ABC is trying once again to form a weekly TV series based on the popular Jack Nicholson/Cher film “Eastwick”, about a trio of witches that are drawn together around a mysterious, dark figure of a man as their powers are unleashed.  The film premise was about the witches finally coming around to undo his evil, which lends itself to the series in a more protracted way.

The casting in this show is stupendous. The trio of witches are Rebecca Romijin, Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman.  The three are perfectly cast- they fit well together as well as stand apart as memorable.

The powers they have just begun to unlock of unqiue to themselves- Rebecca’s Roxie (Roxanne) is a hippy-like, Earth loving free spirit that was peddling inferior new-age crafts at local markets before being swept into the mysterious Daryl’s (Paul Gross) irresistable force upon having her powers unlocked.  A self-proclaimed psychic, suddenly Roxie’s visions actually become a reality- she develops into a true psychic, able to see glimpses of the near future.

Lindsay’s Joanna is a struggling journalist who is in dire love with a photographer at the newspaper, seeking a promotion to write more meaningful articles with a sleazy boss who gives her no respect.  After Daryl’s arrival, Joanna suddenly has the power to charm men by staring into their eyes and speaking commands- even forcing a kiss out of her crush before she realizes that it’s the wrong thing to do.  However, flush on the realization of her new power, she has no qualms about “telling” her boss to give her the promotion, a raise and all the money in his wallet (a scene that hints at the humor that will be layered in the show.)

And my favorite, Kat- the adorable Jaime Ray Newman- is a mentally abused, hard working mother of five with a sleeze-ball lazy deadbeat of a husband who blames her for being a failure when she has the audacity to suggest he get a job.  Kat’s powers unlock as those of the greatest mother of all- Mother Nature- and she ends up thrusting a small earthquake upon her husband before later hitting him with a lightning bolt- all unaware of the dangerous powers she possesses.

The pilot establishes the characters quite well, leaves some great room for growth, and already points to the dark side of Daryl- he threatens to kill a young man who was trying to rape Roxie’s daughter, and Joanna’s friend provides her evidence that Daryl is supposed to be dead, per an autopsy report.  There is plenty of room for the show to grow and continue to expand while keeping a central theme going.

Layering the drama with light-hearted comedy should be a winning formula- the previews for next week show Roxie encountering a man who she had a vision of murdering her.  As the three witches look out Roxie’s store window, the attractive young man approches the store front, and Kat and Joanna begin waving at him, finding him cute.  Roxie’s retort? “Don’t wave at my murderer!”

I think that given a chance, Eastwick could be television magic.

Eastwick
ABC
Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m.

Dream Analysis: A remake of the old Jack Nicholson/Cher film (actually the second remake, if I recall) but with a killer cast.  The beautiful (and I do mean it) witches are Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, and the delicious, adorable, beautiful, heart-thumping Jaime Ray Newman.
Dream Value: Eastwick presents the possibility of an “adult” version of Charmed-  plenty of possibility to mix drama, sex, magic and humor all into the cauldron and come out with plenty of quality entertainment.  This isn’t going to be on the quality level of Lost, going down in TV history, but it’s going to be a quality weekly watch for those of us seeking something other than yet another medical/lawyer/crime drama.  Minimum DVR taping, but most will be fans enough to watch it that night- live or within a few hours of airing.
Dream Length: The show just premiered, and hopefully will be given a fair shake to run for five seasons, at least.  You simply never know with the TV executives nowadays, who still seem to think shows can pull in 17 million viewers regularly.  Eastwick is an hour long show.
Nightmares: It’s too early to see if anything is really missing here, or if the plots become cliche, etc.  But the initial pilot was highly promising, establishing the Witches’ first powers and their exposure to each other, the dark force they become centered around, and the means by which they fall in together.  The only nightmare potential here is going to be plot-based- the cast is too good to have a failing on that end.