'Bewitched' Reboot from Kenya Barris set at ABC

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by AKA, Aug 23, 2018.

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  1. AKA

    AKA Senior Member Thread Starter

    ‘Bewitched’ Reboot With Interracial Family From Kenya Barris & Yamara Taylor Set At ABC With Big Commitment Via ABC Studios, Sony TV & Davis Entertainment

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    by Nellie Andreeva
    August 23, 2018 11:44am

    EXCLUSIVE: Just before he recently departed ABC Studios to embark on a rich overall deal at Netflix, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris sold one last high-profile project to ABC: Bewitched, a single camera, interracial blended family comedy based on the popular 1960s sitcom of the same name. It took a little while for all the deals to close, but the network has given a pilot production commitment to the new take on the classic supernatural sitcom, from Barris and Black-ish writer/producer Yamara Taylor. The project hails from ABC Studios; Sony Pictures TV, which has the rights to the title; and Sony-based Davis Entertainment (The Blacklist).

    In Bewitched, written by Barris and Taylor, Samantha, a hardworking black single mom who happens to be a witch, marries Darren, a white mortal who happens to be a bit of a slacker. They struggle to navigate their differences as she discovers that even when a black girl is literally magic, she’s still not as powerful as a decently tall white man with a full head of hair in America.

    Barris is executive producing via his Khalabo Ink Society banner alongside Taylor and Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox.

    ABC, which aired the original Bewitched from 1964-1972, had been very interested in a reboot as the concept represents a twist on a family sitcom, which has been the network’s signature brand of comedy.

    In 2014, ABC heavily pursued a Bewitched sequel, one of two previous attempts by Sony Pictures TV to revive the comedy series over the past decade. Beside the 2014 project, which in a bidding situation landed a pilot production commitment at NBC but did not go to series, another reboot was in development at CBS during the 2011-2012 season.

    Created by Sol Saks and executive produced by Harry Ackerman, Bewitched ran for eight seasons. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, a witch married to an ordinary mortal man, Darrin, and chronicles the way her powers and wicked family get in the way of her efforts to live a normal, magic-free life as a typical suburban housewife. Her daughter, Tabitha, got her own short-lived spinoff series on ABC in 1977. Lisa Hartman played adult Tabitha who, along with her brother Adam, worked at a TV station.

    Bewitched got a feature remake with Columbia Pictures’ 2005 film starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. While it didn’t fare well, the original series remains popular. It has enjoyed a long afterlife in syndication and around the world with local versions mounted in Russia, India, Argentina and Japan. The classic sitcom also has also been embraced by new technologies with a streaming deal at Hulu.

    Barris sold Bewitched to ABC shortly before his overall deal at ABC Studios officially terminated August 15, a little over a year into its original four-year term. The next day, Netflix announced an overall deal with the prolific comedy writer-producer, said to be for three years with an option for another two.

    In addition to creating the Peabody-awarded and Emmy-nominated ABC comedy series Black-ish and its successful spinoff series Grown-ish on Freeform, Barris also is behind the upcoming Freeform comedy series Besties and co-wrote last summer’s hit feature comedy Girls Trip. He is repped by Artists First, CAA and attorney Gregg Gellman.

    Before joining Black-ish at the start of Season 2, Taylor worked as a writer on Instant Mom and The Boondocks, the latter also produced by Sony TV. She is repped by CAA, 3 Arts and Lev Ginsburg.

    Davis Entertainment is behind NBC’s drama series The Blacklist, which is returning for a fifth season; S.W.A.T., back for a second season on CBS; the network’s upcoming Magnum PI reboot; as well as cult favorite NBC drama Timeless, set for a two-part series finale.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2018
  2. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Because of course.... sigh.
     
    MikaelaArsenault and 2trackmind like this.
  3. TEA FOR ONE

    TEA FOR ONE Listening to the world one note at a time

    Location:
    Rochester,NY
    I guess there are no more original ideas.
     
    daca likes this.
  4. Tom Perry

    Tom Perry Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Odd choice of photo to go with the article. :nyah:
     
    2trackmind likes this.
  5. Erik Tracy

    Erik Tracy Meet me at the Green Dragon for an ale

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    NBC will counter with a reboot of I Dream of Jeannie.
     
  6. Gill-man

    Gill-man Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Dear God, No!

    I’ll point out the elephant in the room, what’s the deal with this racial crap being shoved down our throats? I had no problem with this until it turned into the BS commentary on white man privilege and power in America.
     
  7. rene smalldridge

    rene smalldridge Senior Member

    Location:
    manhattan,kansas
    In which Jeannie is an Hispanic genie whose bottle floated illegally across the border and was found by a white right wing militant senator and the hilarity ensues.
     
  8. Mirrorblade.1

    Mirrorblade.1 Forum Resident

    Laughing .. but we don't need it or reboot of hogans heroes...
     
  9. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    What a horrible idea. :eek:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 24, 2018
  10. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    But it will still be more watchable than the Dick Sargent episodes of the original series. :)
     
  11. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Can't the reboots just stop already?
     
    ssmith3046, GoodKitty and daca like this.
  12. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    It looks like this is the new trend, as was "Reality TV" when that started...
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  13. GroovyVinylDood

    GroovyVinylDood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eastern Canada
    Two things immediately come to mind:

    1) Originality in TV programming is completely dead unless it involves "reality" television
    2) In regard to this "reboot": No. Just no ....................................
     
  14. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    They could get some of the Mad Men alumni to play the McMann & Tate staff.
     
  15. Gill-man

    Gill-man Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Not with the political/racial commentary it won’t.
     
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  16. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    That at least sounds like it could be funny. The concept of this Bewitched reboot just sounds too preachy to be funny. Then again, Norman Lear managed to do both in the 1970s so maybe the team behind this Bewitched reboot will strike the right balance as well. I'm not sure I can tune in, though, since Bewitched will always mean Elizabeth Montgomery to me.
     
  17. All Rights

    All Rights Senior Member


    Opening theme song: Genie in a Bottle - Christina Aguilera
     
  18. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I could totally see them using that... Scary. :laugh:
     
  19. Frangelico

    Frangelico Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    They truly are unrelenting
     
  20. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    To be honest, after reading the premise, it sounds a little viewpoint-centric and contrived to "start a conversation" but I wouldn't pee all over it just yet. It could be done tactfully, who knows? But why does Darren have to be a "slacker"? Why can't he be, say, a single father working two low-paying jobs to make ends meet? Why can't we "start a conversation" about that?
     
    Ignatius likes this.
  21. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    So, according to the press photo...they got Barack Obama to sign-on?! :eek: That's one helluva bit of stunt-casting, there...
     
  22. Gill-man

    Gill-man Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Because that’s not the agenda they’re trying to push.
     
  23. Otlset

    Otlset I think I am I think

    Location:
    Temecula, CA
    And as Endora....

    [​IMG]
     
  24. bradman

    bradman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lexington,KY
    I could sense the WHOPPIE post coming. Was not disappoint.
     
    goodiesguy, spridle, Andrew J and 4 others like this.
  25. torcan

    torcan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Why is it that on TV, it's always a black woman with a white man? Why couldn't the part have been written the other way around - for a black man with a white woman? That's far more common in society, yet it isn't represented on television as much as it should be.

    I was a big fan of the original, but I'll pass on this.
     
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