'd rather watch a show about adults. 

I'm with you, Elle. I'm almost 28 and these "college" shows seem more and more like "glorified high school" shows to me. It's weird to think that Prue was our age in the first season and Piper was only 25/26, and yet both acted like a proper "grown-ups". A lot of 20-somethings seem to act like overgrown kids these days, so I don't know if people are just waiting longer to grow up or if Prue and Piper were just very mature for their age. I don't even think Phoebe was THAT immature in Season 1, she was just more fun-loving than the other two.  

Oh, it's so strange to think we're about Prue's age when the show started. I don't feel nearly as mature as her or Piper. It probably has something to do with the two of them losing their parents so young and growing up being raised by Grams. They probably had to grow up a bit faster, whereas people like me have had the luxury of taking my time and not having to be like a mom to siblings. 

Phoebe was immature in some ways to me, but not that much. She had some more growing up to do, but she was very capable. She lived on her own in New York for months, and from what Piper said, held down multiple jobs to do it. She was also very street smart and all that. 

The "glorified high school" is so true. A lot of shows and movies about college are like what people fantasize college to be.

[prudencehalliwell]

May 20, 2018 8:05:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

May 20, 2018 7:26:10 GMT -5 Nimue said:

Hey, long time no see.... Honestly, I'm kind of excited about this? Originally I wasn't (I hated the fact they used buzzwords "feminist", "fierce", "funny", it felt like they were trying too hard), but now I'm ready to reserve judgement until I've seen the first few episodes (Pilots are always a bit weak). I like the fact one of the sisters is going to be a scientist, although I'm a little wary at how they're going to combine magic and science together, since it's difficult to pull off and can even be a disaster. I have the feeling I won't like the sister who's more concerned about sororities than witchcraft (sorry, I can't remember their names right now): it could be because I'm not an American (although my mother is), but I always thought sororities were stupid, so how anyone could prefer that to having magical powers is beyond me... The trailer was both long and short: long in the sense that we got to see quite a bit, but at the same time it wasn't enough for me to really have an opinion... So I'm going to wait until the first few episodes air...

Hey, Nimue! Welcome back! I agree totally, including giving it a half-season - UNLESS I don't like the first episode and there's another show I like better on another channel.

That sounds like a good idea. Plus with the way television has changed, you don't have to watch Charmed live. The CW site I think has show episodes online for free after it airs, plus so many other ways to watch. 

I think I might not watch Charmed live when it airs but just watch it after or next day. I still want Oct 7th reserved for Classic Charmed. 

Might be fun to watch one Classic Charmed episode followed by the reboot episode. Be an interesting experience watching the first season of both Classic and Reboot side by side each week. 

[Esmeralda]

May 20, 2018 19:36:33 GMT -5 prudencehalliwell said:

May 20, 2018 8:05:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Hey, Nimue! Welcome back! I agree totally, including giving it a half-season - UNLESS I don't like the first episode and there's another show I like better on another channel.

That sounds like a good idea. Plus with the way television has changed, you don't have to watch Charmed live. The CW site I think has show episodes online for free after it airs, plus so many other ways to watch. 

I think I might not watch Charmed live when it airs but just watch it after or next day. I still want Oct 7th reserved for Classic Charmed. 

Might be fun to watch one Classic Charmed episode followed by the reboot episode. Be an interesting experience watching the first season of both Classic and Reboot side by side each week. 

That's what I'm definitely planning on doing. If I've got my time zones right, that means I'll watch SWTWC at the same time it originally aired and then watch the reboot afterwards. Perfect.

[prudencehalliwell]

May 20, 2018 19:44:20 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

May 20, 2018 19:36:33 GMT -5 prudencehalliwell said:

That sounds like a good idea. Plus with the way television has changed, you don't have to watch Charmed live. The CW site I think has show episodes online for free after it airs, plus so many other ways to watch. 

I think I might not watch Charmed live when it airs but just watch it after or next day. I still want Oct 7th reserved for Classic Charmed. 

Might be fun to watch one Classic Charmed episode followed by the reboot episode. Be an interesting experience watching the first season of both Classic and Reboot side by side each week. 

That's what I'm definitely planning on doing. If I've got my time zones right, that means I'll watch SWTWC at the same time it originally aired and then watch the reboot afterwards. Perfect.

Fantastic Es!

Maybe if others here are up for it and I know it got brought up in the anniversary board as a suggestion. Why not do it the following week and watch the second episode of Classic Charmed and the reboot's second episode. For those who drop out and stop watching the reboot, this would be fun to re-watch in order the first season of Classic Charmed weekly Sundays.

