There is no effort to hide it, Eastwick is indeed a TV version of the 1987 Jack Nicholson movie The Witches Of Eastwick, which itself was based on the novel of the same name by John Updike. This is not the first time someone has tried to make The Witches of Eastwick into a TV series, the first attempt was in 1992, a pilot was shot and aired, but NBC failed to be picked up. Things then went quiet for 10 years, but in 2002 FOX tried again, with Marcia Cross who, when the show failed to be picked up, went to on star as Bree in Desperate Housewives. Third time lucky and with a whole new cast, ABC finally picked it up the show for an initial order of 13 episodes. The release of The Widows of Eastwick in 2008 and the stage musical probably helped raise the profile of the source material, making it a slightly more tempting offer for the commissioners.

Like many pilots this is all about set up, we meet the three women, who have very subtle magical powers causing events so slight they are quickly written off as coincidence. Although the three women all live in the same small town and know about each, because of their own preconceptions they have never talked. Roxie (Rebecca Romijn) is an a eccentric artist, Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) a swamped mother and nurse dealing with an alcoholic husband and finally Joanna (Lindsay Price), a shy and insecure reporter for the local paper. Following an event a the fair the three girls come together for drinks and as they start to learn a little more about each other they become fast friends. This gives the ladies a huge boost helping them to find the strength to say what they want from, or how they feel about others. Little do they realise that it is the mysterious dark and handsome stranger named Daryl (Paul Gross) who has just moved into town who is bringing them together and pulling the strings.

Comparisons to Desperate Housewives are immediately obvious, 3 middle aged women trying to juggle their home life, work life and social life in a small, but pleasant town. The mix of magic gives the show a light comic touch, although real issues and real consequences are present, we see two characters hospitalised in the first episode and the fact that that they have placed Kat there too means we are likely to see more. As a pilot most of the time is spent bringing at the characters together, although we see signs of magic none of the characters fully realise what this means or if it is even real. There is no talk of witches and Daryl’s presence in the town and his effect on the women remains a mystery. Of course if you have read the book or seen the film, you know that Daryl will be as likely to split them apart as bring them together. At the end of the pilot it is unclear how much power he has over the women and there is already a level of distrust. If the show is to have any longevity it would be wise to move away from the source material as soon as possible, there is plenty of scope for fun with witches running amuck in small town.

The pilot drew large audience figures for ABC and if subsequent episodes pull in similar figures, the show can no doubt look forward to a full season order of 22 episodes. Check back for updates.

Written by: Maggie Friedman (based on The Witches of Eastwick
by John Updike)
Directed by: David Nutter
Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, Jaime Ray Newman, Paul Gross
Date premièred: 23rd September 2009
UK Details: The Hallmark Channel – Date TBC

Tags: ABC, Comedy, Desperate Housewives, Drama, Eastwick, Maggie Friedman, Supernatural

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 26th, 2009 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Comedy, Drama. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.