The news that the beloved TV show “Charmed” was getting a reboot provoked an ecstatic reaction from fans.
Since then, though, there have been various rumors about the new incarnation of witches. On Friday I had the opportunity to talk to Brad Silberling, “Charmed’s” executive producer, about his feature film “An Ordinary Man,” during which time I also asked him various questions about the reboot, all of which he was more than happy to answer.
You’re rebooting ‘Charmed,’ too. How did that come about?
That’s exactly what I am working on now. Jennifer Urman, who is my partner on the show, and myself were approached by CBS Studios 2 years ago to try and make this into something that makes sense for us and is meaningful. We just finished shooting it in Vancouver at 4am last Saturday and now I am in Los Angeles cutting away. I will be screening this for a test audience on Monday. These pilot seasons are insane.
When can we expect it be aired?
In this case because this a show for network and they still live in the crazy world of their up front presentations for the advertisers it is a little bit different. After the test screening the network will have notes, so we will have to make some adjustments, but then it will have to be finalized, that means colored, mixed, effects, by the 27th. So I am counting down the days. Then it is done. Then they will go through all of the pilots that they have received for the beauty pageant. We feel quite confident that we will be moving forward, which has to do with a lot of other corporate priorities. But this won’t air until October. Right now it is a blitz, though.
How is it different to the original?
We were initially focused on setting it in 1970 or 1971, when people would say, ‘A witch by any other name might just be an empowered woman.’ So we were fascinated by some young women who were very much involved in this key moment, but then made this shocking discovery. Then this year happened. We immediately knew it would be crazy to set it in a different period when this is happening right now. It would be easy to say that this is a radical take on ‘Charmed.’ But, essentially, in terms of the story of the plot, there’s a key campus harassment case. The only spoiler I will give you is that the key demon that they have to contend with in the pilot is in fact a sexual harasser who has been passing as a professor on campus. Part of the appeal of the show is that it manages to be fun and contemporary with its social observations. It will be really fun.
Was it a conscious decision to make the show more diverse and representative?
It is all in the full sense of diversity. The original show had three of the loveliest white women you have ever seen. And they were fab. But this is a different moment. We have two sisters and they meet a third that they have literally never known. We have Melonie Diaz and Sarah Jeffery, and then the British actress Madeline Mantock, who is the surprise family member. Melonie’s character is gay, and it is very, very different in terms of personalities and ethnicities.
Will “How Soon Is Now?” still be the theme song?
All I will say is it will definitely get its due in the pilot. That’s all I will tell you. Everybody should be happy.
While we wait for "Charmed," make sure to check out "An Ordinary Man," which features a top notch performance from Ben Kingsley, and is now in select cinemas and available on VOD.