[Ruth Marie]

It's nice to be back at the Cafe, and so glad to have a new laptop. My old one died not long after I came back from a family wedding and being busy with Easter. Not the thing you want to happen to you when you have a nice holiday. I finally am catching up on all the reboot news and finally watched the trailer and two sneak peek videos.

I'm trying to keep an open mind. But It's hard to do that when I just don't feel the chemistry with these sisters. But like the unaired Classic Charmed pilot, maybe the real aired Pilot is better. I mean they might do reshoots or recast actors or change things. 


The Good 


- The Half sister doesn't appear to have hybrid powers. Great!

- The Manor, sets, and Book of Shadows are decent. 

- The Mother's death obviously being the major arc of season 1, and who killed her. I don't mind this. 

- The middle sister being able to freeze time and not just one person or object. I don't mind this. 


The Bad

- Not feeling the chemistry of the sisters. 

- The whitelighter kidnapping them and telling them what to do which demon to vanquish
. But what if he isn't a whitelighter and what if this version of whitelighters are actually not like Charmed's and they are not even dead or angels? I hope they don't make him turn out to be Macy's father.

- I gather the whitelighter is going to just be like Phoebe with Premonition and telling them who to vanquish. 

- I'm hoping the long lost sister plot isn't so easily wrapped up by the end of the pilot and Macy acts and feels like family so easily. I'm assuming Macy's father may well turn out to be a big bad or villain further down the line. It would be very refreshing to tweak Cole's story and have the father of Macy tempting her to the dark side and trying to break up the Power of Three. That might be a change than re-doing Cole/Phoebe 2.0

The Ugly

- The acting from the middle sister is bad. She sounds like an annoying teenager. 

- The special effects for the demons look worse than Classic Charmed. I hope they can improve it. Also anyone notice that the younger sister was being attacked by a demon with black eyes? I think that was her on/off boyfriend, or the demon of the first episode glamouring as him, an illusion or something?

[Elle Em]

This is a small thing, but I've noticed that a lot of people are calling the original show "Classic Charmed." I know the two shows share the same name, but only one of them is the real show. Feel free to ignore me and call it what you want, but I'm going to refer to the original show as "Charmed" and the new one as "the reboot," because that's what it is, no matter what its name is.

[Esmeralda]

I like calling our show "Classic Charmed" since I don't think this new one will become a classic as Charmed has. For me, the reboot is "Charmed: The Ripoff". But just calling it "the reboot" - I don't think anyone here has called it Charmed yet, so, yeah, that works. No calling it Charmed until it earns that name and it sure hasn't yet - not with this pilot.

[CharmedFaith]

CGI'ing demons nowadays instead of good old makeup is such a missed practice. I hope they dont have all the demons being generic.

[Ruth Marie]

May 21, 2018 19:13:29 GMT -5 CharmedFaith said:

CGI'ing demons nowadays instead of good old makeup is such a missed practice. I hope they dont have all the demons being generic.

As I mentioned in my review of the trailer, this was the worst part. The CGI looks worse than Classic Charmed. Also, the black eyes look so generic, that I feel this is going to be the standard for demons, showing black eyes to let viewers know they are demons.

Charmed's demon make-up was decent with Shax and Baltazar.

I wonder if whitelighters have orbs, or demons have some CGI teleportation.

[CharmedFaith]

When Charmed did demons they were fairly decent before they went with the generic "you dress in all black so you must be evil". But it could improve so Ill wait and see.

[rebooted]

I think I 'm going to refer to the two different shows as Halliwell and Vera.

[Esmeralda]

May 21, 2018 21:56:34 GMT -5 rebooted said:

I think I 'm going to refer to the two different shows as Halliwell and Vera.

That's fine if like me, you count Charmed as S1-3. As soon as you add S4 then it's Halliwell/Matthews and Vera. Even Vera might be something else if Macy is a half.

[West]

May 21, 2018 21:56:34 GMT -5 rebooted said:

I think I 'm going to refer to the two different shows as Halliwell and Vera.

That's a good way of doing it. The Halliwell Charmed and The Vera Charmed.

Although I've gotten so used to calling the Charmed we know as Classic Charmed and the other as the reboot. 

[West]

May 18, 2018 16:11:29 GMT -5 @deano said:

May 18, 2018 15:41:27 GMT -5 West said:

I got Witches of East End vibes. Funny i said on paper it sounded like WOEE and Supernatural.

The mother reminds me of Joanna.

Plus the house is actually the Witches of East End house they filmed at since that show shot in Vancouver too.

The middle sister is so out of place. If they ever recasted like they did with Classic Charmed and Lori. I hope its her. Also the guy who was rude to Classic Charmed fans too on Twitter I'd be thrilled.

