The TV reboot era is in full swing, and now Hollywood has its eyes set on one of the most iconic sitcoms from the ‘60s. The past decade has seen the entertainment industry revisit a number of established movies and TV shows for modern reimaginings, with everything from Gilmore Girls to Harry Potter getting new life on the screen. More than 60 years after a classic fantasy show wrapped its eight-season run, network TV is working its magic to reboot it for the second time this century.
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An hourlong reimagining of Bewitched is now in development at Fox, Deadline reported Monday. The proposed series is helmed by writer and executive producer Judalina Neira (The Boys, Daisy Jones and the Six) and by executive producer Doug Robinson, with Sony Pictures Television producing. The series will follow a similar premise as the original ABC sitcom, which starred Elizabeth Montgomery as kindhearted witch Samantha Stephens, and center around Samantha and her human husband Darrin as they “navigate their disapproving parents, walk a tightrope of cultural clashes, and bridge the divides between their families and worlds.”
This Isn’t the First Bewitched Reboot, but It’s Very Different From the Rest
The original Bewitched was created by Sol Saks and aired for eight seasons and 254 episodes on ABC from 1964 until 1972. The show’s unique and amusing blend of fantasy and domestic life and use of magic as a vehicle for suburban satire helped it rise in popularity and quickly become a cultural touchstone that has influenced pop culture for decades.
Hollywood has revisited the series on numerous occasions, most recently in a 2005 movie directed by Nora Ephron, which took a very different approach to the story. The fantasy rom-com starred Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell as actors on a remake of Bewitched, with Ferrell’s Jack Wyatt soon discovering that his co-star is an actual witch.
Outside of that movie reboot, there have been several other attempts to reboot the show, most notably in the short-lived ABC spinoff Tabitha, which aired for just a single season in 1977 and focused on Samantha’s grown-up daughter, portrayed by Lisa Hartman. There have also been multiple failed reboot attempts over the decades, including one at CBS in 2011, one at NBC in 2014, and another at ABC in 2018. Meanwhile, live-action family reboot centered on a pre-teen Tabitha and first announced in 2023 is still in active development from Sony Pictures Television Kids and Flying Bark Productions.
Fox’s upcoming reboot will mark a major shift from those previous reboot attempts as it moves from a half-hour comedy to a “dramatic hourlong take” similar to Peacock’s Bel-Air, a move that will allow the show to further delve into the characters, relationships, and themes. The planned reboot still seems to be in the early stages of development, and further information, including casting, hasn’t been announced at this time.
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