The more time wears on, the more it feels as though no one in the position of authority within “the industry” is willing to take too much of a gamble on something new, a.k.a. original content. Why risk the chance of losing money by experimenting when there’s already a built-in audience for something that can just be remade? On the heels of such shows as Twin Peaks and even films like Snatch, now, Charmed is next on the list for a reboot–and this time around, they’re going retro: the 70s.
Loyal fans of the show will remember that a season one episode entitled, aptly, “That 70s Episode,” in which Prue (Shannen Doherty, already part of a Heathers revival as well), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) go back in time to visit their mother in the year 1975 to prevent their mother from making a deal with a powerful warlock who wants their powers. If the new scribes–chief among them Jane the Virgin writer Jennie Snyder Urman–of the show go on this at all (which they should, but probably won’t), some semblance of the show’s integrity might remain.
And yet, rumors about the show not only include that it will go back to the 70s for a “prequel” element, but will also have nothing to do with the original cast. Sounds, all in all, like a recipe for disappointing the longtime, extremely sensitive following. From the looks of it, this one is probably already going to go the way of The Carrie Diaries (which was actually good once you separated it from having anything to do with Sex and the City).