Definitely, West. I also kind of getting Pretty Little Liar vibes 

I didn't realise it was the WOEE house they filmed in! But yeah, both shows have very similar aesethetics. 

To be honest, the only sister I was drawn to in the trailer was Maggie. I'm not too fussed about the other two yet. You're right the middle girl does seem a bit OTT. Maybe she'll be better in the more casual, low-drama scenes. 

Yeah I do get some Pretty Little Liar vibes too, especially them acting as teenagers. 

I wonder if the reboot got some inspiration from Witches of East End too, and not just using the sets. 

I'm not too crazy about the other sisters. I'm hoping the middle sister improves over time, the same way some fans took a while to like Prue. 

Like Classic Charmed, Phoebe was my favorite right off the bat, and Maggie is the only one I like here a little. 

I wonder how much college is going to be used. I wonder if the various innocents on the reboot are going to be students, teachers, and staff at the college. I do hope that eventually the college stuff is phased out as the show progresses, but it certainly won't since Maggie is only 18, which means she's going to be in college for at least 4 or 5 seasons. 

[Deleted]

May 20, 2018 13:41:48 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

Oh, it's so strange to think we're about Prue's age when the show started. I don't feel nearly as mature as her or Piper. It probably has something to do with the two of them losing their parents so young and growing up being raised by Grams. They probably had to grow up a bit faster, whereas people like me have had the luxury of taking my time and not having to be like a mom to siblings. 

Phoebe was immature in some ways to me, but not that much. She had some more growing up to do, but she was very capable. She lived on her own in New York for months, and from what Piper said, held down multiple jobs to do it. She was also very street smart and all that. 

The "glorified high school" is so true. A lot of shows and movies about college are like what people fantasize college to be.

Agreed, I don't feel that mature either yet  . To me, Prue and Piper were like women in their 40s in S1. I'm so glad Prue loosened up and behaved more like her age in S2-3. I think we can bet that the middle sister in the reboot will be the Piper of S4-8 in terms of personality. 

I think Phoebe seemed more immature than she was next to Prue and Piper, but was probably fairly average for her age. As you say, she was very street-wise and independent. 

Being British, I've no idea what REAL American college is like, but tv shows really do make them seem like High School Plus. Like, over here. no one would care less about being popular or sports teams etc, like is the case with U.S. sororities/fraternities, and we have a lot of mixed ages, so not everyone is 18-21. 

May 21, 2018 19:13:29 GMT -5 CharmedFaith said:

CGI'ing demons nowadays instead of good old makeup is such a missed practice. I hope they dont have all the demons being generic.

Is this a cost-cutting thing or something? Maybe to cut down on make-up artists, or the time it takes to apply to prosthetics? You'd think modern shows could do a better job than they did 20 years ago. 

May 21, 2018 22:16:51 GMT -5 West said:

Yeah I do get some Pretty Little Liar vibes too, especially them acting as teenagers. 

I wonder if the reboot got some inspiration from Witches of East End too, and not just using the sets. 

I'm not too crazy about the other sisters. I'm hoping the middle sister improves over time, the same way some fans took a while to like Prue. 

Like Classic Charmed, Phoebe was my favorite right off the bat, and Maggie is the only one I like here a little. 

I wonder how much college is going to be used. I wonder if the various innocents on the reboot are going to be students, teachers, and staff at the college. I do hope that eventually the college stuff is phased out as the show progresses, but it certainly won't since Maggie is only 18, which means she's going to be in college for at least 4 or 5 seasons. 

Sounding totally superficial here, but I too hope the middle sister improves because she and the youngest look so alike   Visually they look like sisters. It's a pity the oldest looks nothing like them. 

I have early reservations about the actress playing the oldest sister as well. I think it's difficult to sustain an accent on a long-term project, and I sometimes find actors who are using a different accent, even if they're good, tend to act less naturally/more performed. Few seem to manage it very well. 

You're right about the college... ugh, that's here for the long haul given Maggie's age. It feels like a lazy way of not having to give one of the sisters a real world job that will get in the way of the demon-fighting. After all, they increasingly gave the girls on Classic Charmed unrealistic/unlikely job roles to work around this: club-owner, celebrity columnist. I'm fine with the college if it is used to feature Innocents, and not just boring boy drama. Surely it'll be used more than Phoebe's or Billie's colleges were. 

[neith]

I was rewatching Charmed the other day and also thought ‘wow, I can’t believe I am the same age they were when they discovered they were witches.’ I definitely don’t feel it!

I don’t get why shows/movies opt for CGI demons. It’s extremely unimaginative and not very scary. Demons should look realistic enough that if you saw one you would be scared. When they use CGI it simply looks like an effect rather than something that could possibly exist in their world.

