I
must say this, but witches are dead. I am referring to series with witches as lead
characters, and moreover, the CW's upcoming
reboot series, "Charmed". The original "Charmed" series ran
for eight years and ended in 2006. It was a favorite to its fans and it had a
decent death. However, I for one was not sorry to see it go, and many of those
fans are all grown up. The main objection to the reboot? It's been done, and there
seems to be a lack in willingness to create and try fresh new series. Although,
The CW is all set to bring back the charmed ones with three new cast members to
play the three witches, this is not the point of my objection to the reboot. History is, and series longevity, which
includes the strength of a series weekly storyline to hold viewers interest enough
to build a fan base worthy of the
continuous airing of a series.
In
my opinion as a reviewer, the original charmed ones brooms flew away a decade
ago, which is not long enough to warrant a reboot. In addition, one must remember the defunct CW
series "The Secret Circle". It was about a group of young witches
discovering their roots to a secret society of witches long thought forgotten .
It was a series that died after just one season. As a fan of the CW, I would have
like to have seen the Supernatural
spin-off "The Wayward Sisters",
this fall, which in one episode sparked a strong interest from the series fans,
but was dumped by the CW as a potential series earlier this week. Reason. It
has been suggested that the reason for the decision was no available time slot
for the series. Unbelievable.
I
see the reboot of "Charmed" as a potential one season failure.
Something the CW may discover from low viewer ratings at the end of the season.
Yes, there are series on the air that have witches in them, but the point is
that these witches are not the main focus on the series. They share the
spotlight with other beings, like humans, werewolves, vampires, fairies and
other creatures, some with unknown and original origins. However, these witches
act as support for the main characters of their series to move along the
storyline, and at time have their own subplots. To proof the point, let's not
forget, the CW has recently signed up the "Originals" spin-off series
"Legacies", which follows the stories of the off springs of, you guessed it, witches, vampires and
werewolves. As I see it, to air a series based solely on witches is much too
soon, if ever again.
As
for the reboot of Roswell, the series "Roswell", New Mexico",
this is a good choice as the original
series was a good one but ran for only three seasons. Also known as "Roswell
High" the originals series debuted in 1999 with its first two seasons were
airing on the WB and its final season on UPS in 2002.
For
"Roswell" fans, it was a surprise to many when the series was
cancelled. However, it was hard for the series to hold its fan base at its previous
level with series like" Buffy, the Vampire Killer", "Alias",
and "Xena, Warrior Princess"
dominating the screen. Xena was a diehard series because of its strong fan base
that followed the series moves from Fox to More, from More to the TheWB/UPN, and from UPN
to USA, to finally end its viewership on the TNT network. Such strong
femme fatale series was fatal to a fledging series like Roswell. Perhaps, this
is the reason why "The Wayward Sisters" got rejected. Because there
is still a craving for more supernatural/fantasy series featuring strong female
leads, and they do tend to draw large
audiences, both female and male.
Nevertheless,
it is not that I see all series reboots as a colossus waste of network time, it
is the creative nature of the reboot, or rather the lack of creative
imagination to try something totally fresh and new.
The
"Charmed" reboot is coming on the heels of another series about a
family of female witches, and that is "Witches of East End". It was a
series that reminded the viewers of the Charmed sisters a lot, and after one
season "Witches of East End" was cancelled by the Lifetime Network.
Therefore,
the singing up of the "Charmed" reboot maybe a huge risk for the CW
when this new age of young viewers have probably already seen of the originals
series thanks to networks' reruns and streaming media.
From
this reviewer's point of view, "The Wayward Sisters" above would be the
better call for a new series this fall. Would the series have witches in it?
Probably, but most likely as supporting
cast as in its parent series "Supernatural".