Turns out not everything is, well, charmed about the upcoming Charmed reboot on The CW.
Following the lead of some of her former on-screen sisters, Alyssa Milano is the latest original Charmed alum who’s expressed her skepticism of the reboot.
"I wish that they would have come to us and we would have been involved since the beginning," Milano told Entertainment Tonight at Friday’s L.A. premiere of her new Netflix series Insatiable. "But having said that, I do hope that it reaches the newer generation and impacts that generation the way ours was able to do for its generation.”
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Milano’s Charmed co-stars have taken similar issue with the new show’s rollout. Shannen Doherty, who played Prue Halliwell next to Milano’s Phoebe, has called the reboot’s branding — particularly The CW’s “fierce, funny, and feminist” tagline — “offensive.” Holly Marie Combs, who played Piper Halliwell, vented some criticisms on Twitter earlier this year, apparently in response to the fact that the original Charmed team wasn’t going to be part of the new show. Her concerns came back up in May: “I will never understand what is fierce, funny, or feminist in creating a show that basically says the original actresses are too old to do a job they did 12 years ago,” Combs shared on Twitter.
Combs hasn’t said if she would get involved with the show if given the chance, but Milano herself demurred. When asked if she would make an onscreen or directorial cameo on the Charmed reboot, Milano told ET that “that ship has sailed” for her.
In their critiques, the original Charmed trio brings up valid concerns over Hollywood’s treatment of actresses over 40, and of older women in the industry writ large. But the new series does show promise in tackling another pervasive issue in the industry — a lack of on-screen diversity. The reboot’s cast and producers say they’re invested in showcasing diverse talent, hopefully impacting a new generation of Charmed fans in a thoughtful and profound way.
The Charmed reboot is slated to air in October on The CW.