[Ruth Marie]

May 22, 2018 17:10:20 GMT -5 neith said:

I was rewatching Charmed the other day and also thought ‘wow, I can’t believe I am the same age they were when they discovered they were witches.’ I definitely don’t feel it!

I don’t get why shows/movies opt for CGI demons. It’s extremely unimaginative and not very scary. Demons should look realistic enough that if you saw one you would be scared. When they use CGI it simply looks like an effect rather than something that could possibly exist in their world.

Yeah, it's crazy because half the fanbase is now the same age or a little older than the characters in Classic Charmed. I guess most don't feel it, because Charmed has only ended a decade ago. So it hasn't felt that long. But the sisters in the SWTWC feel much more mature than the reboot sisters, then again the reboot sisters are younger than the Halliwells were when they discovered they were witches. 



Yeah, the special effects don't look that great. They could just get away and show us demons true faces briefly or in the shadows, while giving them a human face or did what the Source did in Charmed Again, when he took possession of Shane. 

I'm not that crazy about CGI demons. I'd just be happy with something like In the Devil's Music or The Hooked Red Source, that can scare us when we don't see enough of the true face. 

[West]

May 22, 2018 15:10:45 GMT -5 @deano said:

May 21, 2018 22:16:51 GMT -5 West said:

Yeah I do get some Pretty Little Liar vibes too, especially them acting as teenagers. 

I wonder if the reboot got some inspiration from Witches of East End too, and not just using the sets. 

I'm not too crazy about the other sisters. I'm hoping the middle sister improves over time, the same way some fans took a while to like Prue. 

Like Classic Charmed, Phoebe was my favorite right off the bat, and Maggie is the only one I like here a little. 

I wonder how much college is going to be used. I wonder if the various innocents on the reboot are going to be students, teachers, and staff at the college. I do hope that eventually the college stuff is phased out as the show progresses, but it certainly won't since Maggie is only 18, which means she's going to be in college for at least 4 or 5 seasons. 

Sounding totally superficial here, but I too hope the middle sister improves because she and the youngest look so alike   Visually they look like sisters. It's a pity the oldest looks nothing like them. 

I have early reservations about the actress playing the oldest sister as well. I think it's difficult to sustain an accent on a long-term project, and I sometimes find actors who are using a different accent, even if they're good, tend to act less naturally/more performed. Few seem to manage it very well. 

You're right about the college... ugh, that's here for the long haul given Maggie's age. It feels like a lazy way of not having to give one of the sisters a real world job that will get in the way of the demon-fighting. After all, they increasingly gave the girls on Classic Charmed unrealistic/unlikely job roles to work around this: club-owner, celebrity columnist. I'm fine with the college if it is used to feature Innocents, and not just boring boy drama. Surely it'll be used more than Phoebe's or Billie's colleges were. 

That's true, they really do look like sisters. The oldest doesn't, but of course, she's a half. But the height differences between the oldest and her younger sisters is such a huge difference. I couldn't help but think she was their mother, especially when I looked at photos of the cast at CW Upfronts.

I don't get why she couldn't use her real accent and found a good excuse for the mother sending her away and she grew up in England. 

That does seem like a lazy way, and most CW shows typically barely do much with people's jobs, they eventually find excuses to have them fired and whatnot. Especially shows with a supernatural genre. 

I'm fine with college if they use it as a way to bring in innocents. Ex Libris was a fantastic innocent of the week episode with Phoebe and her ghost. Those are the sort of stories I hope we see in the reboot. I just hope they limit the college frat parties, relationship drama's and don't attempt any of those teacher-student affair plots. 

But at least we won't have to worry about any of them wanting a husband or child. If they are in college, then that won't happen until the end of the series at least. The youngest shouldn't even be in a longterm relationship or serious one for ages, shes younger than Phoebe, so I'd completely acceptable she wouldn't be tied down for too long. 

May 22, 2018 17:10:20 GMT -5 neith said:

I was rewatching Charmed the other day and also thought ‘wow, I can’t believe I am the same age they were when they discovered they were witches.’ I definitely don’t feel it!

Same here. I certainly don't feel it, when I'm basically the same age as Prue now. It's funny because in this reboot the sisters act much younger and like teenagers. Yet I grew up with the Halliwell's.

I can follow Classic Charmed now better, watching the show through since I'm the ages they are. While with the reboot, I'm gone past college and all and am older than them.

[adzpower]

The more I watch the trailer tbh the more I loathe it, I am still open to giving this a chance, and it might get good, but I had a horrible realization that everything in that trailer is from just one episode, ONE EPISODE, and they try to cram in all that?!