Howdy, howdy!  A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a link to the CW’s new Charmed trailer (view it here).  I admit that I vaguely remember talks of rebooting this show, but I never thought they actually would, so I didn’t keep up with the news on it.  When I found out they were going through with it, I was wary and a little excited.  In my experience, reboots tend to suck and when you’re dealing with content that was already pretty corny at times, it’s even more difficult to do it justice.  The trailer did nothing to ease my fears.

Based on the trailer, the premise is basically the same as the original.  Three sisters find out they’re witches after their mother dies , and they have to fight evil!  Okay, it’s Mom instead of Grams who dies and the long lost sister (Macy) shows up in the first episode instead of after killing off one of the others to bring her in, so I suppose it’s not entirely the same.  Also, their Giles (wait, wrong show)… I mean their Leo (I’m just guessing that’s who the dude who ties them up is supposed to be) appears and explains that they’re witches, which is kind of new.  Then, there’s a glimpse of a baddie who looks like an emo whose eyeliner is running.  That’s not new at all.  And I’m entirely okay with all of this.

That being said, after I looked into some of the advertising for the reboot, I became less enthusiastic.  The CW’s description reads:

This fierce, funny, feminist reboot of the original series centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches.  Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy, and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done.

I’m sorry, but if you have to use “feminist” and “tearing down the patriarchy” in your description, you’re trying too hard.  I get that advertising is all about pandering to your target audience, but the original Charmed taught us all about sisterhood and the power of female bonds and that women were as powerful (if not moreso) as men and all that jazz.  And they did it through the characters and the story, not by telling us that’s what we were supposed to get from it.  The phrasing just feels like a cheap trick to draw in viewers and, honestly, it’s going to work.  But it’s also going to drive other people away.  Blending this stuff into the show with context and emotion and sarcasm then letting your fanbase decide it’s a “fierce, funny, feminist reboot” is great.  Flat out saying it in the advertisements is presumptuous and kind of annoying.

In all honesty, I’ll probably give the show a shot, but I don’t have high hopes for it.  What are your thoughts?  Looking forward to it or dreading it?  Feel free to share your opinions here or on my social media pages!