’90s witches are having a profound pop cultural moment right now, with a dark and edgy new take on Sabrina The Teenage Witch on the way, and now a Charmed reboot, but one person who’s not exactly falling over herself with excitement is original star Holly Marie Combs, who has taken to social media to put a hex on the planned new series.
At one point, it was rumoured that the new Charmed would be about the daughters of the original witches, and would feature the original cast in some capacity, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, after an announcement yesterday that seemed to suggest the new series will be a straight-up reboot introducing all-new characters.
Combs pointed out the contribution that she and the other OG stars brought to the table, and said that a new series won’t be the same without them:
“Here’s the thing. Until you ask us to rewrite it like Brad Kern did weekly don’t even think of capitalizing on our hard work. Charmed belongs to the 4 of us, our vast amount of writers, crews and predominantly the fans. FYI you will not fool them by owning a title/stamp. So bye … And we wish them well.”
She later took to Twitter again to add:
“And another thing. Reboots or remakes, as we used to call them, usually have storylines so similar to the original that they are legally required to use the same title and buy the rights to that title. If it’s not similar than it’s just another show. A new show with a new title.”
She retweeted an article saying that the new Charmed aims to “tear down the patriarchy”, adding “no, just no”, presumably questioning the feminist credentials of the reboot in that it will not feature Rose McGowan or Alyssa Milano, both of whom have very publicly gone toe-to-toe with Hollywood sexism in recent months.
While some may not get why I take issue with the network that didn’t want to renew Charmed 12 years ago ‘reimagining’ it now let me just say I understand it perfectly. Also this kinda stuff given all that Rose and Alyssa have done lately…um no. Just No https://t.co/Vp2htLtdbR
— Holly Marie Combs Ryan (@H_Combs) January 26, 2018
A few months before Holly Marie Combs threw in her two cents, McGowan also Tweeted about the reboot, saying that the original Charmed cast is “irreplaceable.”
The new iteration of the show, from Jane The Virgin creator and showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman, will be set in the present day. Per yesterday’s press release:
“… this fierce, funny, feminist reboot of the original series centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches. Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy, and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done.”
