Charmed Series Premiere Review: Let The Witchiness Begin

"Charmed" just got a reboot on the CW. It airs on Sunday nights right after "SuperGirl". The original series ran from 1998 to 2006 on The WB and starred Shannen Doherty, Hollie Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan. The witches included Prue (seasons 1-3), Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell. Half sister Paige Matthews joined them in season four. See some of the best shows from the original here

The new series begins with the mysterious death of a woman named Marisol Vera. Several months pass. Each of her daughters grieves in her own way. Mel is politically active and angry because she believes her mother was murdered. Maggie tries to join a sorority. They are soon visited by Macy Vaughn who claims to be the sister they never knew they had. She just moved to town to work in the university lab.

The women begin to display mysterious new powers. Mel can freeze time, Maggie has telepathy and Macy has telekinesis.

Harry Greenwood appears and tells them they're very powerful witches called the "Charmed Ones" and have the "Power Of Three". They must decide if they will go all to stop the apocalypse. Also Harry is a "whitelighter". We'll learn more about him later. Right now I'm not sure he can be trusted.

After a few run-ins with demons, the girls agree to accept their new roles and off we go with the new series.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). Pilots are difficult to pull off. "Charmed" does a better-than-average job in it's initial outing. The actresses (Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffrey and Madeleine Mantock) have good chemistry. I appreciate that the reboot makes the sisters women of color and gives the show an unapologetic strong feminist vibe (which the original had as well).

There has been some controversy about the show. Several of the original actors complained about not being consulted. Some die hard fans are not happy but why are they comparing this to the original? Can't they be viewed as two different shows? And yes, the writing could use some work. Hopefully this will be improved on in the future.

All things considered, i still enjoyed the show. The production values are high and the CGI is good for a TV series. I'll be back to see who the witches go up against next.