Bewitched and The Partridge Family Being Rebooted as Animated Series

Bewitched and The Patridge Family are being rebooted as animated series. The new Bewitched and Partridge Family are currently in development over at Sony Pictures Television – Kids, alongside some other kid-friendly programming like Kids Wheel of Fortune and Shark Tank, as Sony tries to make greater use of the properties and IP the studio owns. Both animated series are still early in development, with no clear timetable for production as there are no writers attached, and the WGA strike is ongoing. 

According to THR, "The Bewitched update would focus on Tabitha Stevens, the 13-year-old daughter of witch Samantha and human Darrin. She juggles two lives attending middle school while also being secretly enrolled in a magical academy run by her grandmother, Endora — D'Ambrosia describes the premise as "Hannah Montana meets Harry Potter."

The original Bewitched, ran from 1964-72 and has lived on in syndication ever since. Multiple networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) have tried reboots, but Sony's animated attempt could be the first to come to fruition. 

The synopsis for the new Patridge Family  animated series reveals another Wonder Years-style race-flip, this time following the titular family as they operate a food truck across NYC: 

The Partridge Family, meanwhile, would focus on a Black family from Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood that operates a food truck," THR writes. "They travel throughout New York's five boroughs to serve up treats and tunes."

The original '70s Partridge Family followed "Suburban widow Shirley (Shirley Jones) and her kids (David Cassidy, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Tracy Partridge) tour the country in a wildly painted bus performing music as a family. Their agent Reuben (Dave Madden) hates kids, so Danny gives him a bad time."

As you can see, the same work/family/performance angle of the original series is alive and well in this animated reboot, which will obviously be trying to appeal to a whole new demographic. Seeing what ABC has done with The Wonder Years, it's not a terrible concept to bet on. 

"There's such a vast history at Sony Pictures Television with properties that we could play around with and reinvent, introducing a whole new generation of kids to them," Joe D'Ambrosia, executive vp and general manager of Sony Pictures Television – Kids, said in a statement to THR.

"Our mission is straightforward and clear," D'Ambrosia added. "We'd like to be known as a premier content creator for kids who build new global franchises for Sony, like the SPT scripted team has done with Cobra Kai, the game show division has accomplished with Jeopardy! and the international team with The Crown, but in the kids' space."