Entertainment

Will The Halliwells Be In The 'Charmed' Reboot?

by Mary Grace Garis
Paramount Television

Your favorite WB witches are getting a revival... maybe. On Thursday, it was announced that Charmed is getting a reboot on the CW after going off the air in 2006. That's the good news, because you can never have enough spell-casting ladies on television. But I'm sure you're wondering if the original actors will be returning to the new Charmed. And although I hate to be the bearer of bad news, there's reason to believe we'll be getting a whole new Prue, Piper, and Phoebe (and/or Piper, Phoebe, and Paige).

First, you have to consider the bizarre and vague nature of this proposed reboot. The CW usually takes pre-existing properties and makes sexy reboots (see the upcoming Archie-based Riverdale) or retitles a vintage show and has all the previous cast play parents to a younger sexier generation (basically 90210). However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, this particular Charmed "reimagination" is reported to take place in 1976... which isn't just a weird era to pinpoint for the CW demographic, it also definitely doesn't allow the girls to be raising up a series of teen witches (as they were literal children). While Charmed was no stranger to using time travel, it doesn't necessarily fit in here.

You also have to consider that easily half of the Charmed sisters were rolling their ideas at a reboot only four years ago, back when CBS was proposing it. "The thing about them doing a #charmed reboot is… it just… it feels like yesterday. It feels too close," Alyssa Milano tweeted back in 2013, while Rose McGowan delivered a social media eye roll in the form of, "They really are running out of ideas in Hollywood." Unless they've drastically changed their minds during this short timeframe, they're probably not about to jump back aboard this ship.

Is there any sort of glimmer of hope then? The Hollywood Reporter says that the proposed reboot will, in fact, "be connected to the original series in some fashion," but what that even means is yet to be determined. Is it going to serve as a sort of prequel focusing on the girls' mother? It'd be awkward timing; Patty would be a year shy of (secretly) having Phoebe, and two year shy of death. Soft no on that idea. The connection, for all we know, could be as tangential of sharing the same title.

Don't lose hope, though, Charmed fans. The CW was able to wrangle Shannen Doherty once before, and they could definitely do it again for some time-traveling beyond-the-grave weirdness. The details are still being smoothed out. And until that last wrinkle is flattened, you can rewatch the original series on Netflix to emotionally prepare.