Retro Charmed Reboot in the Works at the CW

A revival of popular series Charmed is apparently in the works at the CW. Just without three sisters and set in the 1970s. Peak TV is weird.

Get ready for another blast from the past at the CW. A reboot of their popular supernatural series Charmed is apparently in the works. Yes, really. Only this time around there won’t be three sisters. And it won’t take place in the present day. Peak TV is weird. 

Charmed originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the WB (the network that is now the CW). The first three seasons starred Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. They played three sisters known as the Charmed Ones, powerful witches who battled evil in San Francisco. After some behind the scenes drama, Doherty departed the series after its third season. And Rose McGowan joined the cast as the new third Halliwell sister.

The return of Charmed isn’t the weirdest bit of this news, however. There’s a rather bizarre twist attached. Instead of being set in modern day San Francisco, the new series will take place in the 1970s. According to TVLine, the show will feature “three witches who are brought together to fight evil in a small New England town circa 1976”. The witches will apparently not be related, and they’ll also be diverse. This isn’t bad news, on the face of it – more diverse and female-led television is always great. It’s also just not exactly Charmed, either.

One of the key elements of the original series was the fact that the Halliwell girls were sisters. Their family bond and history were major pieces of the show’s mythology – and also a big part of why it worked in the first place. Why change such an important element of the original series? That is…unclear. Maybe the new producers just wanted to tell a story about witches in the 1970s. That’s cool. But then why call it Charmed? Especially when no direct connection between this version and the original series seems to exist.

Given that the new series will be set decades ahead of the original – Alyssa Milano’s Phoebe Halliwell was only born in 1975 – there’s also very little chance we’ll see any involvement from its original cast. It’s not impossible, though. Charmed frequently engaged in things like time travel, astral projection and past lives. So don’t rule out a surprise appearance from Piper or Paige during a special episode or something. (Though if this show doesn’t really connect to the Halliwell family, I wouldn’t bank on it.)

Of course, this new Charmed is only in the script stage at this point. Therefore, there’s no cast yet, and we know very little about its story beyond the unexpected setting. There’s also no guarantee it will ever see the light of day on-air.

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If you’re curious about the original Charmed, the full series is on Netflix. And cable network TNT regularly airs it in syndication. As to what this future version will ultimately look like? We’ll have to wait and see.