I’m stuck in the 90’s in a lot of ways. I like flannel, and this morning I tried to get my son psyched for school by playing Bad Religion. Oh, and I will forever and ever have a soft spot for that most perennial of late 90’s shows — Charmed. Surprisingly, I don’t hate the “new” Charmed trailer!
First of all, the title is 100% truth-this entire trailer looks like someone reshot the Charmed pilot episode but pulled actors from the cryogenic freezer where the CW keeps young, hip, good-looking actors they can rotate between shows. Watch the trailer, and then we can look at the obvious overlaps I saw right away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loWpbevW9xg
Ok, so for one thing, they either dug up the old Charmed set or lovingly recreated the attic from OG Charmed, because while it looks very slightly different, it’s close enough that I half expected Holly Marie Combs to show up and start blowing up the impostors. Except this new and improved attic had an inexplicably nice chandelier hanging in it — I’m assuming that means they’ll also steal the whole “chandelier lights up when the Charmed Ones accept their powers” thing from OG Charmed as well. Second, did they just grab the old Book of Shadows from the OG set? Because that is…exactly the same. Also nearly the same-how the sisters discover their powers. It looks like telekinetic sister finds her powers channeled through anger in a restaurant, as does Prue in the original pilot (though Prue doesn’t go all mental smash-y until she’s in a drugstore). Meanwhile, time-freezing sister froze time in a restaurant, while Piper froze time while on a job interview — in a restaurant. So not quite the same but awfully close, especially in the characters’ reactions. At least they gave the other sister telepathy instead of premonitions; it’s a slightly more active power.
Other random similarities: an “advisor to witches”, while the OG Charmed ones had a whitelighter/guardian angel type. [Though if we’re really going for the OG Charmed vibe here, that would mean our “advisor to witches” buddy is evil since a British accent on OG Charmed usually meant “demon”]. The boyfriend who turns out to be a bad guy out to get their powers. The shots of them holding hands and chanting. Oh, and for good measure, the long-lost half-sister, a riff on when Rose McGowan joined the show after Shannon Doherty left. The only truly out-there part of season 1 this trailer was missing was a smoke monster from the basement making a live duck wander around. [Damn, Charmed really was a weirdo show].
I was 100% set to hate the reboot, the idea of the reboot, and anything that undid the legacy of my favorite cheesy show. But this trailer felt like Charmed. It had sisters fighting evil, making jokes, and being goofy. If the show can capture the overall feel of the original Charmed half as well as the trailer did, I…might actually be excited.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to rewatch Charmed. Even if Netflix doesn’t have “How Soon Is Now” as the theme song anymore…