‘Bewitched’ Remake Eyed By Networks
On the 50th anniversary of its debut, classic TV sitcom Bewitched is eyeing a comeback. I’ve learned that Sony Pictures TV is shopping a new version of the supernatural comedy, which ran on ABC from 1964 to 1972. I hear there is already interest from multiple networks in the modern-day take, which is being penned by The Vow writers Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein.
The project hails from Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick’s Red Wagon Entertainment, which produced Columbia Pictures’ 2005 Bewitched film starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, and also teamed with Sony TV on a potential series remake at CBS in 2011. Also producing the new version is Television 360, the TV arm of Management 360, which reps Kohn and Silverstein, along with CAA. Daniel Rappaport and Marcus Blakely executive produce.
Created by Sol Saks and executive produced by Harry Ackerman, Bewitched starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch married to an ordinary mortal man and chronicles the way her powers and her wicked family get in the way of her efforts to live a normal, magic-free life as a typical suburban housewife.
While the movie remake didn’t fare well, the original series remains popular. It has enjoyed a long after-life in syndication and around the world with local versions mounted in Russia, India, Argentina and Japan. The classic sitcom has also been embraced by new technologies, with seasons available on the Hulu streaming service.
Bewitched is part of the wave of classic series and movies that are getting remakes this development season as the networks are relying heavily on well-known properties, in part because of the dearth of available seasoned creators, many of whom are tied to series. Here are the original series’ opening and closing sequences:
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